On the Topic Of Mascots

As the Draft is being revealed as heading to Pittsburgh for June 2012, there needed to be some shuffling of scheduling for the Consol Energy Center. One of which was a "Furries" Convention that needed to be pushed a week earlier. If you're not familiar with the "Furries" craze....then read up on it at the link.

Not only is that kind of amusing to me, but it made me wonder about mascots and how fun it would be if the mascots actually picketed outside during the FanFest wondering where the convention was and why they weren't notified.

In any case, since it's August and not much is going on out there-- this is a post on mascots that are my favorite-- sans Boomer, because I've already done something about him before.

1. Harvey the Hound-- You always got to love the first in any movement and Harvey is the first mascot in the NHL. Introduced in 1983, Harvey has been most noticeable for having his tongue ripped out by then Oilers' coach Craig MacTavish. Plus, the fact they use-- I guess-- a rescue dog for the Flames and he doesn't have a shirt on.....makes it even more interesting. Good on Harvey for being the first and most unusual-to-the-team-name mascot.

2. Badaboum-- This was the mascot of the Quebec Nordiques and it almost seemed like the starting for the Quebecors to actually have crazy muppet-esque mascots for their representation. Sadly, Badaboum did not make the trek to Colorado and could make a comeback (doubtful) if there's a team that relocates to Quebec City.

3. Youppi-- To continue with the Quebec theme, the Canadiens' mascot could be the most versatile, as Youppi was the iconic mascot of the Montreal Expos; but when they moved to Washington, DC-- the Habs picked up the pieces and kept the tradition of the Expos alive. They have the retired Expos numbers in the rafters and brought over Youppi in order to kept that tradition alive.

4. Stormy-- A hog shouldn't correlate with a hurricane, but it does in Raleigh. You see, the Hurricanes could have been called the Ice Hogs because of the all the hog farms in North Carolina. Yet, it still makes me laugh that a hog is the mascot of the Hurricanes-- but it's probably better than anything they could have come up with otherwise.

5. Nordy-- While I did say once that he was an odd looking mascot-- you have to respect the Wild's mascot. Not only is he half-bear, half-fox, half-man (ManBearFox??), but he has a mullet. Any mascot that can rock the mullet is alright in my books, even if they look freaky as hell and make people cock their heads to the sides wondering what it is.

That's my five-- and while these choices aren't like the NHL Guardians, it's a little more family friendly and unique to the team at each turn. Some have a lot to do with the team, some do not-- but the ones that do not are the best because of the guessing game of why they actually exist.