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Seattle Kraken center John Hayden and their mascot, Buoy, had a close encounter with a brown bear during a promotional video shoot in Alaska in June.
Hayden and Buoy were on a fly-fishing outing in Katmai National Park when the bear approached them.
While fishing, Hayden and Buoy were accompanied by a guide, who spotted the bear. The guide had the crew wade through the shallow river.
This image taken from video provided by the Seattle Kraken shows a brown bear splashing toward the NHL Kraken sea troll mascot known as Buoy, left, next to a fishing guide during the filming of a promotional video in a river outside Anchorage, Alaska, June 25, 2025. (Seattle Kraken via AP)
As they were moving away, the bear, which had been moving closer to them, turned and charged through the water for a few paces before coming to a stop and turning away.
“I want to blame it on Buoy,” Hayden said on the video afterward. “They were pretty interested in his look.”
Seattle Kraken mascot Buoy celebrates on the ice following a 4-0 victory against the Vancouver Canucks at Climate Pledge Arena on October 1, 2022, in Seattle, Washington. (Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports)
Brown bears commonly feast on salmon in the Brooks River in Katmai National Park, gobbling them as they leap upstream over Brooks Falls to spawn. The park, nearly 300 miles (485 km) southwest of Anchorage and inaccessible by road, is home to the annual “Fat Bear Week” contest celebrating the bears as they fatten up for the winter.
“Bears are everywhere at Brooks Falls and, like, this is their territory,” said Kraken Partnership Marketing Director Melissa O’Brochta, who also recorded the encounter from shore. “They’re also super used to seeing humans. So I wasn’t scared.”
Seattle Kraken center John Hayden (15) looks on against the San Jose Sharks during the third period at SAP Center in San Jose on April 5, 2025, in San Jose, California. (Robert Edwards/Imagn Images)
Hayden and Buoy were in Alaska as part of an annual trip organized by the Bristol Bay Native Corporation in Anchorage, Alaska, with events that promote youth ice hockey. Alaska does not have its own NHL team; the closest teams are in Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, which has the Vancouver Canucks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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