Looking Back: October 2025

Throughout May and June, we’ll take a look back at each month of the 2025-26 campaign.

October brought the end of the preseason, the start of the regular season, and two NHL debuts. Let’s take a look back at what happened during the first month of the 2025-26 season!

Wrapping Up the Preseason

Utah had its final two games of the preseason in October, both at home. Utah beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1, on Oct. 2 and the San Jose Sharks, 6-4, on Oct. 4. Two days later, Utah announced its opening night roster with13 forwards, eight defensemen, and two goaltenders.

NHL Debut

Defenseman Dmitri Simashev showed up strong in his first Mammoth training camp and the rookie made Utah’s opening night roster. Several days later, Simashev made his NHL debut in the Mammoth’s season opener on Oct. 9 against the Colorado Avalanche.

Simashev spent the first two months of his season with the Mammoth before going to the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL) to continue to grow his game. Overall, the rookie played 28 games this season with Utah, and it all started in October.

Tusky Time

In Utah’s home opener, the Mammoth revealed their brand new mascot: Tusky.

It was quite the debut for Tusky, and the fan base immediately embraced the newest member of the franchise. Tusky even brought the Mammoth luck as the team started a win streak on reveal night. Tusky was the talk of the sports world in mid-October and quickly became a significant part of Utah’s brand.

Seven-Game Streak

This season, one of the Mammoth’s goals was to put together several win streaks throughout the year. Utah’s first win streak, which was seven games long, started with the home opener and the team’s fourth game of the season.

After picking up a 3-1 win over the Flames on Oct. 15, Utah went on to beat the San Jose Sharks, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, and Winnipeg Jets. The Mammoth outscored their opponents 32-17 over this span and picked up valuable points early in the season.

October overall was a successful month for Utah as the Mammoth went 8-3-0 in the first month of the season.

Staying in Salt Lake

On Oct. 29, center Logan Cooley signed an eight-year contract extension to remain with the Mammoth.

The announcement was fresh off a strong week for Cooley as he contributed five goals and eight points, including the first natural hat trick in franchise history (Oct. 23, 3G, 1A). His strong performance over the week of Oct. 20 earned Cooley the NHL’s Second Star of the Week honors. This contract locked up another key part of Utah’s core and showed the NHL how much the Mammoth love playing in Salt Lake City.

Up next, we’ll take a look back at November 2025!