Now, here are the mascots from Port Huron. Didn't take too long at all, actually. As far as I know, the original Port Huron Flags and the Port Huron Clippers did not have mascots (the Clippers barely had any paying customers, for that matter). We'll start with Bridges and work our way to Mitts, the Prowlers mascot. All of these pictures are either from my program collection or pictures I've taken at hockey games.
Once again, if you know what happened to the suits, let me know. Just curious where they wound up after the teams folded or moved away.
1. Bridges (Port Huron Border Cats, CoHL, 1996-2000)
Bridges (as far as I know) was the first mascot for a Port Huron pro hockey team. He was actually the third mascot in the franchise's history, as the Detroit Falcons had Freddie and Frieda the Falcons during their stay in Fraser. The logo had the Blue Water Bridge in it, hence the name. Bridges would dance around the concourse at McMorran Arena and skate around prior to player introductions and during intermissions. Pretty straightforward mascot, a happy wildcat with blue gloves and a Border Cats jersey. Not a bad mascot at all, in fact he was my favorite of the Port Huron mascots. Bridges stuck around during the first four seasons of the team, when he was replaced by Clawed when the team changed their logo and jerseys. Whereabouts for Bridges are unknown.
2. Clawed (Port Huron Border Cats, UHL, 2000-02)When the Border Cats debuted their new logo and uniforms for the 2000-01 season, they also debuted a new mascot. Gone was Bridges, and in his place was Clawed, a slightly tougher looking mascot. Clawed was around for the last two seasons the Border Cats were in existence. I went to about 3-4 games in those last two years, so I don't remember Clawed as well as Bridges. I think he pretty much did the same things that Bridges did. Clawed was released back into the wild when the Border Cats suspended operations after the 2001-02 season. Whereabouts are unknown.
3. Captain Breaker (Port Huron Beacons, UHL, 2002-05)Shortly after the Border Cats went out of business, a new team moved in, owned by the Dixon family from Ohio. A name the team contest was held, and the team was christened Port Huron Beacons, in honor of the lighthouses and seafaring tradition of the region (I guess). The team's new mascot was Captain Breaker, a sailor with an orange fu manchu and a permanent wink. The mascot was based off an unfortunate secondary logo, featuring a hockey stick sticking out from the captain's crotch. Seriously, here it is for your amusement:
I wasn't a Beacons fan (I thought the name and logos were stupid) and only went to one of their games, Game 3 of the 2004 first round series against the Flint Generals. That was the first time I've been to a game at McMorran and cheered against the home team, btw. I don't really remember Captain Breaker too much, to be honest. Captain Breaker went down with the ship when the Dixons moved the Beacons, who lost millions of dollars, to Roanoke, VA, to draw even worse crowds and lose even more money in a much larger arena for one season. Whereabouts unknown.
4. Slapshot (Port Huron Flags, UHL, 2005-07)For attempt #3 in the UHL, Port Huron went old school and resurrected the Port Huron Flags as a community-owned, non-profit organization. What exactly do you do for a mascot for a team called "Flags"? I guess they could have gone with an eagle, but instead, they went with a teddy bear. This was Slapshot, a teddy bear dressed in a home Port Huron Flags uniform, complete with a helmet and Hanson Brothers glasses. As a mascot, Slapshot was friendly, inoffensive and totally harmless...which was pretty much how you would describe the UHL's version of the Flags those two seasons. Since I was doing midtier and student teaching then, I only made it to one Flags game, a shootout win against Motor City. I do remember seeing Slapshot during the game. He was okay. Slapshot was sent packing when the Flags suspended operations after the 2007 season, though he did reappear at a mascot broom hockey game during an Icehawks game (though noticeably shorter). The Port Huron Amateur Hockey Association should have used him for their mascot (their teams are called Flags anyway). Whereabouts unknown.
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Hawkey was the original Icehawks mascot, appearing for all three seasons of that team's existence. Hawkey had an attitude, he would taunt the opponents and bang on the glass above the benches. Look at those blood red eyes on him and that evil smirk too! As you can see by his trading card, Hawkey would skate around during intermissions and prior to introductions, as well as walk around the concourse interacting with fans. He was one of the better Port Huron mascots, second only to Bridges. Hawkey would be joined by another mascot in 2008, as the Icehawks were the only team in Port Huron to employ two mascots at the same time.
6. Mohawk (Port Huron Icehawks, IHL, 2008-10)The Kinneys lost about $3 million on the Icehawks in three years of operation, but they gave it their best shot to make the team work in Port Huron. The second mascot for the Icehawks arrived in 2008-09, named Mohawk. Mohawk was a much happier-looking mascot and didn't have the evil red eyes of his partner. Hawkey mostly did the same stuff that Hawkey did, skate around during intermissions, shoot off t-shirt cannons, interact with the kids in the crowd, the usual mascot stuff. Mohawk wasn't too bad, but I preferred Hawkey.
Both Hawkey and Mohawk flew the coop after the Icehawks folded following the 2009-10 season. Don't worry, hockey wasn't dead in Port Huron, you just can't kill it off. Now it's time for junior hockey to take a shot at McMorran Arena. Whereabouts for both Mohawk and Hawkey are unknown.
7. Shootsy (Port Huron Fighting Falcons, NAHL, 2010-14)This picture is the best I could do for Shootsy, the mascot for the Fighting Falcons. He's based off the road jersey's logo, which is right here:
That logo, btw, nearly got this new team a copyright infringement lawsuit, because the original version closely resembled a logo designed by Mike Ivall. Even after the color changes and the slight alterations, it still resembled it. Why they used that, I have no idea, because the logo they used for their home jerseys was far superior (and still one of my all-time favorites). Anyway, Shootsy was an okay mascot, nothing out of the ordinary or crazy. He skated around McMorran ice and walked around the concourse, interacting with the few fans that bothered to show up for Falcons games. He had an advantage over his rival, the Michigan Warriors mascot, by not looking like a nightmarish skeleton. Shootsy was shot down after the Fighting Falcons relocated to Connellsville, Pennsylvania, following the 2013-14 season. Whereabouts unknown.
8. Mitts (Port Huron Prowlers, FPHL, 2015-present)McMorran went without hockey for the 2014-15 season, except for one FHL neutral site game to test the market. When the game drew over 1,700, pro hockey returned with the new Port Huron Prowlers. The team's mascot is Mitts, who looks like a distant cousin of Bridges the Border Cat. Mitts wears whatever jersey the Prowlers are wearing that night, complete with hockey gloves and pants. You can usually find him wandering around the concourse, with little kids walking up to him. Pretty good mascot, probably third best of all the Port Huron mascots. He's definitely the longest-lasting of all eight, as the Prowlers are coming up on 10 seasons in Port Huron, second only to the IHL's Flags/Wings (who existed for 19 seasons).
So there you have it, the mascots of the three cities that I attend the most hockey games at. Maybe later I'll do a post for random mascots, such as Vipe-Bear (Detroit Vipers mascot), Slappy the K-Wings mascot, or Icy D. Eagle (Fort Wayne Komets). Perhaps I'll throw in some historical mascots, like the freaky-as-hell Big Mo from the old Muskegon Mohawks. Or the Flying C mascot from when I went to Central Michigan (not hockey, but still odd).
Back to programs.
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