The rookie showcase didn’t last long for the Utah Mammoth. The tournament is officially over for the team, as they finished it out with an 8-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Mammoth ended the showcase with a 0-2 record, failing to win against the Knights and the Colorado Avalanche.
Heading into the showcase, the Mammoth arguably had the most anticipated roster out of the three teams in Highlands Ranch. Yet, frustration and disappointment reared their head by the end of the tournament, which was the overall tone for the Mammoth in the two games. Here are some takeaways from Saturday’s game.
Tij Iginla Scores the Lone Goal
The lone bright spot of the game for the Mammoth was Tij Iginla’s goal in the second period. Already down 2-0, the Mammoth needed something quickly to stop the bleeding. After controlling the puck for a good amount of time, Iginla stepped forward and ripped a shot from the faceoff circle to get his first goal of the showcase and the first goal for Utah in the game.
Tij Iginla scores his first goal wearing a Mammoth sweater at the Rookie Showcase in Colorado. Iginla was the 6th overall pick in the 2024 #NHL Draft.#NHLinUtah #TusksUp @KSLSports pic.twitter.com/KzRU6M6hJ0
— Sam Farnsworth (@Samsworth_TV) September 13, 2025
It’s been a long year for Iginla. After receiving double hip surgery, the forward hadn’t played in any competitive hockey until this past week. That includes the whole Western Hockey League season and Utah’s development camp.
It was a quick re-entry into hockey for Iginla last game. He took a big open ice hit early in the game against the Avalanche and had a couple of good chances, especially on the power play. However, like most of the first-round picks for the Mammoth, he failed to register a goal during the game.
Now, with rookie camp in the books along with the showcase, Iginla stood out as one of the best players in a disappointing week. When he skated during the practices during development camp, he didn’t look out of place despite it being one of his first times back skating after his double surgery. Now, he’s going into training camp as one of the prospects who looks ready for the NHL.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Mammoth’s 5-3 Rookie Showcase Loss to Avalanche
Even with that said, another season with the Kelowna Rockets would really help Iginla. Diving right into NHL play might hurt his development, too. Again, though, after a massive injury and surgery like Iginla had, the past couple of months have been impressive for the 2024 first-round pick.
What Went Wrong This Weekend?
Mammoth fans might prefer the silence of the offseason over what happened on Saturday against the Knights. It was complete domination from start to finish by them. Their forechecking was on point, and they were able to stop anything that the Mammoth tried to generate.
It started with Kai Uchacz scoring early to put the Knights up 1-0. By the end of the first, they were up 2-0. By the end of the second, the Knights were up 5-1. It got worse and worse until the game finished with a score of 8-1.
So what went wrong? Discipline was the first thing. Penalties quickly mounted up, and unlike the Avalanche on Friday, the Knights capitalized on all of their man-advantage opportunities. It became one of the biggest flaws for the Mammoth.
The Mammoth also didn’t have a lot of offensive opportunities. You could probably count the number of good opportunities they had on your hand. That included Daniil But’s wrap-around chance and Gabe Smith’s breakaway to begin the third period.
It didn’t stop there. The power play looked extremely rough. Yes, these games don’t matter, and these prospects might never play with each other again. However, it was hard to watch the Mammoth on the man advantage. The big problem is that the passing just failed, especially when it came to getting the puck to Dmitriy Simashev on the blueline.
The goaltending was also shaky during both games for the Mammoth. However, that’s not a massive problem for them since all the goalies that played for the team were on amateur try-outs.
There were other things as well, but those were the issues that stood out more than others that really cost the Mammoth the game. Out of the past two rookie showcases the Mammoth have been at, it was by far the worst and most embarrassing game the team has been a part of.
A Disappointing Showcase
Entering the weekend, it looked like the Mammoth had the best roster out of the three teams. With a roster consisting of Iginla, But, Simashev, Maveric Lamoureux, and Cole Beaudoin, it seemed like the team would steamroll the Avalanche and Knights.
Instead, the Mammoth failed to produce much, and it was the other players who were a part of the tournament who thrived. Artem Duda played an integral role on the blueline. Michal Kunc showed early glimpses of why the Mammoth signed him in the offseason. Sam Lipkin was the best player from the first game.
While that’s all great, it is somewhat concerning that the Russians didn’t do much during the two games. Both assisted on Iginla’s goal, and But had that mentioned wrap-around attempt. Other than that, not much from two of the most anticipated prospects in the Mammoth’s system.
Beaudoin wasn’t much better, as he looked invisible during the entire tournament. Lamoureux, who served as captain for the two games, had some decent looks on the power play but was clearly frustrated by his and his team’s performance by the end of it, and almost fought a couple of Knights players in the third period.
The aforementioned problems clearly had the whole team upset. By the time it was 8-1, Julian Lutz was so fed up that he fought a Knights player mid-ice.
The good thing is, rookie showcases usually don’t count for much. It won’t heavily affect most of these players’ training camps and preseasons. However, most expected more out of the Mammoth this weekend. Back-to-back losses against teams that barely had any highly drafted prospects isn’t something to be necessarily concerned about, but it is something to note.
It’ll be interesting to see how these rookies fare in camp and the preseason, especially after a disappointing rookie showcase across the board. This game in particular should give the team a lot of lessons going forward. That is the point of this tournament, after all.
With rookie camp/showcase over, the next thing on the Mammoth calendar is training camp and preseason. Camp will open up in four days on Wednesday. The first Mammoth preseason game will take place on Sept. 21 as the team takes on the Avalanche in a doubleheader matchup.
