In this edition of our NHL power rankings, we’re looking at the best mascots.
Over the years in sports, mascots have seemed to get more and more popular. Of course, it makes sense, given the excitement it can give kids attending the games, as well as the marketing opportunities it presents teams with. So in this week’s NHL power rankings, we’re looking at the best mascots.
The New York Rangers are the only current NHL team to have never yet had a mascot. The other team who hadn’t until recently was the Philadelphia Flyers, whose new mascot absolutely blew up and can be found further down this list, along with two others, as one of the top three greatest mascots in the NHL.
3. Harvey the Hound
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Harvey the Hound has been the Calgary Flames mascot since 1983. Because of how long he has been around, he has become extremely popular. During his time with the Flames, he has attended seven NHL All-Star Games. He also toured Japan to help promote the league to a new demographic.
Harvey’s most notorious moment came in 2003, in a situation involving the Flames rival Edmonton Oilers. Harvey was leaning over the Oilers bench during a game in the Saddledome.
Head coach Craig MacTavish, who was clearly not happy about this, reached out and ripped out Harvey’s tongue. To this day, it was one of if not the most famous mascot clips in NHL history.
2. Youppi!
Although Youppi! is now the mascot of the Montreal Canadiens, he actually began as the mascot of the former MLB franchise Montreal Expo’s. In fact, he is one of just three mascots to be displayed at the Baseball Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame earlier this week. After the Expos moved to Washington, he became the Canadiens mascot and debuted at the beginning of the 2005-06 season.
With the move, Youppi! became the first-ever mascot to switch from one professional sports league to another. He remains with the Canadiens today and is very popular amongst the home crowd. Due to his long-time tenure, along with his bright orange appearance, he is one of the most recognizable mascots in all of professional sports.
1. Gritty
It should come as a surprise to no one to see Gritty at the top of this list. Since being debuted by the Philadelphia Flyers at the beginning of the 2018-19 season, Gritty has been without a doubt the most popular mascot in the NHL. He absolutely blew up on social media due to his bizarre appearance. The bright orange, seven-foot-tall, googly-eyed creature has been described as an “acid trip” of a mascot.
Though many fans were frightened of Gritty when he first joined the Flyers, that perception has changed big time due to his friendly encounters with fans at all the team’s home games. Not only has he become the most famous mascot in the NHL, but he has also become one of the most famous members of the Flyers. Gritty currently has 284 thousand followers on Instagram and 307 thousand on Twitter. It doesn’t appear that his popularity will die down anytime soon.