Have You Seen This? ESPN host explains Utah Mammoth's new logo better than Utah Mammoth

MAMMOTH COUNTRY — It's been just shy of a week since the Utah Hockey Club officially became the Utah Mammoth, and the new name, logo and branding for Utah's NHL franchise has been met with an array of responses and questions.

Several stand out: Why Mammoth, and not Mammoths, which is plural? Or what do mammoths — the prehistoric giants that roamed the earth in the ice age — have to do with Utah? (It turns out, a lot.)

Some people are even asking, why can't the name just be "Yeti"? A lot of these questions have been answered. Some of them were answered during a press conference that featured NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, even.

But perhaps no one explained the professional hockey team owned by Utah Jazz majority owner Ryan Smith and Smith Entertainment Group better than ESPN's Scott Van Pelt. The popular 58-year-old broadcaster stripped down the corporate public relations speak of "salt white, mountain blue and rock black" and explained the logo in a way any sports fan, including hockey fans — of which Van Pelt is one — could understand.

First, about the singular name, which compares to NHL franchises like the Seattle Kraken, Minnesota Wild and Tampa Bay Lightning: "They're the Mammoth, which is neither here nor there," he told co-host Stanford Steve Coughlin, who posted the video online.

"But me? Real-life me?" he added, "I like that. I'm in."

He then approached the Utah NHL branding on a nearby telestrator screen, Weather Channel-style.

"There are the mountains (on the logo). Why? Because we're in Utah, and they've got mountains," he said, at one point.

Van Pelt pointed out the hidden "M" (for Mammoth, get it?), the shape of the state of Utah inside the Mammoth head, the "U" in the creature's tusk, and the "pissed-off eye" staring off to the right.

"Utah, I like what you did," he added. "Send us some merch."

As for this writer? The name is fine. The logo is well-made. But where can we license the team's custom-made "Mammoth Sans" typeface? That's the real winner.

In case you have more questions, Smith made an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show to break down the team name, logo and branding.

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