Utah Mammoth fan’s rooting guide: 2026 Playoffs

Sports fandom isn’t always black and white. And when it comes to choosing second- and third- favorite teams, the area is especially gray.

Now that the Utah Mammoth are out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, here’s a guide to help Utahns decide their allegiance for the rest of the postseason.

We’ll include an argument for and against each remaining team.

For: If you’ve been a hockey fan in Utah for 10 years or longer, chances are the Colorado Avalanche were your favorite team. They were the only other team in the Rocky Mountain area. No need to stop cheering for them now.
Against: The Avalanche are one of Utah’s biggest rivals. If you want them to crash and burn, no one will blame you.

For: If you like human interest stories, the Minnesota Wild might pique your interest. At the trade deadline, they acquired then-Chicago Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno for “future considerations.” He makes a lot more money than most fourth-liners, but the Wild wanted to unite him with his brother, Marcus Foligno, who has been in Minnesota for nine years. Between Nick, Marcus and their father, Mike Foligno, they’ve played a combined 3,411 games (regular season and playoffs combined). They have never won the Stanley Cup. It would be spectacular to see the two brothers do it together.

Against: None of the top teams in the Central Division are getting worse anytime soon, meaning the Mammoth and the Wild will be battling each other for playoff spots for the foreseeable future. It’s up to you whether you want to cheer within the division.

For: If you lose to the eventual champions, you can rest assured that you lost to the best team.
Against: This is the team that beat the Mammoth in the first round of the playoffs. If you want to actively cheer against them for that reason, what’s to stop you?

For: As a continuation of the above point: If you want the Golden Knights to lose, cheer for their current opponent, the Anaheim Ducks.
Against: The Ducks are in a similar situation as the Mammoth. It’s a young, up-and-coming team with loads of talent. It’s not unlikely that these teams become the class of the Western Conference within the next few years, so cheering for them now could result in regret when the 2028-ish Conference Final rolls around.

For: Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring were only in Utah for a year, but as inaugural Utah Hockey Clubbers, social media darlings and top-tier human beings, they’ll forever be held in high regard in the Beehive State.
Against: Some fans are concerned about whether the Mammoth won or lost the Doan/Kesselring/JJ Peterka trade. If that’s you, you might not want to see the Sabres succeed.

For: There are few buildings in the NHL that get as loud as the Bell Centre. The Montreal Canadiens made the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, but with COVID restrictions in place, only 3,500 fans were allowed in the building at a time. It would be special to see that place at capacity in June.
Against: The Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup 24 times, so perhaps you’d like to see other teams have some success. That said, their last championship was in 1993, so maybe that doesn’t matter.

For: Everyone loves an underdog, and that’s exactly what the Philadelphia Flyers are. They spent most of the season below the cutoff line for the playoffs, but ended up squeezing in before it was too late. They beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, but they now face a 3-0 deficit against the mighty Carolina Hurricanes.
Against: Philadelphia is the only remaining team to never share a mutual player with Utah, so if you draw your allegiances around people, there’s not much connection between the two teams.

For: The Hurricanes are on the verge of history. They’re up 3-0 in their series with the Flyers after sweeping the Ottawa Senators in the first round. If they win their next game, they’ll become the first team to go 8-0 in the first two rounds of the playoffs. If you want to see the best teams win, the Hurricanes are your squad in the East.
Against: On the flip side, if you like chaos, cheer for the Hurricanes to lose.