Super Mario Galaxy 2’s release on the Nintendo Wii is not too far away, and as a long time Mario fan I can’t help but feel all hyped up and type up this article for PowerPlayGoal.com.
“Wait, what?” you might be thinking, “What the hell does Mario have to do with hockey?”
Where do I begin… first of all, there was a certain someone who used to play for the Pittsburgh Penguins who was given the nickname of ‘Super Mario.’ Secondly, Nintendo’s mascot was reportedly seen at the Hockey Hall Of Fame in Toronto, after the announcement of 2K Sports’ NHL 2K9 being made for Wii, and he has also played a bit of puck with Sonic in a certain Winter Olympics themed videogame. All of the above has led me to believe that this portly plumber is in fact, a hockey fan. But the real question for me is: what is his favourite NHL team?
Let’s start with the most obvious choice: the aforementioned Pittsburgh Penguins. Mario Lemieux, who as I mentioned in the above paragraph, was given the nickname ‘Super Mario’ during his career. Of course, Nintendo’s Mario has encountered a fair amount of Penguins during his adventures, most of which have been friendly, so perhaps he is a Pens fan. He’s recently been seen sporting a Penguin suit in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, perhaps in honour of his favourite player.
Or maybe he’s not a Pens fan, because he’s fed up with hearing about Sidney Crosby everywhere. Although he does share quite a bit in common with the Montreal Canadiens: both are red and blue, and both of them are among the oldest, most recognisable and most successful franchises in their respective industries.
But then maybe he’s not a Habs fan either, because he’s not familiar with the French language. He’s supposedly of Italian-American descent and from New York – or more specifically Brooklyn – so he’s probably either a Rangers or Islanders fan. The former shares his colour scheme, but the latter may remind him of the many adventures he’s had. New York City is also home to the Nintendo World Store…
But it’s time for our next suspect: the Dallas Stars. Now that’s an object that’s been in the Mario series for a long time: it’s granted him invincibility over the years, so the Stars must be his favourite team! But then again, there’s been a few times where he’s been given the difficult task of collecting 120 of them, so maybe not. Or maybe the green reminds him too much of his younger brother for his liking.
Now let’s take a look at Western Canada. You’d think he might be a Vancouver Canucks fan since that’s where he first played hockey, but as with the Stars, maybe the colour scheme reminds him too much of his brother. Perhaps he is instead a Calgary Flames fan: after all, his main projectile of choice over the years has been granted to him by the power of a Fire Flower.
Or maybe he’s a Detroit Red Wings fan? Considering they’re his favourite colour, their away jersey colour scheme is very much like Fire Mario, and there is a Wing on the logo that reminds him of the various flight based power-ups he’s used in many of his games. Not to mention that Detroit is the Motor City and Mario does enjoy a lot of go-karting in his spare time.
Finally, there seems to be a very subtle hint that he is in fact an Anaheim Ducks fan. Of course, he’s had various flight-based power-ups as I’ve mentioned before, but in Mario Kart Wii, one of his vehicles is named the Wild Wing, sharing its name with that of the Ducks mascot. There is actually some things he shares in common with the Ducks: cartoon series made to sell merchandise, and horrible movies which both would rather never speak of again.
I’m Wildwing64, and this is What The Puck at PowerPlayGoal.com.
