The NHL season kicked off last night – October 6th – and with it comes the beginning of a new era for the NEW Winnipeg Jets, who relocated from Atlanta where they were the Thrashers. Winnipeg’s one of 5 teams that doesn’t have a mascot (Stars, Oilers, Rangers, Flyers). We understand the appeal of a mascot, you need to something to balance out the titillation from the Ice Girls and it has to be kid-friendly. Got it. But, that doesn’t mean they have to be super lame. Here’s our list of the 8 lamest mascots currently sucking it up in the NHL. Vote for the lamest in our poll after the jump.

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So what’s in a name? Well, for sports teams, everything. The name is the rally cry, the identity, the face of the franchise, and the word that strikes fear in the opponent. A good name leads to a cool mascot, which leads to a source of inspiration for players and fans alike. However, there are some team names that are laughable and/or synonymous with failure and/or humiliation. These are those teams…

They make us laugh. They make us want to cry. Often we just want to make them get out of our way. They are intended to rally the fans and strike fear into the hearts of our opponents. However, there are some so lame you wonder what bet the school’s founder lost to saddle his team with such a horrendous moniker (or why no one has changed it yet). We at COED have combed the depths of college athletics to bring to you the five lamest mascots.

Mascots are supposed to represent your school, be an emblem of strength for your team, and to cause your opponent to piss their pants from fear. A good mascot will psych out the enemy with dead plastic eyes and murderous grins….these are not those.

In anticipation for the world premiere of Midgets vs Mascots at Tribeca Film Festival we’ve compiled The Internet’s Top 8 Midgets and Mascots Videos because nothing says fun like mascots failing on the field and midgets duking it out on Jerry Springer.

I conned my way into being lovable PeaNUT, the team mascot for the minor league baseball team, the Modesto A’s. Yes, for one inning they allowed me to don an elephant outfit and be the lovable team mascot PeaNUT. During that one-inning of glory I learned many sports team mascot tips which I love to pass on:

Props are due to Best Week Ever for this hilarious journey into the depths of competitive mascotting.… Click to read more