Who is Seattle Kraken’s mascot, Buoy?

Seattle Kraken is a professional ice hockey team that competes in the National Hockey League as a part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The team joined the NHL for the 2021-2022 season and plays their home games at Climate Pledge Arena. The team was approved by the NHL as an expansion franchise of Seattle Hockey Partners in December 2018. They revealed their name in July 2020, paying tribute to the mythical sea creature, the Kraken.

The Kraken is the first professional team to play in Seattle since the Seattle Totems of the Western Hockey League in 1975. Moreover, it is the first Seattle team to compete for the Stanley Cup after the Seattle Metropolitans, the 1917 Stanley Cup winner. They have their official mascot, representing the team named Buoy, a sea troll.

Seattle Kraken’s Mascot, Buoy -

The Seattle Kraken mascot Buoy is a 6-foot-tall blue sea troll and a playful figure known as the nephew of the Fremont Troll. Bouy has special features like hair inspired by hockey flow and a removable front tooth, a squeaky aqua blue nose, and a tattoo representing Kraken's logo.

Buoy’s History

Finding a perfect mascot for the Seattle Kraken was a two-year-long process that started in 2020, the time when the team revealed its name. Since, the mascot's mythical looks, they decided not to use him as their mascot. During the 2021-2022 season, they came without any official mascot rather they introduced a "team dog" on January 17, 2022, named Davy Jones, a four-month-old husky. Davy Jones socialised with fans at Seattle Karen's home games as he trained to be a therapy dog.

The mascot Buoy was introduced on October 1, 2022, at their Climate Pledge Arena. Buoy, the sea troll is called the Fremont Troll's nephew. He debuted in the preseason games against the Canucks, originally, scheduled for Christmas during the 2021-2022 season. His debut was delayed due to the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant and because of this games were postponed. After his debut, Buoy received mixed reactions from the public. Some call it "the ugliest mascot of all time." While some people like his looks and playful nature.

ESPN's Greg Wyshynski called Buoy the worst creation of the Seattle Kraken, comparing him to a land-based troll doll with a hairstyle similar to Brian Burke's. However, soon Buoy started gaining popularity among the young Kraken fans.

Buoy’s Funny Incidents

Well, like any other mascots, Buoy also entertains his fans and does funny stuff on ice during the intervals. Buoy is quite active on social media including Twitter.

Once some users trolled Buoy on Twitter, but Buoy dismissed these sarcastic remarks with responses of his own. Notably, other mascots like Gritty from the Philadelphia Flyers and Chance from the Vegas Golden Knights supported Buoy with tweets and welcomed his debut.