Video: Inside the world of St. Louis Blues' Louie the bear, the NHL’s most underrated mascot
If there's one thing we like here at Puck Daddy like other than beer, Martin Brodeur(notes) jokes, Ice Girls and jersey fouls, it's mascots. From Youppi! to IceBurgh to Fin to Stanley C. Panther, mascots provide a (sometimes) much needed comedic service to fans in-between periods and stoppages of play.
Or if you're Craig MacTavish, an annoying distraction behind the bench.
Because it's August and other than the R&D camp in Toronto, there's not much going on -- unless you're on pins and needles waiting for Bill Sweatt to make his decision. And because it's August, we found ourselves lost in the world of NHL mascots, specifically Louie the Bear of the St. Louis Blues.
If you haven't been introduce to Louie yet, here's his bio from the Blues website:
"When he was old enough, the blue bear traveled all the way to St. Louis to meet the Blues. After meeting the team, he was inspired with their high energy and great teamwork. Even though they had never met a blue bear before, all the Blues'players & coaches liked him so much that they invited him to be a part of the team ... as their mascot! He knew that he had finally found where he belonged.
On October 10, 2007, he was introduced to the fans and got to play "When the BLUES Go Marching In" on his saxophone. It was the greatest night of his life.
Then, on November 3, 2007, the blue bear was named Louie by the fans. He was even given his very own game jersey!"
So, in short, if you hang around the Blues long enough they'll eventually hire you.
After the jump, we explore the ups and downs of Louie's love life and showcase his tremendous hip-hop dancing skills.
General Larry Platt took over the world in February with his American Idol audition that introduced "Pants on the Ground" to us all. Louie shows us his version:
More on Louie's phenomenal dancing skills in a bit.
Here Louie tries his hand at online dating only to run into a Washington Capitals fan ... this coming three days after Cam Janssen knocked Matt Bradley out with a hit:
Always the office prankster, Louie decided to scare the bejesus out of unsuspecting Blues employees as they leave for the day. Unfortunately, one victim didn't take things in a joking manner and another left the building looking like he'd just had a walk-off hit for the New York Yankees:
Needing to get into shape before the season, Louie ventured over to a local gymnastics center to work the kinks out. It's a fine video, but we're left wondering why he needed to workout in the nude in front of small children:
Finally, showing off his true hip-hop dancing skills, Louie explores the past decade of dance:
This calls for a dance-off competition at next year's Celebrity Mascot Games.