Insider Justin

For many years, Mascot Insider has had the chance to cover the best event in Orlando, FL — The Mascot Games at Amway Center. This event supports a foundation called New Hope for Kids, which helps Central Florida children in need. Their purpose is to bring hope, healing, and happiness to children and families suffering from grief, loss, or life-threatening illnesses. New Hope for Kids achieves this through two programs. With the Mascot Games, they feature approximately 30 mascots from sports teams across the country competing in various games, all while raising funds for New Hope for Kids. As we all know, for the past two years we've been going through the Coronavirus Pandemic. We are sad to report fans will have to wait another year for the Mascot Games to return. They've updated their website to confirm that the 2022 event has been canceled. We are sad to hear this as this will mark the third year the event has been canceled. We realize how important this event is for New Hope for Kids. Mascots that compete to become the Mascot Games Champion also take home a trophy. We've posted the official statement from mascotgames.org website below. While we again are sad to hear Mascot Games has officially been canceled for 2022, we are excited to see the Mascot Games 5K is officially BACK ON this year. Fans around the world can participate in this fun at Home event and help raise funds for New Hope for Kids at the same time! The event is scheduled for July 16-23, 2022. For more information, visit https://mascotgames.org. You can also email to info@mascotgames.org to find out when registration opens. On behalf of the entire Mascot Insider Team, we can't wait until the Games return in 2023. For now, we are excited that the 5K has returned! And if you'd like more information about New Hope for Kids, such as volunteering or donating to this fantastic foundation, please visit https://newhopeforkids.org.

Just released by NHL Public Relations is that the NHL Mascot Showdown is returning for 2022 at the All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas! And our team we'll be covering some of the events thanks to one of our incredible Insider, Chris! You can read the full press release below. NEW YORK -- The 2022 Truly Hard Seltzer NHL Fan Fair™ at the Las Vegas Convention Center West Hall will be the site of the seventh NHL Mascot Showdown™ presented by Upper Deck as part of the 2022 Honda NHL® All-Star Weekend, Feb. 3-6, in Las Vegas. Fourteen Western Conference mascots, led by the Vegas Golden Knights' own Chance™, will face fourteen Eastern Conference mascots, guided by Iceburgh™ from the Pittsburgh Penguins, in three days of friendly but fierce competition. The NHL Mascot Showdown™ presented by Upper Deck is one of the most anticipated events at the 2022 Truly Hard Seltzer NHL Fan Fair™, the official fan festival of the 2022 Honda NHL® All-Star Weekend. Twenty-eight NHL Mascots™ (not every NHL team has its own mascot) will showcase their hockey skills and athletic prowess, offering family-friendly fun for fans of all ages. For the seventh time, NHL in-arena host Mike Todd will handle play-by-play duties for each event. Each competition will be preceded by a Mascot Parade to the rink followed by a ceremonial puck drop and mascot group photo. Two lucky young fans in attendance will be selected to lead the parade. "We are excited to bring puck fans of all ages together to experience the NHL Mascot Showdown like never before," said Jodi Wasserman, Vice President of Marketing at Upper Deck. "Throughout the weekend we will be offering a variety of fun, family-friendly activities including Box Hockey, Pack Wars, Mascot BINGO, and more! Visit the Upper Deck Rink or Booth for a full schedule of events." "We're thrilled to be working with Upper Deck this year for the seventh NHL Mascot Showdown," said Dave McCarthy, NHL Group Vice President, Consumer Products. "Together, we plan to create great memories for our fans attending NHL Fan Fair and the mascots are thrilled to represent their teams as they compete for the championship trophy in this year's competition." A ticket is required for entry into the 2022 Truly Hard Seltzer NHL Fan Fair™. Tickets for each day are available in advance at NHL.com/FanFair at $15 for adults and $12 for youth, seniors, college students and members of the military. Children three years of age and under will be admitted free of charge. All tickets are subject to applicable fees. Below is a schedule of NHL Mascot Showdown™ presented by Upper Deck events and competitions (all times are Pacific Time and subject to change). All competitions listed below will take place at the 2022 Truly Hard Seltzer NHL Fan Fair™ located inside the Las Vegas Convention Center West Hall. Thursday, Feb. 3 4:30 p.m. Dodgeball 7 p.m. Costume Contest Saturday, Feb. 5 6 p.m. Skills Competition Sunday, Feb. 6 1 p.m. Broomball 3 p.m. Medieval Games 4 p.m. 2022 NHL Mascot Showdown Championship Trophy and "Most Valuable Mascot" Championship Belt presentations The NHL Mascot Showdown™ presented by Upper Deck teams will feature. Eastern Conference NHL Mascots™ Metropolitan Division Stormy™ from the Carolina Hurricanes Stinger™ from the Columbus Blue Jackets NJ Devil™ from the New Jersey Devils Sparky™ from the New York Islanders Gritty™ from the Philadelphia Flyers Iceburgh™ from the Pittsburgh Penguins Slapshot™ from the Washington Capitals Atlantic Division Blades™ from the Boston Bruins Sabretooth™ from the Buffalo Sabres Stanley C. Panther™ from the Florida Panthers Youppi!® from the Montreal Canadiens SpartaCat™ from the Ottawa Senators ThunderBug™ from the Tampa Bay Lightning Carlton™ from the Toronto Maple Leafs Western Conference NHL Mascots™ Central Division Howler™ from the Arizona Coyotes Tommy Hawk™ from the Chicago Blackhawks Bernie™ from the Colorado Avalanche Victor E. Green™ from the Dallas Stars Nordy™ from the Minnesota Wild Gnash™ from the Nashville Predators Louie™ from the St. Louis Blues Moose™ from the Winnipeg Jets Pacific Division Wild Wing™ from the Anaheim Ducks Hunter™ from the Edmonton Oilers Bailey™ from the Los Angeles Kings S.J. Sharkie™ from the San Jose Sharks Fin™ from the Vancouver Canucks Chance™ from the Vegas Golden Knights Prior to the 2022 NHL All-Star Skills™ presented by DraftKings Sportsbook on Friday, Feb. 4 at 4:30 p.m. PT / 7:30 p.m. ET, the NHL will livestream the seventh NHL mascot ice hockey game from T-Mobile Arena on the NHL Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok accounts, and NHL.com at 3:19 p.m. PT / 6:19 p.m. ET. Fans can follow all of the live action from the NHL Mascot Showdown™ presented by Upper Deck across NHL social media platforms. Bios for each mascot can be found here. For the latest news on the 2022 Truly Hard Seltzer NHL Fan Fair™, fans can visit NHL.com/FanFair and follow the NHL on Twitter (@NHL) via the official hashtag #NHLAllStar. 2022 Truly Hard Seltzer NHL Fan Fair™ Public Hours of Operation Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022 3 p.m. - 9 p.m. PT Friday, Feb. 4, 2022 3 p.m. - 9 p.m. PT Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. PT Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. PT

During January, many colleges head down to the ESPN World Wide of Sports and compete in the UCA College Nationals. As part of the selection process to compete in the Finals, Mascots must submit a Mascot Entry Tape to the UCA. This video must contain things that show the UCA how the Mascots impact their College spirit. The video must include Involvement with Sports Events, Community Events, and more. The videos are judged and scored by a team, and the Mascots with the highest scores are invited to perform a Final Skit at the ESPN World Wide of Sports. Bearcat from the University of Cincinnati scored Second Place in that Video Submission and Aubie the Tiger made it a tie. Below, you can see Bearcat’s video. Both Bearcat and Aubie were invited to compete in the Finals for the 2022 Division IA Mascot Title. On January 15, all selected Mascots performed a skit that they've created on their own, and the biggest score wins. I was fortunate and took some time to head over to the ESPN World Wide of Sports and watch these college Mascots compete for that title. Let me tell you, all these college Mascots and their outstanding Cheer Teams did an amazing job. It was so much fun getting to see all the cheering. We've attached a preview video of the Skit that Bearcat performed. As you can see, it's tons of fun for the college Mascots and it for sure causes lots of fun crowd engagement. After all Mascots performed, the results take some time to come. So while waiting, the Mascots came out on the stage and did a little more dancing, with fans and college cheer teams cheering on their Mascot. We've posted a little clip of that blow. During my time, I happened to sit by Cincinnati Cheer Team. As results were being called, it was a very nerve-racking time for all the students and fans. Once the Second Place winner was announced, which was The University of Tennessee’s Smokey, it was time to hear the First Place winner. Even I stood up and cheered as Bearcat was officially named 2022 National Champion for the Division IA Mascot. It was an exciting moment for the entire team as this was Bearcat's first-ever award for that division. I've attached that Video below. We are grateful to have seen this all occur live. And we want to congratulate all the Mascots for their hard work during this week's competition. Mascot Insider's passion is to cover things like this, and we think all Mascots are excellent and love what they do. We look forward to covering this event again. And check all the rest of the fantastic photos we took and the video below. https://www.mascot.blog/gallery/category/28-2022-uca-college-nationals/ Click here for the FULL Results of the Mascots from Both Divisions