When a full-fledged NHL team plays an AHL roster, the expectation is a blowout.
It was trending that way at first Saturday as the Utah Mammoth faced the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center. The Mammoth got out to a 2-0 lead 10:35 into the game, but that would be the end of the offense — for both teams.
Ironically, that was true despite the fact that nearly half of the remaining playing time was spent with someone in the penalty box. Both teams were happy with their respective penalty killers, but neither got enough out of their power play guys.
Utah ended up 1 for 9 in that department Saturday.
That was a consistent shortcoming of the Mammoth throughout much of the 2025-26 season. Until the Olympic break, they were consistently in the running for the worst power play in the league. They got things back on the rails after returning from Milan, achieving a top-three record from that point to the end of the season.
As soon as the playoffs began though, they fell flat again, going 1 for 16. It likely cost them their first-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights.
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Utah Mammoth Anders Lee (72) skates with the puck during an NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Utah Mammoth center Jack McBain (22) reacts after scoring a goal during an NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Utah Mammoth center Nick Schmaltz (8) goes in for a face-off during an NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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A Utah Mammoth fan watches during an NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Utah Mammoth right wing Clayton Keller (9) skates with the puck during an NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Tusky rides the Zammoth after an NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Colorado Avalanche players react after the Utah Mammoth score during an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Utah Mammoth Kevin Stenlund (82) skates with the puck during an NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche players listen to the National Anthem before an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Utah Mammoth right wing Dylan Guenther (11) skates with the puck during an NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Utah Mammoth head coach André Tourigny coaches during an NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Utah Mammoth center Nick Schmaltz (8) skates with the puck during an NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Utah Mammoth defenseman Dmitri Simashev (26) and his teammates skate on the ice before an NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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The Utah Mammoth put their hands over their hearts during the National Anthem before an NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Utah Mammoth fans cheer during an NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Colorado Avalanche center Nicolas Roy (10) races toward the puck during an NHL game against the Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Utah Mammoth right wing Clayton Keller (9) looks on during an NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Utah Mammoth fans put their hands over their hearts during the National Anthem before an NHL game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood (41) tends the goal during an NHL game against the Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News 
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Colorado Avalanche’s Keaton Middleton (67) blocks a puck from getting in the goal during an NHL game against the Utah Mammoth at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
“The power play early was good. They were putting pucks at the net, they were playing fast. I think a little bit later in the game, we started to overindulge and complicate things,” explained Mammoth head coach André Tourigny after Saturday’s game.
“Our entry has always been good. Now it’s two games where we try to be a little bit too cute on our entry on the power play, so we’ll clean that up.”
Added Logan Cooley, who scored the Mammoth’s lone power play goal of the game: “We need to do a better job of shooting the puck, making sure we have some guys there. That’s how we scored two goals tonight, so we’ve got to build off of that.”
Was training camp long enough?
Opening-night rosters are due at 3 p.m. MT on Monday. The Mammoth have a few more cuts to make, but training camp is effectively over.
It was the shortest training camp in the modern era of the NHL. The new collective bargaining agreement stipulated that camp could no longer surpass 13 days. Teams now play four preseason games instead of 6-8, and each “veteran” is only allowed to dress for two of them.
For a long time now, training camp hasn’t been the place for players to get in shape — they do that through summer workouts nowadays. It is, however, the time they learn new systems, test out new line mates and, in many cases, earn NHL jobs.
That’s still the case, but they have much less time to do it. The question is: Is it long enough?
Tourigny thinks so.
“We can have a two-day training camp if everybody has a two-day training camp,” he said. “What you want is a competitive advantage — or not giving (other teams) a competitive advantage.”
Tourigny went on to explain that in the past, he’d typically play each veteran in four preseason games because that’s what everyone else tended to do. If he’d only given them three games, they might be behind their peers by the time the puck dropped for the regular season.
Now that it’s standardized across the league, everyone is on a level playing field.
“Yeah, it’s a short camp, but we’ve been practicing hard and I think guys are eager and excited to get into the real games and get things going,” added Jack McBain. “So we’re ready, and we’ll use this last week to touch up on some more stuff and get into it.”
The Mammoth’s next public on-ice appearance will count for real: They open the regular season against the Chicago Blackhawks at the new-and-improved Delta Center next Thursday.
“Chicago, well, they play one game before, which is a competitive advantage for them,” Tourigny said, “but it is what it is. There’s nothing we can do. Other than that, we just want to have the same card as everybody else and then let’s go at it.”
One interesting note ahead of Thursday’s season opener: Nick Schmaltz and Ian Cole are the only players who have skated in every regular-season game in Mammoth franchise history. After Cole departed in the offseason, Schmaltz will likely take sole possession of that title — but not until Game 2.
Cole signed with the Blackhawks, meaning he’s able to play in Utah’s 165th game, albeit on the opposing side.
Utah Mammoth center Nick Schmaltz (8) goes in for a face-off during an NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News