The Seattle Kraken officially have a mascot and it was certainly not the one hockey fans were expecting.
On Saturday, during the team’s preseason game against the Vancouver Canucks, the Kraken announced their newest mascot Buoy, a sea troll inspired by a Seattle landmark, the Fremont Troll. The news came as a surprise to many, not just because the Kraken are only in their second year as a franchise, but also because the team’s mascot isn’t a sea creature of some kind.
Instead of an octopus-type creature or some other seafaring animal or myth, the Kraken went with a blue haired troll — with an anchor earring! — straight out of the Trolls doll collection from the 1990s.
yoohoo 👋 pic.twitter.com/wQaPFYm1fx
— Buoy (@SEAbuoy) October 2, 2022
Here’s how Buoy was announced to Seattle fans, with quite the entrance from the rafters too.
Oh Buoy, this is going to be good! 😉
Welcome to The Deep, @SEAbuoy! pic.twitter.com/ZNCNfqn4iR
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) October 2, 2022
I’m willing to give Buoy a chance here, because he’s not even a day old, but it does feel really disappointing the Kraken couldn’t keep up their run of excellent branding to create a mascot more unique than this. But hey, at least Buoy is having fun with hockey fans on Twitter already.
*literally exists* 🥱 pic.twitter.com/T79mZgW8Td
— Buoy (@SEAbuoy) October 2, 2022
It seems like it’s going to take some time for NHL fans to warm up to Buoy.