SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Mammoth president Chris Armstrong called it “the steepest pitch in hockey, for sure. Maybe in professional sports in North America.”
To fit more fans and improve sight lines for hockey, Utah knocked back the ends of the lower bowl 12 feet over the summer and installed new hockey-specific risers that created 1,100 seats behind both goals.
Even with the additional 12 feet of depth, though, the elevation from ice to concourse is quite steep at an estimated two feet per row, basically matching the steepness that upper bowl patrons have been dealing with for decades.
It may remind sports fans of the Los Angeles Clippers’ new “The Wall” supporters section at the Intuit Dome, featuring 51 consecutive rows behind one basket. But, with that name taken, how can the Mammoth set theirs apart?
Initial fan reactions remarked on the slope-like nature of the section, with one fan even jokingly adding a pair of skis at the top of the stairs in one photo.
Deseret News reporter Brogan Houston suggested the team partner with Deer Valley Ski Resort and grant them ownership of the section, naming it “The Deer Valley Drop-in.”
The Mammoth players have taken notice, as well, with star forward Dylan Guenther and head coach Andre Tourigny saying that the intimate nature reminds them of the Bell Centre in Montreal, home of the Canadiens.
The Bell Centre is the second-largest hockey arena in the world, known for its extreme loudness, and it also features steep inclines in seating behind both goals.
Additional construction projects over the next two summers will increase the total hockey capacity at the Delta Center to 17,000, up from 12,478 this season, but still a long way off from Montreal’s 21,105.
Players comparing the Delta Center to one of the premier venues in the sport can’t be a bad thing, though, and it’s clear the renovations have turned Utah’s home into more of a “hockey barn.” Now it’s time to make it their own.
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