‘Heavy meat sauce’: Mammoth aiming to stake claim among Central Division juggernauts

André Tourigny got off the plane with scant knowledge of his new home.

It was April 2024, and the Arizona Coyotes were abruptly relocating to Utah. Tourigny recalled watching the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City on TV. That’s where his personal intel ended.

“None, nothing, zero,” the veteran coach said with a smile.

It didn’t take long to see what was in store after years of NHL purgatory in the desert.

A splashy airport welcome. Plans for world-class facilities. Packed stands — along with thousands more people outside the building — for the players’ first introduction at their new home arena.

“It’s a love story between our players and the fans,” he said. “That was amazing.”

Last season’s chapter included the franchise’s first playoff appearance since relocation — the team was rebranded the “Utah Mammoth” after going with the generic “Utah Hockey Club” for its first season — as the Western Conference’s top wild-card entry before falling to the Vegas Golden Knights in six games.

The tough-as-nails Central Division was dominated by the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche in 2025-26, while Dallas Stars (third) and Minnesota Wild (seventh) were also near the top of the overall standings. Some five weeks into the new campaign, Utah is hanging tough with the big boys.

“Heavy meat sauce,” Utah defenceman Nate Schmidt said of the Central in his usual colourful manner. “A lot of teams that are really good … there’s no real back door into anywhere.”

The Mammoth sit 10-6-0 through 16 games, good for second in the division, following Tuesday’s 3-2 victory in Toronto over the Maple Leafs.

“That’s the kind of thing we cannot control,” Tourigny said of the Central’s elite pedigree. “What you have to do is go about your business and make sure you’re the best version of yourself.”

Utah captain Clayton Keller leads a balanced attack that boasts the NHL’s No. 1 power play and includes four of the league’s top-35 scorers heading into Wednesday’s action.

“We’ve had a decent start,” said the winger, who has four goals and 17 assists for 21 points. “Lots of learning lessons, but we’re a really confident team.”

“The expectations in our division are really high,” added defenceman MacKenzie Weegar. “There’s a lot of belief in this dressing room and within the organization that we’re a top team.”

What the Mammoth were was a .500 hockey club when the calendar flipped to 2026 before going on a 25-14-3 run in the second half of the schedule to secure a playoff spot last spring.

The start to this campaign has shown plenty of promise — the Mammoth went 9-7-0 to open 2025-26 — but Tourigny sees plenty of room for improvement when it comes to the group’s identity.

“People sometimes, they think when you talk about pace and speed, you’re talking about skating,” he said. “It’s way more than that. It’s how you’re connected, how you read off each other, how you react in certain situations, how you’re one play ahead all the time.”

The Mammoth have spent a lot of time away from home to start the schedule — 10 of 16 games have already come on the road — with trips to face the Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators and Golden Knights before their next home date Nov. 12.

Schmidt said that time together has benefits after a summer that included significant change, including the arrival of veteran forwards Anders Lee and Vincent Trochek

“That’s when you really try to start to build your bonds and really weave your own fabric,” Schmidt said. “We’ve been pretty resilient after games that we don’t like.”

Acquired from the Calgary Flames ahead of last season’s trade deadline, Weegar said Salt Lake City is becoming a desirable destination around the league.

“It’s an unbelievable market and an underrated fan base,” he said. “You’re seeing a lot of players put this team on the map and want to come here, which they should.

“We’ve got everything.”

Tourigny felt similar vibes when the team first touched down in Utah just over 2 1/2 years ago.

“Here in Canada, you often talk about the passion of the fans,” he said. “The atmosphere was absolutely amazing, like it was Game 7.

“Hell of a start.”

WHAT HANGOVER?

Carolina captured the franchise’s second Stanley Cup in June by downing Vegas. The club is showing no signs of a title hangover.

The Hurricanes top the league ledger at 12-3-2, including sitting tied alongside Minnesota with a league-topping 11 regulation victories, through 17 games.

TURNING THE PAGE

The Nashville Predators acquired Shane Wright — the No. 4 pick at the 2022 draft — from the Seattle Kraken for fellow centre Matthew Wood over the weekend.

The 22-year-old Wright, who was in the conversation to go first overall before sliding down the board, put up 82 points (39 goals, 43 assists) in 183 games with Seattle before being held off the scoresheet in his Predators debut Tuesday.

Wood had 34 points (18 goals, 16 assists) in 91 career games entering Wednesday. The 21-year-old was selected 15th overall by Nashville in 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2026.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press