#mythicteams

[sportsnets]

Hockey Teams as Mythical & Legendary Creatures: (20/31)

Boston Bruins -> Onikuma (”Demon Bear”) | Status: Mythological Yokai | Origin: Japanese

An onikuma is a mythological Japanese yōkai (a class of supernatural monsters, spirits and demons in Japanese folklore) originating in the Kiso Valley in Nagano Prefecture. It is a bear-like creature that has been known to walk upright. They sneak into villages at night to carry off livestock for food. When a bear has lived for many years, it becomes an onikuma. It rarely shows itself to humans, but late at night comes down from the mountain to human settlements, walking upright on its hind legs, to steal horses and cattle, which it takes back to the mountain to eat. Onikuma are extremely strong. It is said that, in the mountains, they will throw stones 9 or 10 feet in diameter down into the valley at humans they see below. These stones, which 10 people together couldn’t move, are called “Onikuma stones,” a name that is still used today in the Kiso Valley.

[sportsnets]

Hockey Teams as Mythical & Legendary Creatures: (5/31)

Washington Capitals -> упырь (The Upyr) | Status: Mythological Creature | Origin: Slavic

In Slavic tradition, much stress was placed on proper burial rites upon an individual’s death to ensure the soul's purity and peace as it separated from the body. The death of an unbaptized child, a violent or an untimely death, or the death of a grievous sinner (such as a sorcerer or murderer) were all grounds for a soul to become unclean after death. A soul could also be made unclean if its body were not given a proper burial. Upyrs are reanimated corpses possessed by unclean souls that kill living creatures to absorb their life essence. The Upyr drains each victim of blood, then, using its ironlike teeth, gnaws into their chest so that it may consume the heart. In fact, the teeth of the Upyr are possibly its greatest assets, as it uses them to chew through the ground that has frozen solid in the winter months so that it can escape its own grave.

[sportsnets]

Hockey Teams as Mythical & Legendary Creatures: (9/31)

Dallas Stars -> Witch | Status: Profession | Origin: Worldwide

A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft. Witchcraft or witchery broadly means the practice of, and belief in, magical skills and abilities that are able to be exercised by individuals and certain social groups. Witchcraft is a complex concept that varies culturally and societally; therefore, it is difficult to define with precision and cross-cultural assumptions about the meaning or significance of the term should be applied with caution. Witchcraft often occupies a religious, divinatory or medicinal role, and is often present within societies and groups whose cultural framework includes a magical world view.

[sportsnets]

Hockey Teams as Mythical & Legendary Creatures: (24/31)

Nashville Predators-> Nemean Lion/Constellation of Leo | Status: Mythological Creature | Origin: Greek

The zodiacal constellation Leo is generally accepted to represent the Nemean Lion, killed by Hercules during his first labor. The Nemean Lion was a vicious monster in Greek mythology that lived at Nemea. It could not be killed with mortals' weapons because its golden fur was impervious to attack. Its claws were sharper than mortals' swords and could cut through any armor. According to one version of the myth, the Nemean lion took women as hostages to its lair in a cave near Nemea, luring warriors from nearby towns to save the damsel in distress. After entering the cave, the warrior would see a woman (usually feigning injury) and rush to her side. Once he was close, the woman would turn into a lion and kill the warrior, devouring his remains and giving the bones to Hades.

[sportsnets]

Hockey Teams as Mythical & Legendary Creatures: (12/31)

Pittsburg Penguins -> Gorgon | Status: Mythological Creature | Origin: Greek

In Greek mythology, a Gorgon is a female creature. The name derives from the ancient Greek word gorgós, which means "dreadful", and appears to come from the same root as the Sanskrit word "garğ" which is defined as a guttural sound, similar to the growling of a beast, thus possibly originating as an onomatopoeia. While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature and occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair made of living, venomous snakes, as well as a horrifying visage that turned those who beheld her to stone.  Gorgons are often depicted as having wings, brazen claws, the tusks of boars, and scaly skin. Traditionally, while two of the Gorgons were immortal, Stheno and Euryale, their sister Medusa was not as she was slain by the demigod and hero Perseus.

[sportsnets]

Hockey Teams as Mythical & Legendary Creatures: (17/31)

Detroit Red Wings -> Angel | Status: Supernatural Being | Origin: Worldwide

In Abrahamic religions and Zoroastrianism, angels are often depicted as benevolent celestial beings who act as intermediaries between God or Heaven and Earth. Other roles of angels include protecting and guiding human beings, and carrying out God's tasks. The term "angel" has also been expanded to various notions of spirits or figures found in other religious traditions. In fine art, angels are usually depicted as having the shape of human beings of extraordinary beauty; they are often identified using the symbols of bird wings, halos, and light.

[sportsnets]

Hockey Teams as Mythical & Legendary Creatures: (14/31)

Toronto Maple Leafs -> Dryad | Status: Mythological Creature | Origin: Greek

A dryad is a tree nymph, or tree spirit, in Greek mythology. In Greek drys signifies “oak”. Thus, dryads are specifically the nymphs of oak trees, though the term has come to be used for all tree nymphs in general. They were normally considered to be very shy creatures, except around the goddess Artemis, who was known to be a friend to most nymphs. Dryads, like all nymphs, were supernaturally long-lived and tied to their homes, but some were a step beyond most nymphs. These were the hamadryads who were an integral part of their trees, such that if the tree died, the hamadryad associated with it died as well. For these reasons, dryads and the Greek gods punished any mortals who harmed trees without first propitiating the tree-nymphs.

[sportsnets]

Hockey Teams as Mythical & Legendary Creatures: (22/31)

Vegas Golden Knights-> Headless Horseman | Status: Folk Legend | Origin: Western Europe

The dullahan or dulachán ("dark man") is a headless, demonic fairy, usually riding a horse and carrying his head under his inner lower thigh (or holding it high to see at great distance). He wields a whip made from a human corpse's spine. When the dullahan stops riding, a death occurs. The dullahan calls out a name, at which point the named person immediately dies. In another version, he is the headless driver of a black carriage. In some German versions of the headless horseman, he seeks out the perpetrators of capital crimes. In others, he has a pack of black hounds with tongues of fire. In India folklore, the jhinjhār is a headless horseman found in the folklore of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Unlike European depictions, this headless horseman is often portrayed as a heroic figure; folklore states that jhinjhārs are said to be born out of violent and wrongful deaths that occur in protecting innocents.