The American Hockey League’s annual Mascot Madness fan vote is currently underway on theahl.com, with the most popular mascot set to be crowned on April 6.
Unfortunately for local hockey fans there is no representative for the Abbotsford Canucks because the team remains the lone active team in the AHL without a mascot.
All other 30 teams in the AHL are represented in the voting with six groups of five mascots squaring off in round one.
Voting for #MascotMadness Group B has started!
— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) March 24, 2022
Voting ends Saturday (3/26) at 2PM ET ➡️ https://t.co/9ZMTxoT4mv pic.twitter.com/SdgGsxbc1k
It’s unclear why the Abbotsford Canucks do not have a mascot, or if there are plans for the team to adopt one. The News asked Abbotsford team officials about the status of the team’s potential mascot, but have not yet received a reply.
Fin, the Vancouver Canucks mascot, was present for the Abbotsford Canucks home opener on Oct. 22, 2021 and has been present for several other Abbotsford events, but an official AHL mascot has yet to be revealed.
The Abbotsford Heat did have a mascot when they began in the 2009-10 season - a bird named Hawkey the Hawk designed after the red-tailed hawk which can be found in the Fraser Valley. The character represented the Heat from 2009 to 2014 when the team moved.
Hawkey did not make the trip when the Heat relocated to Adirondack for the 2014-15 season and they adopted a flame figure known as Scorch. The backstory on Scorch is that he was the lone surviving flame from an 1864 fire in Glenns Falls, N.Y. That fire destroyed 112 buildings and caused an estimated $1 million in damage in 1864 dollars.
Scorch was short lived as the team then moved to Stockton where they remain today. Stockton’s mascot is also a bird known as Frankie the Firebird. There is some speculation that Frankie may have to be re-branded as the newest team in the AHL is known as the Coachella Valley Firebirds. That team, which is the affiliate for the Seattle Kraken, begin play in 2022-23.
For more details on the vote, visit theahl.com/mascotmadness2022.