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Seattle Kraken Center John Hayden and their mascot, Buoy, had a close meeting with a brown bear during a promotional video recording in Alaska in June.
Hayden and Buoy were on a fly fishing in Katmai National Park as the bear approached them.
While fishing, Hayden and Bøje were accompanied by a guide that discovered the bear. The guide caused the crew to wade through the shallow river.
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This photo taken from video provided by the Seattle Kraken shows a brown bear that sprays against NHL Kraken Sea Troll -Mascot known as Buoy, Left, next to a fishing guide during the recording of a promotional video in a river outside Anchorage, Alaska, June 25, 2025. (Seattle Kraken via AP)
As they moved away, the bear turned, which had moved closer to them, turned and let through the water in a few steps before coming to a stop and turned away.
“I want to blame it on the bend,” Hayden said on the video afterwards. “They were pretty interested in his look.”
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Seattle Kraken Mascot Buoy celebrates on the ice after a 4-0 win against Vancouver Canucks in Climate Pledge Arena on October 1, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. (Joe Nicholson/USA Today Sports)
Brown Bears often party on salmon in the Brooks River in Katmai National Park, tapping them as they skip upstream over Brooks Falls to spawn. The park, nearly 300 miles (485 km) southwest of Anchorage and inaccessible on the road, is home to the annual “Fat Bear Week” competition celebrating the bears when they are emerging in winter.
“Bears are everywhere in Brooks Falls, and like this is their territory,” said the Kraken partnership marketing director Melissa O’Brochta, who also recorded the meeting from Shore. “They are also super used to seeing people. So I wasn’t afraid.”
Seattle Kraken Center John Hayden (15) looks at San Jose Sharks during the third period at the SAP Center in San Jose on April 5, 2025 in San Jose, California. (Robert Edwards/Imag photos)
Hayden and Buoy were in Alaska as part of an annual trip organized by Bristol Bay Native Corporation in Anchorage, Alaska, with events that promote youth hockey. Alaska does not have its own NHL team; The closest teams are in Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, which has Vancouver Canucks.
