For two weeks the Angry Birds Friends tournament’s theme is “NHL All Stars” and it features the puck slapping HockeyBird. But who is this feathered master of the slapshot? Join us as we explore the origins of this athletic Angry Bird and how he came to be the NHL’s official mascot.
First introduced to the world in November, 2011, HockeyBird was designed by Rovio’s Toni Kysenius to be the official mascot of the 2012 IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) Ice Hockey World Championships.
Although goodnewsfinland.com had this bit of information about his true origins :
The story goes that HockeyBird was found floating on an ice shelf in the Gulf of Finland. A real team player, he was wearing ice hockey kit and was practicing moves.
In his IIHF mascot capacity, HockeyBird was well received and found himself emblazoned on postage stamps, pennants and plush toys.
He even got his own theme song, from Dj Slow Feat.Splurt, called “Hockey Bird (In The Zone)” and an unofficial Tumblr page was created in his honor.
Here’s some background information according to the official factfile from the IIHF:
But once the 2012 IIHF Championships were over, that looked like the end for our Zamboni-driving friend from Piggy Island. He lived his dream, he made it to the top. He had achieved his loftiest goals, and now it was time to rest; to dream new dreams.
Then it happened! In January of 2014, the NHL (National Hockey League) came calling. Partnering with Rovio, the NHL brought HockeyBird from Finland to the US and made him the official mascot of the NHL. Debuting on January 25, 2014, HockeyBird was revitalized.
Brandishing a different helmet, but the same intensity of years past, HockeyBird brings a new type of Angry Birds game to fans. Using audience participation as his power, he hits goals, hoping for a three star performance.
And once again, HockeyBird has his own merchandise .
Now, for the first time, our plucky, puck-flinging friend joins his fellow Angry Birds as a playable character in a game for the Angry Birds Friends NHL All-Stars Tournaments for the weeks of Jan 19-25, 2015 and again the following week, Jan 26 – Feb 1, 2015. While his gameplay is virtually identical to Chuck (it appears to be an outright sprite swap), there are some fun new mechanics to the game, involving shooting the puck under Piggy fortresses to blow up TNT boxes or collect Stanley Cups, worth a whopping 15,000 points each!
The walkthroughs for the Angry Birds Friends Hockey Tournament are up now – you can find them here.
So there you have it, fellow flingers. What do you think? Are you excited to see HockeyBird as a playable character? Is this the first you’ve heard of him? Have you been to an NHL game and seen him in action? Share your thoughts and impressions in the comments below, before the Tournaments end and the Zamboni cleans the ice.
