Wait, what?
Who is Mick E. Moose?
The former mascot for the Manitoba Moose and now Jets mascot. The following is the article from the Jets.
Mick E. has spent the past 15 seasons with the Manitoba Moose of the International and American Hockey Leagues, entertaining kids and adults alike at Moose games and community events.
“We explored dozens of mascot concepts and drawings,” said Norva Riddell, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Ultimately, the fact that Mick E. Moose seemed to connect and resonate with so many of our young fans over the past 15 seasons kept bringing us back to our history and the possibility of retaining him as our mascot.”
Mick E. Moose, a fan favourite, has averaged over 100 community appearances per season for the past 15 years in Winnipeg and rural Manitoba. Slight modifications to the costume have been made this summer by Mascots International, including a new vintage leather aviator helmet.
True North Sports & Entertainment looks forward to having Mick E. Moose continue his tradition of cheering on the home team and entertaining Winnipeg hockey fans.
Mick E. Moose, the new mascot of the Winnipeg Jets, will have a mascot zone at all Winnipeg Jets home games, presented by Recycle Everywhere. --
Let's take a quick look at the moose in action. Check out the video where he's taunting the other team's goalie.
I was wondering if Winnipeg would have a mascot. Some club do not have a mascot, including the Flyers, the Rangers, Oilers, Red Wings and Stars. Here's a shot of everyone at the All Star Game in Atlanta.
That doesn't include the newest mascots including Bernie of the Avalanche and Nordy of the Wild.
I'm a much bigger fan of the yeti mascot Colorado had before the dog, Howler.
Mascots in the NHL have unique stories, at least many of them.
Youppi! (of the Montreal Canadiens) actually switched sports. But I'll let you watch the documentary yourself. It even got a narrator with a thick French accent. Awesome.
The Red Wings arguably do have a mascot, though he only appear in the postseason. It is a giant inflatable octopus named Al.
For more on Al and octopi in Detriot, check this out. There's also pictures of other things thrown on the ice at other arenas. Interesting to say the least.
Harvey the Hound in Calgary was the first NHL mascot when he came on the scene in 1983.
He once famously had his tongue ripped out by the Oilers Head Coach Craig MacTavishin.
Man bites dog.
But that's nothing compared to Iceburgh. He starred in a movie. I've already covered that too in a previous Ice Girls post. Spoiler alert: there's a video on that post where he dies a dramatic death.
The Blue Jackets actually have two mascots. One is an ugly bee (an ugly green bee for the BLUE jackets) and the other is a canon. They have an actual cannon they shoot for goals and wins, but I'm talking about a mascot, walking around cannon.
Why a green bee? I mean, the Blue Jackets is a Civil War term used for some Ohio groups. It's a fighting battalion (hence the cannon). So why make your mascot a GREEN bee? It's not like the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, named after a bug called yellow jackets, so their mascot is a yellow jacket (coincidently, his main color is yellow)
It seems to me if you are making up an animal for your mascot and your team is called the Blue Jackets, you'd make the gorram mascot blue.
Fail.
As a side note, who can't love Buzz as a mascot?
Unless...
Oh yeah. I guess he's not a Buzz fan. And while I'm not a bulldog fan (more of a ramblin' wreck guy), I will say that Georgia produced one of the greatest mascot moments ever.
That's not an optical illusion or an ackward moment caught in a photo that just looks like the dog lunging at the player and the player backing up. The video is more telling.
That's Uga taking a nip at an Auburn player. A 1996 game where Auburn scores, Robert Baker runs right at the dog and instead of backing down, the dog attempts to bite him.
Back to the NHL.
Now, why do the Islanders have a dragon named Sparky for a mascot? Well, it's because that mascot pulled double duty and was also the mascot for the New York Dragons Arena Football team until 2009.
So what is the Carolina Hurricanes mascot?
Let's ask some of Stormy's best friends, the Storm Squad (cheerleaders for the Carolina Hurricanes).
Good job girls. Very helpful.
And yes. That last guy is Mike and he is a full member of the Storm Squad.
And he's apparently the only one on the team who looked at Stormy's webpage.
Thrashers mascot Thrash was once arrested for stealing a zamboni.
Thrash also had the best looking security detail with him.
And he always let the oppossing team know how he felt.
Okay, Thrash. Let's focus and get back to talking about other notable mascot incidents or traits.
Focus! Let's get back on topic...
Gnash of the Predators scales buildings. That is mighty impressive. You can barely see him in the picture, but he's there.
Fin is famous for biting people in his pictures up in Vancouver. He's the official mascot, though the Green Men might be more popular.
Bailey, the mascot for the Kings, was named in honor of the late Garnet “Ace” Bailey who served as the Los Angeles Kings' Director of Pro Scouting for seven years before dying in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
N.J. Devil has one of the best ESPN commercials ever.
S.J. Sharkie was once caught in a rope during a repell onto the ice in 1999 where he delayed the game for 20 minutes until he could be hoisted up to a catwalk. You can see part of the interview he gave to the Daily Show back in 1999 with a young Jon Stewart.
Dangling above the ice is still not as bad as what happened to Wildwing, mascot for the then Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The fowl actually caught on fire during his introduction. He attempted to jump over a wall of fire. And that didn't go so well.
So, as you can see, Mr. Moose joins a roster of likeable and memorable mascots including Sabretooth (BUF), Louie (STL), Thunderbug (TBL), Tommy Hawk (CHI), Slapshot (WSH), Howler (PHX), Carlton the Bear (TOR), Spartacat (OTT), Stanley C. Panther (FLA), and Blades (BOS).
Good luck Mick!
I hope he's ready for his NHL debute along with the rest of the Jets tomorrow afternoon. And may your intro go better than that Duck's.
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