After losing to the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 in the Rookie Showcase, the Utah Mammoth followed it up with a rough 8-1 loss.
The lone bright spot was Tij Iginla’s goal, his first as a member of the Mammoth organization. It came off his signature shot from just above the right faceoff dot.
From there, though, the rest of the game was hard to watch. The Mammoth didn’t put forth much of an effort as a group, and that has some fans already questioning how deep the prospect pool really is.
But there shouldn’t be too much worry. This is a fast, short tournament packed into a week, with very little time for players to get comfortable with each other. One disappointing showing doesn’t suddenly mean the entire pool is in trouble.
The talent is there. Most of these rookies are new to this, and a couple of shaky games shouldn’t be taken too seriously. That said, the lack of effort across both games is something the team will have to deal with behind the scenes, even with the tournament now wrapped up.
With the Rookie Showcase in the books, the attention shifts to training camp, which kicks off in less than 10 days.
