Kraken’s John Hayden, mascot Buoy charged by grizzly bear while Alaska fishing in wild scene

Sea trolls are seemingly not welcome in Alaska.

The Seattle Kraken and their mascot, Buoy the sea troll, were in Anchorage for a community partnership when Buoy and Co. were charged by a grizzly bear.

The team was in Anchorage fly fishing at Brooks Falls as part of their annual partnership trip with the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, which brings hockey and community engagement to fans in Alaska.

“Every year we try to do something special and unique to Alaska,” Kraken partnership marketing director Melissa O’Brochta described the event to KOMO News. “A couple years ago, we took Buoy on a little glacial helicopter ride, in the years past, we’ve done fishing in Anchorage. But this year, we were like, let’s do fly fishing over at Brooks Falls. 

“Brooks Falls is iconic. If you’ve ever seen a picture of a bear catching a salmon in his mouth, it’s typically at Brooks Falls.”

Well, those bears were certainly on the salmon hunt while the Kraken were in town.

The team was filming “experiential content” of Buoy and Kraken forward John Hayden in the scenic Alaskan wilderness, when the bear gave the team some different content than they would’ve expected. 

Buoy and Hayden fished in the river as they were suddenly stalked by the bear from behind.

The fishing guides alerted the entire crew as they all began exiting the water — but the grizzly bear began advancing and rushed toward the group.

The bear may have been interested in Buoy the most, drawn to his wacky look.

“I want to blame it on Buoy. They were pretty interested in his whole look. We got out of it OK, but it was a close call,” Hayden said.

As Hayden said, it was nothing more than a close call, albeit it was an entertaining one.

“No trolls or bears were hurt in the making, always respect wildlife in their natural habitat,” Buoy’s official X page posted.