In his youth, Karel Vejmelka begged his father to help him become a hockey goaltender. While hesitant at first, his father eventually granted his son’s request. Vejmelka’s decision to be a goaltender would forever transform both his life and hockey in Utah. The legend of Veggie started last season when the Utah Mammoth faced the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 13, 2024.
The goaltender stopped 49 of the 50 shots he faced to lead the Mammoth to a 4-1 victory. The performance earned him the first star of the match, during which he heard his nickname, “Veggie,” chanted throughout the Delta Center.
The Mammoth clinched the number one Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, and Vejmelka is a huge reason why they made it to that spot.
The Iron Man
If one player in the NHL fits the definition of an iron man, it’s Veggie. He played the most minutes out of any goaltender in the league (3,652), 472 minutes more than Logan Thompson, who sits in second place.
Vejmelka led in games played with 63. With backup goaltender Vitek Vanecek struggling to find wins this year, Veggie’s iron man mentality played a key role in the Mammoth’s success. Without him in net, the Mammoth are 5-12-3. Utah is 38-20-3 record when Vejmelka mans the pipes.
He ended the season as the second-most winningest goaltender, only behind the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy. Even though Veggie doesn’t tote a .911 save percentage like Vasilevskiy, his .897 save percentage sufficed to keep the puck out of the net enough to garner his team much-needed wins.
In fact, it wasn’t Vasilevskiy who was the first NHL goalie to 30 wins this season, but Vejmelka, putting him in elite company.
Vejmelka Is a One-Man Show
With Vejmelka taking most of the starts, the Mammoth finished tenth in the league in goals against (2.93). Though not as good as other teams, like the Colorado Avalanche who far and away led the league in that category, Veggie maintains this number mostly alone.
With Vanecek only starting 19 games, Vejmelka doesn’t have the same luxury as Scott Wedgewood, who has another starting-caliber goaltender backing him. Veggie’s consistency pushed the team to over 90 points and a playoff berth.
Big-Time Saves
All these stats culminate in Vejmelka making big-time saves and carrying the Mammoth team to wins. One of the finest moments the goaltender had came against the Avalanche on Oct. 21, 2025. He stopped Nathan MacKinnon twice on the breakaway and stopped Martin Necas from an easy goal as well. Vejmelka’s play not only helped the Mammoth go to overtime but also secured the win.
On Dec. 5, against the Vancouver Canucks, the goaltender found himself saving back-to-back point-blank shots against Linus Karlsson at the start of the game. The Mammoth took a two-goal lead, but late in the game, the Canucks came charging back and brought the game within one. It took the sheer might of Vejmelka to keep that lead, leading up to a Kevin Stenlund goal, icing the game.
The last notable game took place in Salt Lake City on Jan. 15, 2026. On a cold, brisk night, the Dallas Stars came to town, and a battle between two goaltender elites ensued. Shot after shot, save after save, Vejmelka and Jake Oettinger kept each other’s teams deadlocked at zero. In the end, it was Veggie who came out on top, making huge saves on Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and others.
With his goaltending skills at their highest, the Czech goaltender led his team to a 2-1 victory over a division rival.
Postseason, Where It Matters Most
The Mammoth are now facing their Nevada neighbor, the Vegas Golden Knights, in the first round of the playoffs. For a team so young and inexperienced in the postseason, goaltending must be on point. Besting both Adin Hill and Akira Schmid in save percentage, Vejmelka only needs to outduel Vegas’s newcomer goaltender, Carter Hart.
Veggie made 90 saves in four games this year against the Knights and averaged a .950% save percentage against the team from Sin City. If the Mammoth make it a competitive series or even beat the Knights, Veggie must maintain his composure. Vejmelka thrives under pressure; he showed this last season when he received the starting role after the departure of teammate Connor Ingram.
Starting in 23 consecutive games (from Feb. 23 to April 12, 2025), Veggie is primed for a long series. If he can keep this iron-man mentality and consistency, the Mammoth have a good shot at winning their first-ever playoff series. Without Vejmelka, the Mammoth might not have made the playoffs. How fitting that his teammates look to him again to help bring postseason glory.
Utah fell to the Golden Knights 4-2 in Game 1. Vejmelka allowed three goals with a save percentage of .900%. He’ll look to bounce back tonight in Game 2.
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