Seattle NHL team’s mascot has a close encounter with a brown bear during video shoot in Alaska
August 5, 2025
A Seattle Kraken ice hockey player and the team’s mascot had a close call with a brown bear during a video shoot in Alaska. The run-in happened during a flyfishing outing in late June near Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, nearly 300 miles southwest of Anchorage. Video shows the bear charging toward the mascot named Buoy and player John Hayden. But the bear turns away before making contact. The NHL team said there was no intent to involve the bear in filming, but it later posted footage of the encounter on social media. Brown bears commonly feast on salmon in the river.