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The center of Seattle Kraken John Hayden and their mascot, Buoy, had a close meeting with a brown bear during a promotional video shoot in Alaska in June.
Hayden and Buoy were on a fly fishing outing in Katmai National Park when the bear approached them.
During the fishing, Hayden and Buoy were accompanied by a guide, who spotted the bear. The guide turned the crew through the shallow river.
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This image taken from the video provided by the Seattle Kraken shows a brown bear splashing towards the NHL Kraken sea troll mascot known as the Buoy, on the left, next to a fishing guide during the shooting of a promotional video in a river outside anchorage, in Alaska, on June 25, 2025. (Seattle Kraken via AP)
While they were walking away, the bear, who was getting closer to them, turned and loaded in the water for a few steps before stopping and turning away.
“I want to blame him on Buoy,” said Hayden on the video thereafter. “They were quite interested in his look.”
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The Seattle Kraken Buoy mascot famous for the ice after a 4-0 victory against the Vancouver Canucks at Climate Pledge Arena on October 1, 2022, in Seattle, Washington. (Joe Nicholson / USA TODAY SPORTS)
Brown bears generally feast on salmon in the Brooks river in Katmai National Park, encompassing them while they jumped upstream on the Brooks falls to make. The park, nearly 300 miles (485 km) southwest of anchorage and inaccessible by road, houses the annual competition of the “Fat Bear Week” celebrating the bears while they get worse for the winter.
“The bears are everywhere in Brooks Falls and, as, it is their territory,” said Kraken partnership director Melissa O’Brochta, who also recorded the game from Shore. “They are also super used to seeing humans. So I was not afraid.”
The center of Seattle Kraken John Hayden (15) looks against the San Jose Sharks during the third period at SAP Center in San Jose on April 5, 2025 in San Jose, California. (Images Robert Edwards / Imagn)
Hayden and Buoy were in Alaska as part of an annual trip organized by the Bristol Bay Native Corporation in Anchorage, Alaska, with events that promote ice hockey for young people. Alaska does not have its own NHL team; The closest teams are in Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, which has the Vancouver cannucks.
