Jazz Bear Teases New Utah Hockey Club Mascot?

Being a mascot may seem like an easy job at times.

Few would complain about the job description of “Hang out with the cheerleaders, dump popcorn on people, bust out weird dance moves and shoot T-Shirts into the face of a random person in the crowd.”

But those moments as fun as they are, are what mascots do when the home team is actually winning.

When they aren’t? Ya good luck getting fans to care about you doing anything but dangerous stunts.

In losing situations, a mascot does their absolute best to get fans passionate again, to amp up the energy and bring excitement and buzz back into the building.

That was certainly what Bear, the full time mascot of the Utah Jazz since 1994, and the rental mascot of the Utah Hockey Club for their inaugural season was doing last night when the UHC hosted the Washington Capitals.

Despite a Jack McBain goal just over 3 minutes into the first period to give Utah an early 1-0 lead, the Capitals would score 4 unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead, translating to an eventual 6-2 Washington win.

From a mascot perspective, that would mean that Jazz Bears effort had to be a bit more concentrated as the Cap’s ran wild over Utah.

With fans down in the dumps, Bear called an audible and decided to shake things up with a wardrobe change.

Switching his Utah Rock Black sweater for a black vest, blue bandana and some cow-print chaps, Bear reemerged under the shade of a black ten-gallon hat.

Bear’s Cowboy fit caught the attention of KSL Sports Radio Producer, Alma Bean, who took a quick video of the furry cowpoke.

It may just seem like a silly outfit change on the outside, but once the video hit, fan’s began to speculate.

Afterall, it isn't Halloween and as far as we know it wasn't dress like a cowboy night at the Delta Center.

And since when has Bear had wrangler duds?

The biggest proponent to the speculation is the fact that the Utah Hockey Club has yet to name a “moniker” for the team for the upcoming season.

Despite “Yeti” being heavily rumored as Utah’s full time branding this next year, it is far from a certainty at this point, especially with trademark issues to sort through, leaving hope for other finalist.

The remaining names in the mascot sweepstakes after a lengthy polling process for the newest NHL team are:

YETI

MAMMOTH

VENOM

BLIZZARD

HOCKEY CLUB (PERMANENTLY)

and……

OUTLAWS

Coincidence?

Most likely, but it isn't disregarded by the people that Jazz/ Hockey bear decided to wear a western fit as the team waits to announce it’s full time identity.

Maybe it’s a trial run?

Maybe a tease?

Maybe nothing at all?

But I will point out that Bear wasn't just dressed as a “Cowboy”, he was very much dressed as an Outlaw, a robbing, rustling outlaw.

Pay attention to his duds here and you can see it too.

Bear doesn’t look like Sheriff Woody out there, he is mostly dressed in black from his vest to his hat.

Black clothing, particularly hats, was something common in old western movies to where the good guy, the Cowboy, the rancher and the Lone Ranger donned a hat as white as the horse they rode on.

Villains, poachers, criminals and outlaws wore black atop their heads, a calling card to the audience that they were up to no good.

In this outfit, I’d say Bear is up to no good, ya know other than pouring beers on top of opposing fans.

Is this a hint that Outlaws is still in play for the Utah Hockey Club or just a good ol fashioned game of dress up?

Maybe he dresses up as a Mammoth when they host Edmonton for their next home game on the 29^th of November.

Only time will tell, but the speculation shall continue.