We are a month away from the beginning of the 2026-27 season for the NHL. Right behind it will be the American Hockey League (AHL) and the ECHL as the hockey season kicks off. However, this season will be different for fans of the sport up in Utah.
The Utah Mammoth will begin their third season since arriving from Arizona in a Delta Center arena that will take another step forward in its development after a busy summer remodeling the upper bowl. It will likely end the cheap tickets that owner Ryan Smith gave out for around $20 for select games due to the poor sightlines making Mammoth games more inaccessible.
Usually, big families on a limited budget will go to minor league games instead because of the affordability of those tickets. A lot of NHL teams have some sort of minor league team around them, like the San Jose Sharks having their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, less than 10 minutes away, or the Pittsburgh Penguins’ old ECHL affiliate, the Wheeling Nailers, being just a little over an hour away.
However, for the first time since the 1994-95 season, Salt Lake City will not have a minor league team around, as the Utah Grizzlies play their first season in Trenton, New Jersey, as the Trenton Ironhawks. Years and years of groundwork by minor league teams that eventually landed Utah the Mammoth are gone with the departure of the Grizzlies.
While hockey will be fine in Utah as the Mammoth continue building numerous ice sheets around the state, it does leave a hole in the state hockey-wise, but community-wise as well. Holes that get more glaring as the season inches closer and closer. Holes that ultimately the Mammoth could eventually patch up.
The Grizzlies’ first game of their last series ever felt like an arena filled with people knowing the end was coming. The team scored six goals to constantly get Maverik Center on its feet. Couples were kissing each other after each goal, fans were ringing cowbells and blowing horns, and everyone was just having a good time. However, if you listened and watched closely, you saw the video tributes from former players saying thank you to fans, and you could hear the chatter about when everyone was going to see each other next.
Up in the concourse, Jim Williams managed the booster club booth. As treasurer of the club, it wasn’t the first time he had sold Grizzlies merchandise and other things to support the team, but it was one of the last times he would do so. It showed, as there were extra jerseys available to be purchased, most coming from Williams’ personal collection.
Williams had been a season ticket holder for 20 seasons. He and his wife watched countless games over the years, watching so many players take the ice, from Aaron Dell to Trevor Lewis. They’ve seen multiple NHL teams affiliate with the Grizzlies among numerous changes around the Maverik Center. Despite all of the changes, which are common among minor league teams, Williams and his wife kept going to games until the very end.
“It’s a combination of sadness and bittersweetness because we’ve been season ticket holders for 20 years, and we’ve seen a bunch of different affiliations as we’ve gone, and we’ve seen so many different players come through, and even officials,” Williams said. “The ECHL, we understand, is a developmental league for everybody. Whether you’re a player, a coach, a referee, a ticket person. But what’s happened over the years, where we sit, we’ve had a group of people move in around us, and it’s like family.”
Williams had so many memories to share. Even at 70 years old, he described in detail some of his top moments from the past 20 years. His favorite was when Travis Raycroft beat up a former teammate who had mistreated him earlier in his career off the opening draw. Williams later spent more than $2,000 on a Raycroft-signed Harley-Davidson Grizzlies jersey that he gifted to his wife. She plans to one day be buried in that jersey.
It wasn’t just the on-ice stuff that Williams had to share. There were so many off-ice things that the fans and team did as a community. Watch parties at the Maverik Center for playoff games, including a triple overtime game against the Fresno Falcons. Christmas parties with the players where the rookies sang Christmas carols. It was more than just a team. It was a family. It wasn’t just the fans who felt that. It was the players and coaches too.
John Gelatt, who only played one season with the Grizzlies after spending four seasons at Holy Cross College, was blown away by the booster club’s treatment of the players. From dinners to other events, they took care of Gelatt and the team like they were their own.
“They’re amazing,” Gelatt said. “Usually, like once a month too, they give us little care packages, which is amazing. They’re their number one supporters. It’s been great to have them on our side, and they really do a lot of stuff for us behind the scenes.”
Ultimately, it’s that feeling of community that will be missed most by fans and players. The Mammoth do their best hosting Mammoth Week before training camp kicks off, where the organization does events across the entire state of Utah. There are also multiple community events throughout the season, like Smith Entertainment Group’s Pay It Forward Day.
However, there’s a difference between that and an ECHL team, where everything is smaller and more personal. John Becanic coached the Grizzlies for their last season before heading into retirement, and in his one season in the ECHL, it’s a huge thing he really saw as devoted Grizzlies fans really made the players be seen.
“Minor league hockey’s a business, but there is more of a feeling of community,” Becanic said. “I guess you would say that’s the best way if you’re going to talk about a church or about a social group. There’s a sense of community. With the Grizzlies, that’s what’s going to be missing, like with the players walking out to their cars. They’re not in a private parking lot, so you’ve got to walk. There are always the fans that sit out there. They sit, and they take pictures. That makes them more accessible. You’re less accessible to the NHL player. The ECHL is a little bit different. You’re accessible. The guys are grateful for the attention. They’re grateful for the booster club. They’re grateful for the fans.”
Another angle of the Final Goal for Utah Grizzlies franchise. What. A. Game. pic.twitter.com/v4MvjX6Dg6
— Randon From TLP 🦣#8🦣 (@TLPRandon) April 13, 2026
It certainly wasn’t the fans who drove the team to eventually relocate. The Grizzlies have averaged between 4,000 and 5,000 fans ever since the 2009-10 season. The best season attendance-wise was actually three seasons ago, the one before the Utah Hockey Club came to be. That is despite the team missing the playoffs in their final three seasons, winning only two playoff series in the past decade, and winning their division only once.
Winning isn’t all the team’s fault either. As part of a development league, the goal is to keep moving up for everyone involved. While winning is certainly a goal, eventually getting to the NHL is the main priority. However, it took a whole new level last season for the Grizzlies. 69 players put on a Grizzlies jersey during the 2025-26 season.
A lot of their best players didn’t spend a whole lot of time with the team either. Anson Thornton, a former Mammoth goalie prospect, only played two periods of a game before being sidelined the rest of the year due to injury. Jack Ricketts produced 18 points in 30 games before impressing the Tucson Roadrunners so much that he was called up and never sent back down. Even towards the end of the season, the Roadrunners assigned their players like Maxim Barbashev and Dylan Wells to competitive ECHL teams, dooming whatever chance the Grizzlies had of making the playoffs.
It’s unfortunate for the Grizzlies too since they made a promise at the beginning of the season that this would be the team. There would be no trades come trade deadline. At the end of the day, despite all the injuries, it created a very close team. One Becanic called the closest team he’s ever been a part of.
“Win or lose, you’ll see some very extremely emotional players,” Becanic said. “I think the fans are going to think they’re emotional because the team’s moving. The emotion will come from a group of guys that love each other. This is the last game for them. You play that last game in the NHL, you know that team’s never going to be together again. That’s the hard part.”
We’ll miss you, Utah.
Thanks for all your support during the Final Hunt! 🐻🏒 pic.twitter.com/y94kLtZ2RS
— Utah Grizzlies (@UtahGrizzlies) April 14, 2026
Even Ricketts, who never saw Utah again after being recalled by the Roadrunners, sympathized with his former teammates.
“It’s a great group of guys down there,” Ricketts said. “I got to know some of them really well. Played with one of my best buddies that I haven’t played with in a while, so that was a fun experience.”
A Potential Future for Minor League Hockey in Utah
So, with the Grizzlies gone and the only pro hockey experience left being pricey for some, is there anything the Mammoth can do to help bring in a more affordable experience for most families wanting to see hockey? Williams is holding out hope that Smith will help make that happen.
“There’s some of us who hold out hope that Ryan Smith or someone will want to have the Mammoth ECHL team here because it makes some sense to have your ECHL affiliate close,” Williams said. “Plus, there are only 30 ECHL teams versus 32 NHL teams.”
There are reasons to hold out hope as well. As time goes on, more and more NHL teams are moving their AHL affiliates closer to them. The Mammoth’s current AHL affiliate is all the way in Tucson. On the West Coast, they’re one of three NHL teams with their AHL affiliate in a different state or country, joining the Seattle Kraken with their affiliate in Coachella Valley and the Edmonton Oilers with their affiliate in Bakersfield.
Having an AHL affiliate so far away makes things challenging. Call-ups force players to fly back and forth rather than just stepping down a hallway. People in the organization’s hockey operations have to do the same thing.
The Mammoth and Roadrunners have a unique relationship too. Not only do the Mammoth not own the Roadrunners, but the Roadrunners are owned by Alex Meruelo, whom Smith bought his NHL team from. While nothing has been said publicly, it is a relationship that Smith and the Mammoth likely want to end sooner rather than later.
The Maverik Center would be a perfect place to host AHL hockey as well. While there would need to be some renovations, the arena holds 10,100 for hockey. For comparison, the Roadrunners’ arena holds 8,962, and the average AHL seating capacity is 9,490.
That’s where the positives run out. The big problem with an AHL team coming to Utah is that the league wants to stick to 32 teams until the NHL eventually expands. That means one of the 32 teams would have to be up for sale or willing to relocate. As of now, the only team likely to relocate is the Roadrunners, and that would almost certainly be to Meruelo’s new arena in Reno.
Bringing the ECHL back could make sense. They need more teams in the West, with there only being three teams west of the Rockies. As mentioned, the ECHL did well in Salt Lake City during the Grizzlies’ run in the league since 2005. There are also 31 teams in the league, with the Augusta Lynx coming into play for the 2027-28 season, leaving room for a 32nd team with the Mammoth unaffiliated with any team.
However, the question would become who would own the team? The whole reason why the Grizzlies departed Utah was that the children of the original owners didn’t want to be involved in sports ownership anymore. Does Smith want to own a minor league team? Right now, he hasn’t even thought about it.
“A lot of people are in sports just to accumulate more and more sports assets,” Smith said. “That’s not our vibe. It’s got to be purposeful. It’s the same amount of work for us. I get down to a minute detail of things most of the time. We’ve taken time to digest these two organizations and work with them and manage. If we do do more, it’ll be interesting.”
One day, it might get to the point where it’s purposeful. Depending on how long Smith and Meruelo’s working relationship lasts, there could be a day where the Mammoth’s own AHL team that’s owned by Smith and is close to Salt Lake City becomes a necessity.
There is a third option, and that’s the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). PWHL tickets are significantly cheaper than NHL tickets. There has been a rumor that Utah could be pushing hard for a team in the league. It is hard to see the league expand more in the short term, with San Jose, Las Vegas, Detroit, and Hamilton getting teams this summer. However, a takeover tour might be in the cards for Utah sooner rather than later.
Where an AHL, ECHL, or PWHL team would play could be a huge question mark as well. Yes, the Maverik Center is a great building in a great location and is getting its first big renovation this summer, but does West Valley want hockey back in their building? It seems like they don’t want to sell the building and want to focus on their venue hosting concerts and other shows, something that might dissuade people from getting an AHL/ECHL team back in the building or buying the Grizzlies when they were up for sale.
There are a lot of uncertainties and question marks surrounding a second pro hockey team coming to Utah and how steps can be taken for someone to get one and fill the hole that the Grizzlies left. However, the hunger for more and affordable hockey is high, especially with the increase in youth hockey signups. The second it’s made available, many will be interested in tickets, including Williams.
“That’s one of the easiest questions you’ll ever ask me,” Williams said. “As I said, my wife and I have been season ticket holders for 20 years. We’ve always said that when we get Grizzlies season tickets, it’s 36 guaranteed date nights a year, plus playoffs if they make it.”
If it’s the AHL or the PWHL or even a return of the Grizzlies through the ECHL, it creates an easily accessible outlet to hockey, which can create more and more kids interested in the sport. The Mammoth have already done a lot to help youth hockey thrive, but if Smith can do even more to continue to do that, he will.
“Sit outside our practice facility and watch parents come in with these kids and their hockey gear and their hockey stick,” Smith said. “Each one stops and has a moment with you, saying you do not understand what this has done for my family, or a kid being able to come in; he’s found a tribe. She’s found a tribe. It’s a real cool moment. If we can help prolong that or get that to be bigger, Utah’s the right place to do it here.”
At the end of the day, the departure of the Grizzlies is one that might impact the Utah hockey community more than people expect. While there are 42 Mammoth home games that will take place at the Delta Center, the demand for those tickets will reach new highs with the Grizzlies gone. It creates a whole part of the hockey community in Utah who likely won’t get to see many hockey games this season because of that.
With relocations, a lot of them can be filled with anger and bitterness because the owner sells or moves their team because of money or background issues. With the departure of the Grizzlies, most fans aren’t angry. Most fans aren’t going after the owners. Instead, it just leaves a sad feeling lingering with them.
Thank you for all the memories 💚 pic.twitter.com/ecyr5Z1XcU
— Utah Grizzlies (@UtahGrizzlies) April 14, 2026
It’s business,” Williams said. “I don’t have any ill will. They’re just doing what’s best for them. It’s sad, but I don’t have any anger.”
However, with that sadness, there is hope that one day, Smith or someone will bring back a minor league hockey team to Salt Lake City to continue the decades of history that the Salt Lake Golden Eagles once started. To continue providing a way to watch affordable pro hockey with the family while creating a close-knit community with each other, a way only minor league sports can really do. Perhaps when that day comes, it’ll be the beloved Grizzlies moniker coming in for a third time, one that’s here to stay permanently.
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