Saxophone Squirtle is the Most Important Thing in the NHL Right Now

The intersection of gaming and sports activities is sometimes relegated to digital facsimiles, corresponding to your Maddens, your NBA 2Ks, or your ESPN NFL Footballs (haha nah, not that final one). Occasionally, video video games invade the actual factor, and proper now, the destiny of the Winnipeg Jets rests on the unlikely shoulders of a Pokemon.

The Squirtle Saxophone animation started its humble journey on TikTok in late November 2023, courtesy of the person merme.lada. It depicts the beloved Water-Type turtle jamming on a saxophone to the tune of SunStroke Project’s Run Away. You might higher keep in mind this track as the genesis behind 2010’s Epic Sax Guy meme, and in the event you don’t, you’re in all probability too younger to be studying this text. Maybe go play some Roblox or one thing, as an alternative.

The animation made a shock cameo a couple of weeks later at an NHL match hosted by the Winnpieg Jets, when the graphic appeared on the Jumbotron in an effort to encourage the crowd to make some noise.

The conclusion was a victory for Winnipeg, and a delighted fanbase lauding the jazzy Pokemon as the MVP. In the time since, the Jets have continued displaying the graphic throughout their dwelling video games, going 9-1-1 throughout that stretch and surging from playoff contenders to one in every of the league’s finest groups.

As a outcome, Squirtle has change into a de facto mascot for Winnipeg followers, adorning the Jets Reddit web page and spawning no scarcity of tributes starting from reverent to downright antagonistic.

Billy, this is Squirtle. He’s a Pokémon. He’s one in every of the most undervalued parts at a Jets recreation. His quirk is that he performs a saxophone. pic.twitter.com/bHRCTgal7Y

— Quentin Robb (@robbielu_01) January 13, 2024

Slyšeli jsme, že na X náš Squirtle docela frčí.. 👀

Tenhle týpek se okay nám připletl už v O2 Aréně na zápase proti Finsku. Znovu se objevil v Göteborgu, kde ho před zápasem odpálil @Kulda151, což nám dost možná odneslo štěstíčko.. 🍀 pic.twitter.com/Mvh3FwAyiI

— Český hokej (@czehockey) January 9, 2024

Though the Jets aren’t even the originators of the concept — the earliest instance I may discover of Squirtle showing throughout a sporting occasion was a December sixteenth NBA game, the place maybe not coincidentally the hometown San Antonio Spurs would snap an 18 recreation shedding streak — it is clear that the Pokemon has discovered its dwelling in Winnipeg.

Should they carve a path towards their first Stanley Cup victory, this plucky terrapin will undoubtedly change into forevermore entrenched in Jets historical past. Now if solely I may persuade my Canucks to undertake Bulbasaur and leverage a strategic kind benefit…

About the creator

Tony Cocking

A depressing little pile of secrets and techniques. Unabashed Nintendo stan, Resident Evil fancier and obscure anime fanatic who insists all the things is funnier when the rule of three is utilized. Oh, and as soon as I noticed a blimp!