Kraken's Buoy And 30 Mascot Pals, Part 2

One day removed from National Mascot Day, we continue our look at NHL mascots.

Fowl-Weather Friends

Beyond being the Anaheim Ducks mascot, Wild Wing has a statue outside Honda Center, and starred in an animated Disney series as "Wildwing Flashblade." Hey, Mr. Flashblade, Jason needs his hockey mask back.

Maybe the best mascot handle belongs to Tommy of the Chicago Blackhawks. Get it? Tommy Hawk? Don't knock it - Tommy's one of two NHL members of the Mascot Hall of Fame (a real thing!)

Iceburgh , the Pittsburgh Penguins mascot, made a cameo in the 1995 film Sudden Death . Sudden death sadly also befell "Pete," a real-life penguin, one month into the 1968-69 Pittsburgh season. Pete's nesting area was reportedly kept at the wrong temperature.

The Washington Capitals have a family of mascots. In addition to Slapshot the bald eagle, there's an inflatable costume version ("Air Slapshot") a younger cousin who wears a sideways baseball cap ("Hat Trick," of course), and a goofy uncle ("Winger").

Bear Necessities

The Minnesota Wild have never said what animal their logo, or their mascot, Nordy, represents, We're going with bear. One thing we do know: Nordy sports the highest sweater number of any mascot - 18,001 - representing his addition to the sellout crowds at Xcel Energy Center.

No such identity confusion exists for Blades , mascot of the Boston Bruins. According to legend, he doesn't hibernate because he loves hockey.

Serving the Toronto Maple Leafs is Carlton the polar bear - named for the street in front of the former Maple Leaf Gardens. In Canada's largest city, everything hockey-related gets scrutinized. "The mascot has four 'toes' on each forepaw," bemoaned Jeff Borsuk of Fansided . "Both humans and polar bears have five phalanges on each extremity. Was there some kind of run-in with a rival polar bear?"

Even though Louie is the blue-furred polar bear mascot of the St. Louis Blues, his unofficial nickname is "Victory Dog."

Creating A Buzz

The Tampa Bay Lightning call their mascot Thunderbug . Although that's a real insect, shouldn't the mascot be called Lightning Bug? Am I overthinking this?

Stinger of the Columbus Blue Jackets is not only the club's mascot, but appeared as a shoulder logo for the franchise's first three seasons. He's a yellow jacket on a team called the Blue Jackets, and he's green, not yellow or blue. His creators described him as a "Bug with an attitude," but who has liked a bug's attitude, EVER?

I am overthinking this.

Creatures Of Habit (Or Les Habitants)

As they used to say during some pro wrestling introductions, "From parts unknown..."

Youppi! - yes, the exclamation point is part of his name, even appearing instead of numbers on his sweater - is the adopted mascot of the Montreal Canadiens. Youppi! is the other NHL representative in the Mascot Hall of Fame. I suspect, though, his 25 years with baseball's Montreal Expos (1979-2004) played a role in his enshrinement. (Youppi means "hooray!" in French.)

Victor E. Green (see what they did there?) is the Dallas Stars mascot. He connected with the Stars, you see, because he's an alien - with hockey sticks for antennae. Appropriate, I suppose, as ice hockey is still alien to most people in Texas.

It's hard to believe that Gritty , the Philadelphia Flyers mascot, has only been around since 2018. Love him or hate him - more love him, he's got more than 200,000 Twitter (X) followers and has appeared on The Tonight Show - Gritty is the mascot all other NHL mascots aspire to be.

Mythological Mascots

We've placed the Kraken's Buoy in this final category. First, though, a pair of too-hot-to-handle characters.

The New Jersey Devils mascot is simply, N.J. Devil . The legend of the Jersey Devil was actually not about the biblical Satan, but "nocturnal ramblings of a creature emerging from a desolate marsh." The devilish mascot has appeared in two very funny "This is Sportscenter" ESPN promos.

Like Youppi!, Sparky began life with another franchise, arena football's New York Dragons. They shared an owner with the New York Islanders. Now it makes sense - well, some sense - why when the Dragons folded, Sparky was re-purposed as the Islanders mascot.

While we're around the Big Apple, the reason the Rangers never have had a mascot is because, New York? The Yankees, Giants, Jets, and Knicks also have bucked the mascot trend - so far.

Vegas Golden Knights mascot Chance isn't technically mythological. He's a gila monster lizard. The mythological part is believing anyone leaves Las Vegas with more money than when they arrived. "No Chance" would have been more accurate.

The Seattle Kraken's own Buoy has become famous for his "feud" with TNT studio commentator and Spittin' Chiclets podcast host Paul Bissonnette - which we detailed here .