SANDY, Utah — As the Utah Mammoth officially enter their third season, they hope to use the momentum built during last season's playoff appearance and take the next steps as an organization this season.
The team has a brand in the Beehive State — Utah is home, and that's key coming into this year.
"I do feel like we have our legs under us," said Mammoth President of Hockey Operations Chris Armstrong. "We do feel settled. The expectations that we've created for ourselves based on the growth and progress of our group, the additions that we've made.
"I think it's not necessarily felt as pressure but rather excitement."
"We were all excited about making the playoffs," added general manager Bill Armstrong. "We all left after that series with a little sour taste in our mouth, and so when you're doing that, and you're walking out that door, that's a good thing. You know, that's a fuel that you're using in the summer to -- get better, and I feel like we addressed -- our needs.
Head coach Andre Tourigny explained what he wants his team's identity to be this season.
"We take a lot of pride in being relentless and being tough mentally," he explained. "We made the playoffs last year, but we went through a lot of adversity... and we learned from that adversity, and the thing when you talk about mental toughness, we all have our own definition and everything, but if you, if you're mentally tough, you're capable of keeping you consistent, you're capable of staying even keel."
"We've been in the league for a long time, and you play certain teams, and you're like, 'Oh, my God, you don't want to play them because it feels like there's 6 guys on the ice and they play fast and they crush the net and they do all the right stuff and they make it harder on you,'" said Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, explaining how he wants the team to look like.
Captain Clayton Keller explained how the team can grow coming into this season.
"Each year we've gotten better; we've had higher expectations for our group, and obviously we do this year as well," Keller said. "We know how good our team is, how much talent we have, and I think you know the important thing is just taking it day by day. You know, getting better every single day and the rest will take care of itself."
