Ex-mascot Pucky the Whale dances in gifs you never knew you needed

Author:
SI.com Staff
Publish date:
Oct 16, 2014

Pucky the Whale proves that a mascot doesn’t need to have a team to break it down like a preteen at a middle school dance.

Pucky has come out of retirement to twerk on Twitter. Dan Ryan created gifs of everyone's favorite green whale doing the sprinkler and even picking a fight during a dance-off with Worcester’s Finz. The former Connecticut Whale mascot was retired in 2013 when the team became the Hartford Wolf Pack, but he has picked up a couple of self defense moves since being tackled in 2011.

• Firefighter-killing AHL mascot Scorch consigned to ash heap of history

Asides from becoming a great new reaction gif, Pucky joined Whalers founder Howard Baldwin on the book signing circuit.

-- Anna Celia Gallegos

Weirdest Hockey Mascots

Harvey: Calgary Flames

You'd think a team with a name like the Flames would employ a fire-themed mascot like the ill-fated Scorch (inset), but Harvey the Hound has been Calgary's alpha dog since 1984. His droopy tongue is the oddest thing about him, and it made an inviting target for Oilers coach Craig MacTavish, who ripped it out of Harvey's mouth during a 2003 game.

Stinger: Columbus Blue Jackets

David E. Klutho/SI; Michael Miller via Wikipedia

The Blue Jackets' Civil War connection is not always immediately recognized, so it was fitting that Boomer the Cannon (inset) was often mistaken for a bong, mustachioed male genitalia, or a sausage between two pizza wheels after his introduction in 2010. His plug was quickly pulled, leaving the team with its original mascot, Stinger, who seems to be a play on a yellow jacket except that he's green.

HockeyBird: NHL

NHL-mascot-HockeyBird-X157809-TK1_0142-groucho-marx.jpg — David E. Klutho/SI

Introduced for the league's 2014 Stadium Series of outdoor games, it's an odd hybrid of a puck and an Angry Bird topped with Groucho Marx eyebrows. All it needs is a cigar and some Marxist zingers like, "Bettman, you have the brain of a four-year-old boy and I bet he was glad to get rid of it."

Max: Manchester Monarchs (AHL)

Clearly a kin of Bailey, the L.A. Kings' lion mascot, Max's purple snout summons Marxist images of Groucho's greasepaint mustache. Like HockeyBird, he could also use a nice big cheroot in the corner of his mouth.

Fin: Vancouver Canucks

We get that he's supposed to be an orca like the one on the team's crest, but Fin's uncanny resemblance to the malevolent creature in the Alien movies is a bit unnerving. And he's often seen biting people's heads.

Twister: Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL)

Whatever it is, it's the stuff of bad dreams ... or an Alien prequel.

Victor E. Green: Dallas Stars

The NHL's newest mascot is an alien with hockey sticks for antennas. The outer space thing does make sense for a team called the Stars, and his name either refers to the club's official colors or, as some have speculated, Norman Green, the former owner who spirited the franchise away from Minnesota in 1993.

Audie: Utica Comets (AHL)

A cross between a big little green man and actor Eugene Levy?

Youppi!: Montreal Canadiens

What is he? The former mascot of the Montreal Expos. Youppi! (French for "Yippee!") was taken in by the storied Habs after the MLB team relocated to Washington for the 2005 season and left him on his own.

Sparky: New York Islanders

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Google Images

What hath a dragon to do with the Islanders? Like Montreal's Youppi!, Sparky was once employed by a team in another sport (in this case Charles Wang's NY Dragons of the Arena Football League). After Wang bought the Isles in 2000, Sparky replaced the shabby, vaguely creepy Nyisles (inset), who was supposed to be seafarer like the fisherman on the team's infamous crest of mid-90s.

Badaboum: Quebec Nordiques

I am the Walrus? The Nordiques' mascot, which must have a sibling named Badabing, was abandoned when the team moved to Colorado, became the Avalanche, and upgraded to Howler the Yeti.

Bernie: Colorado Avalanche

In 2009, the Avs replaced the somewhat scurvy Howler the Yeti (inset), who'd been spotted in the Pepsi Center stands for two years, with Bernie, a St. Bernard with a cask (or is it a football?) attached to its chin.

Spike: Toledo Walleye (ECHL)

toledo-walley-mascot-spike-creature-from-the-black-lagoon.jpg — Courtesy of the Toledo Walleye

A cousin of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Obviously works for scale.

Stormy: Carolina Hurricanes

Granted, finding a suitable mascot for a team named after a meteorological maelstrom is a challenge, but Stormy gives one paws, er, pause. If you're not from the Tar Heel State, you're probably unaware that he's an homage to North Carolina's many hog farms and that Ice Hogs was considered as a name for the former Whalers after they relocated from Hartford in 1997.