As the Utah Mammoth push through the final stretch of the 2025–26 NHL season, the team has rolled out a new centerpiece of in-arena theatre: a mammoth-shaped Zamboni dubbed the “Zammoth,” built on the chassis of an ice resurfacer that worked at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. The whimsical vehicle, which can carry up to eight fans for short rides, will make parade laps before every game and at the end of each period before functional resurfacing machines finish the ice.
Smith Entertainment Group, which owns the Mammoth, said the Zammoth started life as a 24-year-old Olympic resurfacer already parked inside the Delta Center. The team’s revenue and commercial strategy president, Chris Barney, described the project as a direct way to put supporters “down on the ice where their heroes are playing,” calling it another effort to deepen fan engagement at the arena. The machine no longer serves as a working Zamboni but will be used expressly for fan laps and promotional appearances.
The Zammoth will be on display at the Delta Center for the next several games, beginning with Tuesday’s matchup against the Edmonton Oilers, the team announced. No formal debut date for the first fan rides nor registration details have been released; the Mammoth said fans will be able to view the vehicle in the concourse and when it makes its brief in-arena circuits. The initial concept did not include a direct tie to the 2002 Olympics, the team said, but the discovery of the Olympic-era base on-site made the mammoth motif a natural fit.
Fan rides on Zambonis are not unprecedented in the NHL. Teams such as the Florida Panthers and the Columbus Blue Jackets have previously invited multiple fans to ride on fitted resurfacing machines during stoppages, while other franchises allow individual fans onto standard vehicles. What sets Utah’s version apart is the reuse of a machine that served at the Salt Lake City Games and the theatrical reworking into an oversized prehistoric elephant, a nod to the team’s branding.
The Zammoth initiative arrives as hometown teams increasingly seek high-impact, Instagram-friendly activations to boost in-arena atmosphere and attendance amid a crowded sports-entertainment market. By leveraging a piece of local Olympic history, the Mammoth combine nostalgia with spectacle; the Delta Center hosted multiple events during the 2002 Games, and the resurfacer’s Olympic provenance adds a local tie-in beyond the novelty of a mascot-like vehicle.
Officials emphasized that the Zammoth’s role will be ceremonial rather than operational. Regular ice maintenance and game-day resurfacing will continue to rely on certified, functioning machines. For now, fans excited by the prospect of riding a faux-mammoth across the ice will have to wait for the team’s registration details, but the display at Tuesday’s game should give supporters their first chance to inspect Utah’s newest piece of gameday theatre.