Philadelphia Flyers introduce terrifying new mascot

The NHL is being overrun with terrifying mascots.

Two years after the Edmonton Oilers were mocked when they introduced Hunter The Lynx as the team’s new mascot, the Philadelphia Flyers have gone and one-upped them.

Gritty was introduced as the Flyers’ new mascot today and it’s surely going to give a lot of young hockey fans nightmares.

Join us in welcoming the newest member of the #Flyers Family, @GrittyNHL!!

Learn more about Gritty: https://t.co/eQRwTtD54w pic.twitter.com/njHQO1824b

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) September 24, 2018

The mascot is already a fairly strange looking hairy, orange creature, but what really sets Gritty over the edge when it comes to creepiness are his eyes.

Instead of going with fixed eyes, whoever designed Gritty chose to give him ‘googly eyes’ that makes him look like a crazy person.

Nevertheless, the Flyers are committed to him now and they’ve even given him an odd back story.

It me. #Gritty pic.twitter.com/HfTMVtEAFy

— Gritty (@GrittyNHL) September 24, 2018

“He claims that he's been around for a lot longer than we know it, and recent construction at the Wells Fargo Center disturbed his secret hideout forcing him to show his face publicly for the first time,” reads the description of Gritty on the team website.

“He has some oddities that are both humorous and strange. A number of times he's been caught eating snow straight from the Zamboni machine, and unbeknown to most, his love of hot dogs has been inflating the Flyers Dollar Dog Night consumption totals for years.”

The description adds that his name comes from possessing an attitude so similar to the team he follows and that he gets his “bully” tendencies from his father.