NHL Mascots are one of the best aspects of attending your team's game in person rather than watching it on the TV. They work as the team's lucky charm.
A good mascot knows how to work the crowd. They work as the teams' lucky charm, pumping up the crowd, throwing out t-shirts and even taunting the players in the penalty box at times.
Chicago's Tommy Hawk and Montreals Youppui! are the only NHL mascots to have been inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame for "North American Sports Mascots" was founded in 1993, it is located in Whitling, Indiana.
The mascots are doing their work this season as well and as such here are the 31 NHL mascots ranked from worst to best. The NY Rangers are the only team without a mascot.
Harvey the Hound is the first NHL mascot, he made his debut in 1983. Grant Kelba created the 6'6" and 200 lbs anthropomorphic dog, performing as him until 1999.
He appears to be a Siberian Husky, the reason for selecting a Husky was because of Canada's history with dog sleds. Harvey certainly does not appear as cute as Husky, and the long tongue is unsettling.
Spartacat or 'Sparty' is an anthropomorphic lion and the official mascot of the Ottawa Senators. He debuted on October 8, 1992, in the Senators' home game against the Canadiens.
Sparty is said to be a lion but he is not the best-looking lion out there with his wonky teeth and a mane that does him no favors. He is very passionate though and has been a part of the Senators games since the team's inception in '92.
The Edmonton Oilers mascot 'Hunter' was introduced on September 26, 2016. He is an anthropomorphic Canadian lynx and wears the number 72.
Hunter was named after Bill Hunter, known for the founding of the Oilers, the WHA(1972-1979), and the WHL.
The Lynx cat is a weird choice for a mascot by the Oilers, and while he is not the worst-looking one in the pack he looks too scary for its good.
The Thunderbug is the official mascot of the Tampa Bay Lightning, he wears the number 00 and accompanies 'Thunderstruck by AC/DC' with his bass drum as part of the Lightning's pre-game ritual.
He is a bug mascot with very big and wide eyes with feathers around the eyes and two antennae on his head.
A bug mascot might not be the cutest or the best-looking one out there but he still looks better than Harvey or Sparty.
The St. Louis Blues mascot is 'Louie' a blue-furred polar bear first introduced by the team on October 10, 2007.
He is nicknamed "Victory Dog" due to his generic appearance.
Louie is from the Artic Circle according to the team's website and the blue bear while it certainly looks cute, it is not the most unique choice of animal for a mascot.
There are other bear-themed mascots and the cartoonish design of Louie may not have been the best choice for a hockey team.
The Minnesota Wild's mascot 'Nordy' was introduced on October 5, 2008. He wears hockey hair a green 'M' and the jersey number 18,001.
While Nordy's species is uncertain with some speculating that he is a puma or a bear/for a hybrid what is certain is that he looks a bit like Alex from the movie Madagascar.
He does look like something the team picked out of the Wild which is fitting for the team but the color scheme could have been better.
Stormy is an anthropomorphic pig and the official mascot of the Carolina Hurricanes. He wears the number 97 which refers to 1997, the year the team moved to Carolina.
There are plenty of hog farms in eastern North Carolina hence the choice of a pig for a mascot.
The mascot itself looks good, especially with its innocent-looking eyes, and the name 'Stormy' is awesome however, there is a mismatch between the name and the design.
The Vegas Golden Knights mascot is Chance the Gila Monster which the team unveiled on October 13, 2017.
The Gila Monster is a venomous lizard and one of the first animals to gain legal protection.
According to the team website the Gila Monster is "strong like the city of Las Vegas". Well, he certainly looks strong and buff but he's completely hairless with features that make him look a bit jarring.
The Florida Panthers mascots are Stanley C. Panther and Victor E. Ratt. Stanley is an anthropomorphic Florida Panther named for the Stanley Cup. Victor E. Ratt is a rat named after the team's rat trick tradition.
The Panthers mascots are uninspired and seem somewhat boring but their design are still better than some of the mascots out there.
The mascots are literally like a Florida Panthers which is very fitting for the team if nothing else.
Arizona Coyotes mascot is a Coyote named 'Howler the Coyote' who was introduced on October 15, 2005.
He wears the number 96, the year the team moved to Arizona from Winnipeg.
The mascot itself looks cute and the choice of the animal works well for the team named Coyotes. He has many different outfits in games and knows how to play the drum, he sometimes uses a bucket as a drum.
The Buffalo Sabres' mascot is a Sabre-toothed tiger named 'Sabretooth', he was the mascot for the National Lacrosse Leagues Buffalo Bandits from 1992-1998.
The mascot's design itself looks less like the ferocious Sabretooth tiger and more like Tony the Tiger's cousin.
He does get additional points for rappeling down from the ceiling blasting rock music and driving a four-wheeler on the ice at times.
The Colombus Blue Jackets mascot is 'Stinger' a 6'9" yellowjacket wasp. He wears the number 00 which is short for 2000, the year the team was founded.
He has hockey sticks for his eyebrows and is green in color, his menacing look is a nice touch, however. The Choice of using the color green seems odd for a team that has the word 'Blue' in its name.
The Dallas Stars Mascot is Victor E. Green which is a play on words of the team's color 'Victory Green'.
The furry green alien was introduced as the team's first mascot on September 13, 2014.
His design is not the worst one out there but it seems like they came up with the name for the mascot first and everything else came after that.
He has two Hockey stick antennae on top of his head and the fact that he is an alien from space far far away fits with the team's name 'Stars' as well.
The Seattle Kraken's mascot 'Buoy' made his debut on October 1, 2022. He is a 6-foot-tall blue troll and the Fremont troll's nephew.
The reason Seattle used a troll instead of a Kraken was because "nobody knows what a Kraken looks like" according to the team and the fact that Detroit already has an Octopus mascot.
The design and the overall color scheme of the mascot are better than some of the mascots active in the NHL currently.
The Toronto Maple Leafs mascot is 'Carlton the Bear' a 6'4" bipedal polar bear. He made his debut on October 10, 1995, when the Leafs hosted the NY Islanders.
The mascot's design is fairly simplistic but for Carlton, it works; he's certainly a better-looking bear than Louie.
His name comes from '60 Carlton Street' the location of the Maple Leafs Gardens, Toronto's home from 1932 -1999.
The Vancouver Canucks mascot 'Fin the Whale' debuted in the 2001-02 season. He is an anthropomorphic orca and is known for "chomping" heads at the Rogers Arena.
Killer whales are common in the Vancouver Area and they are dangerous sea creatures.
He is certainly unique among the NHL mascots but facing Fin with those sharp teeth head-on can be intimidating and quite unsettling.
The Chicago Blackhawks mascot Tommy Hawk was introduced in the 2001-02 season. He is a hawk who has been inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame.
The mascot's designs are good but his eyes look sort of soulless, his mohawk is pretty good-looking.
He wears a Blackhawks jersey and hockey pants and walks around greeting the fans before the game and during the game as well.
The Pittsburgh Penguins mascot is a King Penguin named 'Iceburgh', he debuted for the 1992-93 season.
He wears the number 00 and his name is a play on "Iceberg" and "Pittsburgh"
The mascot's head is not proportional to its body and he is cross-eyed and slack-jawed.
His design which is charming somehow, is still pretty far from the ferocious penguin that serves as the team's logo
The Nashville Predators mascot is a saber-toothed tiger named 'Gnash', he was introduced in 1998. His name is a pun on the first Syllable of "Nashville".
The mascot's design seems like the upgraded version of Sabretooth, the Buffalo Sabres mascot.
His design with two sharp teeth at the front makes him look fierce but he still looks approachable.
Blades the Bruin has been the mascot of the Boston Bruins since 1999. He is a brown bear and the best-looking bear mascot in the NHL.
His design is not too complicated and he looks fierce effortlessly, unlike some of the other teams who attempted to make their mascot look ferocious but failed at it.
The mascot looks a bit menacing but cute it toes the line between the two quite well.
The San Jose Sharks mascot is an anthropomorphic Shark named 'S.J. Sharkie', he was introduced in January 1992.
The mascot is a Shark with sharp teeth and a shark head and eyebrows that work quite well, the name could have been more creative.
He's a friendly shark who was once stuck while rappelling down from the rafters at the SAP Center, he was eventually rescued from there.
The Detroit Red Wings mascot 'Al the Octopus' is the only mascot that is not costumed in the NHL.
The mascot was inspired by the Detroit Red Wings Octopus throwing tradition.
Al got his name from AL Sobotka who was a Zamboni driver responsible for picking up the Octopus that fans threw on the ice, he used to whirl them above his head.
The only drawback of Al is the fact that he is not costumed but Al is still a great mascot despite that fact.
The Los Angeles Kings' mascot is Bailey, a 6-foot-tall lion, he debuted during the 2007-08 season. Bailey is 6'4" if his mane is to be included
He was named in honor of Garnet Bailey who worked as the team's Director of Pro Scouring since 1994 until he passed away in the 9/11 attacks.
Bailey is the team's second mascot, the Kings had a short-lived mascot named Kingston in 1990.
The friendly lion mascot looks like one unlike Spartacat and unlike the Senators' mascot, the mane on Bailey is much better looking.
The Montreal Canadiens mascot is 'Youppi!' whose name means Yippee! or Hurray! in French. He was the former MLB's Montreal Expos mascot from 1979 - 2004.
Youppi is a furry orange creature who was the first mascot to be thrown out of a baseball game. He was been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2020.
After the Expos moved to become the Washington Nationals Youppi! was left without a team but luckily the Canadiens introduced him as their first official mascot on September 16, 2005.
The New York Islanders mascot is 'Sparky the Dragon. He served as the New York Dragons Arena Football team's mascot before he came to the NHL.
The design of the mascot is a blue dragon with orange wings and horns, his bottom jaw is orange. He looks like a happy dragon, his design and color scheme have been done right.
The New Jersey Devils' mascot is a 7-foot-tall Devil named 'N.J. Devil'. He debuted in 1993 and his character plays into the myth of the "Jersey Devil".
The mascot looks like a cartoon devil brought to life but not too goofy and quite fitting for a team named the "Devils".
This was the team's second shot at the mascot, their first mascot was a puck with horns named 'Slapshot', the team got it right on their second try.
The Washington Capitals mascot is a bald eagle named 'Slapshot', unveiled on November 17, 1995.
He wears jersey number 00 and is commonly accompanied by Air Slapshot and Hat trick at home games.
A bald eagle is nothing if not fitting for a team located in Washington, the capital of the U.S.A.
The mascot itself is a better-looking bird-themed mascot than Tommy Hawk of Chicago, Slapshot eyes have some soul in them.
Mick E. Moose debuted in 1994 as the mascot for the Manitoba Moose of the IHL. He has been the Jets mascot since October 7, 2011.
He is a brown moose wearing an old-school flying helmet/pilot hat, with two antlers on his head, and sporting a devilish grin that perfectly fits the game of hockey.
Moose is certainly one of the most unique-looking mascots in the NHL and his name is great as well, it is catchy and a play on the classic "Mickey Mouse".
The Philadelphia Flyers mascot 'Gritty' was introduced on September 24, 2018. He is a 7-foot-tall orange creature with googly eyes that wears the number 00.
Gritty and his antics like recreating Kim Kardashian's "breaking the internet photo" and more have earned him fame even outside the NHL.
He is known even by people who don't know much about the game of Hockey itself which speaks volumes for the mark he has left so far.
He's certainly the better-looking orange creature out there and he has been compared to the Phillie Phanatic.
The best-looking mascot in the NHL right now is the Anaheim Ducks 'Wild Wing. He wears the number 93, the Anaheim Ducks were founded in 1993.
The Wild Wing got his name from a fan "Name the Mascot" write-in contest. He is an anthropomorphic duck that wears a duck-shaped old-school goalie mask, which embodies the sport of hockey quite well.
He is the Ducks' old "Mighty Ducks" logo that came to life. The team's original third jersey "the Wild Wing Jersey" inspired by the mascot made its return in 2021 as part of the reverse retro line.
