SALT LAKE CITY- Liam O’Brien and the Utah Hockey Club is scratching and clawing to regain its footing in the Central Division in the midst of a five-game losing streak.
Utah is wrapping up a four-game home stand against a struggling Flyers squad before heading on the road for a couple of weeks.
Prior to the game at Delta Center, Philadelphia had been outscored 10-0 in their previous three games with their last goal coming on January 27 against the New Jersey Devils.
The Flyers were desperate to break the streak with a goal and got exactly what they were looking for on just their second shot of the game as Rodrigo Abols scored his first NHL goal.
With the Flyers snatching the momentum early, Utah looked for a counterpunch but just couldn’t find it. Dylan Guenther, who returned to the ice after an extended injury absence, was flying around the ice, but for ten minutes, the Hockey Club couldn’t find anything.
After a dead puck, Liam O’Brien got in a scuffle with Nic Deslauriers and needed to be separated by the referees.
While it didn’t get too heated in the moment, O’Brien saw his chance to get his squad and Delta center pumped up.
Just a few moments later, O’Brien and Deslauriers dropped the gloves at center ice. They spend a few moments sizing each other up before grabbing jerseys and throwing haymakers.
Both players went out swinging in a high-powered bout before both went to the ice.
Liam O’Brien made sure to get the Denta Center crowd on their feet before heading to the penalty box.
The energy at the end.
That's what he does. https://t.co/YyElwwK6xb
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) February 5, 2025
First off, Utah Outlaws just rolls off the tongue better than Mammoth.
It also presents a whole bunch of additional branding and nickname opportunities for nearly aspect of Utah’s NHL team.
What about nicknaming Delta Center the Salt Lake Saloon or The Hideout?
Utah could also introduce a new goal horn that sounds like a train, the visiting penalty box could have a wanted or jail theme, and rally towels could be more like bandanas.
Plus, shootouts would be way more fun with outlaws involved.
Aside from all the fun branding, there’s a lot of historical prevalence to outlaws in the state of Utah.
As one of the most well-known outlaws of the old west, Butch Cassidy was actually born in Beaver, UT and everyone is familiar with his partner Harry “The Sundance Kid” Longabaugh.
Overall, cowboys and the old west present a plethora of golden branding opportunities that have been entirely untouched throughout the NHL.
With Yeti officially out, Mammoth fits the mountain, ice and snow theme with much more favorable branding than Outlaws.
