Ranking the top 13 mascots across Canadian sports

Feb 21 2023, 4:41 pm

Among Canada’s vast and spread-out landscape, mascots reside from the far reaches of St. John’s all the way to Victoria.

With over 50 professional sports teams and dozens more minor league and amateur organizations across the country, the mascot selection is vast.

There are animal mascots, mascots who look like people, and even mascots that identify as inanimate objects.

While it’s not an exact science, we’ve ranked the 13 best Canadian sports mascots, with familiar faces and lesser-known ones rounding out the list.

13. Komak — Team Canada

Komak

Twitter/@TeamCanada

Komak, the Canadian Olympic Committee mascot, is comedically Canadian, although it seems just to fit. Canada’s Olympic teams have long had a moose structure outside their buildings in the Olympic Athletes’ Villages.

When he was introduced in 2013, Komak became the first Canadian Olympic mascot in 17 years, yet he went silent for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, with @Komak on Twitter not posting since the summer of 2021, perhaps due to the COVID-19 restricted games.

12. Gainer the Gopher — Saskatchewan Roughriders

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Twitter/@sskroughriders

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have one of the most dedicated fan bases in all of sports, and their mascot, Gainer the Gopher, is no exception, helping make Mosaic Stadium a unique atmosphere among Canadian sporting events.

A part of the Roughriders for over 30 years, Gainer is “continually breaking down the barriers between man and rodent,” according to the football club.

Although the mascot has had several looks through the years, Gainer is continuously at the heart of Roughrider culture alongside watermelons.

11. Hunter — Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers / Twitter

The Edmonton Oilers mascot, Hunter, might be the NHL’s most divisive.

Introduced in 2016, Hunter’s focused eyes and sharp teeth might scare some children, but his ability to skate with agility in EA NHL’s video game mascot events will endear him to pre-teens and beyond.

He’s named after Bill Hunter, the original owner of the Oilers, who changed professional hockey in North America when he went head-to-head with the NHL by owning Edmonton’s franchise in the World Hockey Association (WHA)

Not many teams have a Canadian lynx as their mascot, so that’s cool.

10. Sasq’ets the Sasquatch — University of the Fraser Valley

Mascot Canada

Twitter/@UFVCascades

The mascot for the University of the Fraser Valley may not pop into mind, but Sasq’ets the Sasquatch is certainly within the top 13 mascots in Canada and is the best mascot out of Canada’s 56 top-level university athletics programs.

Although a fictional animal, Sasq’ets showcases the green and grey of the UFV Cascades athletics programs and has shown up at UFV and community events since representing the school in 2010.

9. Harvey the Hound — Calgary Flames

Calgary Flames

Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Harvey the Hound is adorable, ridiculous, and overall a good mascot; he’s just not very applicable to a team called the “Flames.”

Although he’s dressed up as a firefighter, Harvey could have been better off wearing a full suit rather than just the pants.

His long tongue is pretty sweet too, and he certainly earns some bonus points for getting it pulled out by former Edmonton Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish.

8. The Raptor — Toronto Raptors

Raptors

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Raptors mascot is multi-dimensional, making him one of the best mascots in Canada and the NBA. The red velociraptor is versatile, fit, and can do basically any task set out to him.

Known for his acrobatics, half-court shots, and general hyped-up demeanour, the Raptor is among the most recognizable mascots across the NBA.

7. Ace — Toronto Blue Jays

blue jays mascot ace

Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports

The latest edition of the Toronto Blue Jays mascot, Ace, is one of the few in the MLB that resembles his team’s logo. Although he started his career in a duo alongside a female companion named Diamond, Ace has been a home-run mascot since embarking on his own in 2004.

Ace looks sharp in the jerseys and works sometimes with Junior, a smaller version of himself, to carry on the legacy of Toronto’s original mascot BJ Birdie.

6. Slider — Curling Canada

Slider

Curling Canada

There aren’t many national sports organizations in Canada that have mascots, but Curling Canada got it right when they introduced Slider, its goofy, googly-eyed, and Canadiana-wearing curling stone.

He’s always joking around with fans in his maple leaf-laden pants and is a far better option than Brier Bear or Slammer, who were interesting, to say the least.

5. Fin the Whale — Vancouver Canucks

fin canucks mascot abbotsford

@CanucksFIN/Twitter

Although fans may prefer something other than the Orca, Fin has established himself as a true icon in Canadian sports, fitting the Vancouver Canucks’ brand to a tee while endearing himself to fans.

With the addition of mascots to EA’s NHL video game series, he also is quick enough to skate circles around some of his NHL counterparts.

4. Mick E. Moose — Winnipeg Jets

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

The Winnipeg Jets didn’t bring back Benny the Jet when they returned to Manitoba’s capital, but they made the right choice by promoting Mick E. Moose from the AHL to the big leagues.

From his devilish smile to the vintage-style pilot’s hat, Mick E. Moose fits the Jets’ moniker well and brings a unique touch to Canadian mascots.

3. Carlton the Bear — Toronto Maple Leafs

Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Bears are pretty generic mascots, but Toronto Maple Leaf mascot Carlton the Bear does his job to perfection, whether fitting the adorable vibes for little kids or dancing on rising platforms throughout games at Scotiabank Arena.

2. Youppi! — Montreal Canadiens

Montreal

Montreal Canadiens / Twitter

An icon in Canadian sporting lore, Youppi!, formerly of the MLB’s Montreal Expos, has endeared himself to hockey fans across the NHL after switching sports following the Expos’ 2004 departure to Washington, DC.

He was even the first mascot to ever be thrown out of an MLB game. Youppi! walked so the Philadelphia Flyers mascot, Gritty, could run.

A great mascot all around.

1. Stewie the Starfish — Pacific FC

Stewie

Pacific FC (Handout)

One of the newer mascots on the list, Stewie the Starfish, isn’t just known for his illustrious purple look or the fact he helped push Victoria’s Pacific FC to the 2021 Canadian Premier League Title.

It’s a starfish that can do backflips, and he has googly eyes.

Twitter/@TomasWalker

Few mascots can do acrobatics, and even fewer are purple starfish, a common oceanside find on Vancouver Island.

Stewie, it might be a hot take, but you’re the best mascot in Canada.

Ben SteinerBen Steiner

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