Was watching the NHL playoffs last night, while looking over Amonkhet spoilers, and this kinda popped into my head. What would happen if the teams of the NHL got Planeswalkers to represent them as mascots? So I thought why not. Anyways, doing hockey today, but I plan on doing all four major sports leagues.
ANAHEIM DUCKS (Liliana Vess)- Just like the Ducks have reinvented themselves from their early Disneyfication days, Liliana's reinvented her own image by joining the gatewatch. Also, Liliana loves zombies, and you get plenty of those on the east coast the morning after a late night Duck playoff game.
ARIZONA COYOTES (Daretti)- The Coyotes are often overlooked, given their lack or history and success. Daretti's yet to appear in a mainstream set release, having been confined to just Commander and Conspiracy, meaning he also gets frequently overlooked.
BOSTON BRUINS (Sarkhan Vol)- Sarkhan worships dragons because of their size, strength, and dominance, so he'd probably find Zdeno Chaara, the biggest, strongest, and most physically dominating player in the league, a worthy target of admiration.
BUFFALO SABRES (Freyalise)- The Sabres died a tragic death in the 1999 Cup finals, and have pretty much never been heard from again. Same with Freyalise, who died in the Time Spiral block, and save for a Commander card a couple years ago, has been by and large forgotten.
CALGARY FLAMES (Chandra Nalaar)- Well DUH.
CAROLINA HURRICANES (Tamiyo)- Tamiyo's a firm believer in non-intervention, which works out great for the 'Canes, who haven't intervened in the playoffs in years.
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS- The boring, invincible heroes of the modern NHL (this year notwithstanding...), Gideon also is viewed as a boring, invincible hero. Still, you can tie parallels to this year as well, as while the Blackhawks are experiencing a rude awakening in the playoffs, Gideon's about to experience a rude awakening on Amonkhet.
COLORADO AVALANCHE (Koth)- Koth is all about the mountains, and hurting people with mountains. Seems to fit well with the Avalanche motif.
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (Narset)- Everyone loves a good underdog, and Narset, who battles an autism like condition, yet rose to become the leader of the Jeskai (and Ojutai's top student in the new timeline), to becoming a full fledged Walker who has uncovered hte truth about Tarkir, is as good as one as you'll see.
DALLAS STARS (Dack Fayden)- Dack's the greatest thief in the multiverse, and everyone knows that the Stars pretty much stole their last Stanley Cup
DETROIT RED WINGS (Nahiri)- Red, white, and really good at making everyone else hate them.
EDMONTON OILERS (Ugin)- Just like Ugin has spent a good millenium or so sleeping, only to finally wake up, the Oiler are just now waking up after spending a good decade or so in hibernation.
FLORIDA PANTHERS (Ajani)- Really no other cat option here
LOS ANGELES KINGS (Kaya)- The black/white fits, as does the purple flair that both Kaya and the Kings have. Plus, there's the irony that Kaya would root for something she assassinated.
MINNESOTA WILD (Arlinn Kord)- The logo's a wolf, their colors are green and red, and Arlinn's all about embracing your inner beast
MONTREAL CANADIENS (Teferi)- Teferi is the master of time, which sounds good to the Canadiens, who would love to turn the clock back to the glory days when they were winning the Cup 26 times- instead of the afterthought who hasn't sniffed a championship in 23 years.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS (Garruk Wildspeaker)- Sabretooth tigers are pretty much right up G's alley.
NEW JERSEY DEVILS (Tibalt)- Again, some of these are just too obvious
NEW YORK ISLANDERS (Dovin Baan)- The Islanders are forced to play second fiddle in their own city to the much more popular Rangers. Dovin Baan- an unambitious planeswalker who's more than happy in service to a greater power, sounds like a good source of inspiration.
NEW YORK RANGERS (Sorin Markov)- Like the Rangers, Sorin's one of the oldest entities in the mutliverse, is fiercely protective of his home territory, and holds grudges for a very long time.
OTTAWA SENATORS (Domri Rade)- A runt of the Gruul who often struggles to find respect, the Senators, wedged firmly between the much more popular Maple Leafs and Canadiens on the Canadian hockey scene, can sympathize.
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (Ob Nixilis)- Nixilis is all about pure destructive nihilism, something that the team that once housed the Broad Street Bullies can certainly appreciate.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (Nicol Bolas)- Bolas is the big bad of Magic, just as the Penguins are currently the big bad of the NHL. Also, look at Sidney Crosby and tell me he couldn't be an agent for the greatest evil the multiverse has ever known.
SAN JOSE SHARKS (Kiora)- Obviously we'd have to give the biggest, meanest aquatic animal to Kiora, and that's the Sharks.
ST. LOUIS BLUES (Ashiok)- Pretty much for the blue-black, but given that its quite the mind screw how the Blues are currently up 2-0 on the Wild, that fits too
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (Ral Zarek)- The Izzet aligned Ral is all about the lightning.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (Jace Beleren)- Just as Wizards tries so hard to make Jace the face of Magic, and fails, the Maple Leafs try hard to be the face of the league, but consistently flop as being the flagship team.
VANCOUVER CANUCKS (Vraska)- Given the amount of pot smoking that goes on in Vancouver, its really easy to make a stoned joke with a gorgon mascot. Other than that, the Canucks are notoriously sore losers, and so is Vraska, if her tantrum after being defeated by Jace is anything to go by.
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS (Elspeth Tirel)- Obviously the Knight things works, plus the fact that just like we're waiting for the Knights to make their official debut, we're waiting for Elspeth to comeback from the Underworld. Unfortunately, the former looks to happen way quicker than the latter does.
WASHINGTON CAPITALS (Tezzeret)- Like the Capitals, Tezzeret has many grand ambitions, only for those ambitions to collapse for one reason or another. Also, if Bolas is going to be the Penguins, its only fitting that his oft-defeated subordinate be the Penguins most frequent playoff victim.
WINNIPEG JETS (Saheeli Rai)- Saheeli's Puzzle Quest ability lets her make thopters- which is pretty much Magic's version of airplanes. Also, the Jets are the NHL's newest team in terms of location and identity, so its only fitting that they get the newest planeswalker.
ANAHEIM DUCKS (Liliana Vess)- Just like the Ducks have reinvented themselves from their early Disneyfication days, Liliana's reinvented her own image by joining the gatewatch. Also, Liliana loves zombies, and you get plenty of those on the east coast the morning after a late night Duck playoff game.
ARIZONA COYOTES (Daretti)- The Coyotes are often overlooked, given their lack or history and success. Daretti's yet to appear in a mainstream set release, having been confined to just Commander and Conspiracy, meaning he also gets frequently overlooked.
BOSTON BRUINS (Sarkhan Vol)- Sarkhan worships dragons because of their size, strength, and dominance, so he'd probably find Zdeno Chaara, the biggest, strongest, and most physically dominating player in the league, a worthy target of admiration.
BUFFALO SABRES (Freyalise)- The Sabres died a tragic death in the 1999 Cup finals, and have pretty much never been heard from again. Same with Freyalise, who died in the Time Spiral block, and save for a Commander card a couple years ago, has been by and large forgotten.
CALGARY FLAMES (Chandra Nalaar)- Well DUH.
CAROLINA HURRICANES (Tamiyo)- Tamiyo's a firm believer in non-intervention, which works out great for the 'Canes, who haven't intervened in the playoffs in years.
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS- The boring, invincible heroes of the modern NHL (this year notwithstanding...), Gideon also is viewed as a boring, invincible hero. Still, you can tie parallels to this year as well, as while the Blackhawks are experiencing a rude awakening in the playoffs, Gideon's about to experience a rude awakening on Amonkhet.
COLORADO AVALANCHE (Koth)- Koth is all about the mountains, and hurting people with mountains. Seems to fit well with the Avalanche motif.
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (Narset)- Everyone loves a good underdog, and Narset, who battles an autism like condition, yet rose to become the leader of the Jeskai (and Ojutai's top student in the new timeline), to becoming a full fledged Walker who has uncovered hte truth about Tarkir, is as good as one as you'll see.
DALLAS STARS (Dack Fayden)- Dack's the greatest thief in the multiverse, and everyone knows that the Stars pretty much stole their last Stanley Cup
DETROIT RED WINGS (Nahiri)- Red, white, and really good at making everyone else hate them.
EDMONTON OILERS (Ugin)- Just like Ugin has spent a good millenium or so sleeping, only to finally wake up, the Oiler are just now waking up after spending a good decade or so in hibernation.
FLORIDA PANTHERS (Ajani)- Really no other cat option here
LOS ANGELES KINGS (Kaya)- The black/white fits, as does the purple flair that both Kaya and the Kings have. Plus, there's the irony that Kaya would root for something she assassinated.
MINNESOTA WILD (Arlinn Kord)- The logo's a wolf, their colors are green and red, and Arlinn's all about embracing your inner beast
MONTREAL CANADIENS (Teferi)- Teferi is the master of time, which sounds good to the Canadiens, who would love to turn the clock back to the glory days when they were winning the Cup 26 times- instead of the afterthought who hasn't sniffed a championship in 23 years.
NASHVILLE PREDATORS (Garruk Wildspeaker)- Sabretooth tigers are pretty much right up G's alley.
NEW JERSEY DEVILS (Tibalt)- Again, some of these are just too obvious
NEW YORK ISLANDERS (Dovin Baan)- The Islanders are forced to play second fiddle in their own city to the much more popular Rangers. Dovin Baan- an unambitious planeswalker who's more than happy in service to a greater power, sounds like a good source of inspiration.
NEW YORK RANGERS (Sorin Markov)- Like the Rangers, Sorin's one of the oldest entities in the mutliverse, is fiercely protective of his home territory, and holds grudges for a very long time.
OTTAWA SENATORS (Domri Rade)- A runt of the Gruul who often struggles to find respect, the Senators, wedged firmly between the much more popular Maple Leafs and Canadiens on the Canadian hockey scene, can sympathize.
PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (Ob Nixilis)- Nixilis is all about pure destructive nihilism, something that the team that once housed the Broad Street Bullies can certainly appreciate.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (Nicol Bolas)- Bolas is the big bad of Magic, just as the Penguins are currently the big bad of the NHL. Also, look at Sidney Crosby and tell me he couldn't be an agent for the greatest evil the multiverse has ever known.
SAN JOSE SHARKS (Kiora)- Obviously we'd have to give the biggest, meanest aquatic animal to Kiora, and that's the Sharks.
ST. LOUIS BLUES (Ashiok)- Pretty much for the blue-black, but given that its quite the mind screw how the Blues are currently up 2-0 on the Wild, that fits too
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (Ral Zarek)- The Izzet aligned Ral is all about the lightning.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (Jace Beleren)- Just as Wizards tries so hard to make Jace the face of Magic, and fails, the Maple Leafs try hard to be the face of the league, but consistently flop as being the flagship team.
VANCOUVER CANUCKS (Vraska)- Given the amount of pot smoking that goes on in Vancouver, its really easy to make a stoned joke with a gorgon mascot. Other than that, the Canucks are notoriously sore losers, and so is Vraska, if her tantrum after being defeated by Jace is anything to go by.
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS (Elspeth Tirel)- Obviously the Knight things works, plus the fact that just like we're waiting for the Knights to make their official debut, we're waiting for Elspeth to comeback from the Underworld. Unfortunately, the former looks to happen way quicker than the latter does.
WASHINGTON CAPITALS (Tezzeret)- Like the Capitals, Tezzeret has many grand ambitions, only for those ambitions to collapse for one reason or another. Also, if Bolas is going to be the Penguins, its only fitting that his oft-defeated subordinate be the Penguins most frequent playoff victim.
WINNIPEG JETS (Saheeli Rai)- Saheeli's Puzzle Quest ability lets her make thopters- which is pretty much Magic's version of airplanes. Also, the Jets are the NHL's newest team in terms of location and identity, so its only fitting that they get the newest planeswalker.
Problem is, he has never in his life seen snow. All of Mirrodin is simply too hot for it.
Not true! Lord Windgrace of the Nine Titans actually is a panther. And he rules over Urborg, a swamp. He's perfect for any Florida mascot.