As the final buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the Utah Mammoth sled hockey team’s match Saturday morning, the arena erupted in cheers.
The team beat the Los Angeles Kings 6-0 at the second annual Western Region Sled Hockey Tournament at the Park City Ice Arena. Goalie and Coach Dave Nicholls said it was the Mammoths’ first win since the team started playing in 2024.
“When that buzzer went off, man, it was pure elation,” he said. “We are a new team and this was important on so many levels. We hope to maybe get one of those trophies out front.”
Sled hockey — also called para ice hockey — is a version of ice hockey designed for athletes with physical disabilities, though able-bodied individuals can play as well. Players sit in specially designed sleds and use two sticks to maneuver the puck and propel themselves.
Assistant Captain JC Weeks was one of the original members of Utah’s sled hockey team. A Park City native, he tried the game for the first time at 12 years old through a National Ability Center (NAC) 2002 Paralympics legacy program. He has cerebral palsy, which affects movement and balance.
“Many of our players started playing right after those Paralympics, and we played for close to 15 years together, and then the team folded, and we took like, a 10-year hiatus,” Weeks said.
Now affiliated with the NHL, the team came back together last year under a new name. Weeks said the NHL has been working to expand its reach, including in the adaptive world, and Utah Mammoth and its affiliates have been a big support.
Weeks said he and other veteran players want to mentor the team’s new athletes.
“A couple of us have experienced what it is to represent the United States, and we just want to kind of pass that on to those who want it within our program,” Weeks said.
Nicholls got that chance and is eager to share his experiences.
He got his start in sled hockey 16 years ago also at the NAC. Nicholls has an incomplete spinal cord injury he got through a skiing accident. At the time, he was an NCAA skier for the University of Colorado and Colorado State. He was practicing running gates for slalom and giant slalom on a closed course and had just left the gate when he heard shouting and something slammed into him.
“I woke up in the hospital a few days later, and they told me it was an out-of-control snowboarder that was going like 60, 70 miles an hour, went straight into me, and I guess the whiplash broke my neck,” he said.
The crash caused paralysis in both Nicholls' arms and legs, which was especially hard because he was also a drummer and played keyboard.
He eventually got some movement back in his arms and was invited to try sled hockey. Nicholls said he didn’t have a good first experience but quitting isn’t in his vocabulary; he kept at it.
Nicholls started playing goalie since there’s less maneuvering involved, and finally found his rhythm. He played with the NAC and was later recruited to play with the Vegas Golden Knights, helping them win two national championships.
When he heard Utah was getting an NHL team, he knew he wanted to get involved. Most cities with an NHL team also have a para-NHL team.
“I kind of resurrected some guys from our original team,” he said. “I called the guys up. I said, ‘get out here. We're starting this team. I need you.’ And they just proved themselves out there, and they're helping develop the new players.”
This is now the team’s second year competing as both an NHL-sanctioned and USA Hockey-sanctioned team. In all, the Utah Mammoth sled team features 14 players of all ages, including one female athlete.
The tournament ends Sunday, Sept. 28. The schedule can be found here.
The sled hockey season runs now through the spring. The Utah Mammoth will compete next in the USA Hockey Sled Classic in December and the USA Hockey Sled National Championship in the spring.
