Sabretooth!

Ladies, allow me to introduce you to Sabretooth, mascot of the Buffalo Sabres. Sabretooth was selected as the Sabres mascot because the name of the team is right there in his name even though sabretooth tigers have never, to my knowledge, carried sabres or any other kind of weaponry for that matter.

Sabretooth's height and weight are listed as very big and huggable, respectively. (I think I'm going to start listing my own weight as huggable.) According to his NHL.com profile, Sabretooth is the only left-handed mascot in the league. It also claims that the strength and power of his left-handed slapshot makes him the Al MacInnis of NHL mascots. I hate to trash the hometown mascot, but I can't recall ever seeing Sabretooth take a shot so I think there might be a little bit of media hype going on here.

Sabretooth is known for entering from the rafters before every game. He also enjoys dancing, hugging small children, shooting t-shirts into the crowd, and banging on the glass. He really likes banging on the glass. His affinity for such activities won him his own spot on the Buffalo news lately. Please watch and enjoy:



You can't see this in the video, but Sabretooth was standing on the wall of the players' tunnel, fell into the tunnel, and knocked himself out. Fortunately, there was a veternarian who specializes in prehistoric species on the premises. The poor guy in the suit was left bloodied. Marty Biron was fine and will wildly and enthusiastically tell you all about it should you ever run into him, I'm sure.

There's been some speculation that we've been slipped a new Sabretooth this season. His entries from the rafters aren't quite as enthusiastic (he looks slightly terrified) and there's the aforementioned mishap with the glass. A few different theories have been bandied around. Here are a few of them:

Foul play. According to his NHL profile, Sabretooth has rivalaries with S.J. Sharkie, Carlton the Bear and Stanley C. Panther. Is that bear really as innocent as he looks? Was Sabretooth a victim of mascot on mascot crime?

Free agency. Other teams, anxious to mimic Buffalo's success last season, lured Sabretooth away with promises of big bucks and more ice time.

Budget issues. The Sabres are spending a lot of money on player salaries this year. Someone besides J.P Dumont had to be cut... Was it Sabretooth?

Seriously, I hate mascots, and I try to avoid them, but Sabretooth is very enthusiastic, great with the kids at the games, and seems to be very popular. I guess if you're into that kind of thing, he's all right. I don't really get the whole tiger connection, but hey, whatever. I guess you can't have a big foam sword running around.