Another shot was fired Monday afternoon in the Gritty versus Iceburgh rivalry.
July 8 happens to be National Video Game Day — not to be confused with National Video Games Day, which is Sept. 12 — and the Philadelphia Flyers’ social media team decided to commemorate the occasion with yet another video pitting Gritty against the Penguins’ mascot.
This time, the challenge came in the form of a “Pokemon”-style battle, with Gritty knocking out Iceburgh with one hit using a T-Shirt cannon.
Gotta catch ‘em all. #NationalVideoGameDay 🎮 pic.twitter.com/P0eHxP8xQc
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) July 8, 2019
The Penguins have yet to respond to Monday’s surprise attack.
Gritty has been fighting Iceburgh for mascot supremacy since Gritty’s orange, bulbous figure was first unveiled by the Flyers in September 2018.
Iceburgh immediately got on Gritty’s bad side by making fun of his appearance on Twitter.
lol ok https://t.co/3sSJcbLSfF
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 24, 2018
The Flyers’ mascot came back at Iceburgh by threatening the poor penguin’s life, which some would argue is not a proportional response.
Sleep with one eye open tonight, bird. pic.twitter.com/wLmGBa0Oyh
— Gritty (@GrittyNHL) September 24, 2018
To Gritty’s credit, he spent the first few months becoming by far the most ubiquitous mascot in the NHL, if not all of American professional sports.
He came into direct conflict with Iceburgh again during the Stadium Series game between the Penguins and Flyers, which the NHL advertised as the battle of the mascots.
Two mascots will enter. One will prevail! The ultimate #StadiumSeries showdown!@NHLFlyers @Penguins @GrittyNHL pic.twitter.com/upeWVmbpue
— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) February 23, 2019
Ever the attention hog, Gritty stole the show by going streaking during the game. It wasn’t pretty.
I’ve since been ejected. pic.twitter.com/6ims2CQpsc
— Gritty (@GrittyNHL) February 24, 2019
The Flyers wound up winning that game 4-3 in overtime, which led to the first video-game Gritty versus Iceburgh video. This one involved Gritty defeating Iceburgh in a “Street Fighter”-esque duel.
It’s worth mentioning that part of the video involved Iceburgh beating Gritty with a Stanley Cup, which feels like an all-time self-own.
The Flyers finished the 2018-19 season with a 37-37-8 record and missed the playoffs. At least they have a famous mascot and a skilled social media team at their disposal to partially offset the lack of on-ice success.
Joshua Axelrod: jaxelrod@post-gazette.com. Click here to get our all-sports newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday.
First Published: July 8, 2019, 8:18 p.m.
