The Utica Comets have started out the season with a 7-0 record. There are a lot of reasons for that success. They have new players, a new logo and a new mascot.
Audie is no more, and his little brother has taken over the building.
He has a devil tail, horns on his head and eyes that sort of stare into your soul.
The kids have an interesting take on what he looks like.
“He looks like a squirrel," one girl says.
“A squirrel with a mohawk," says a young boy.
“A little, fuzzy teddy bear," another girl says.
But the kids don’t think the Comets new mascot comes from their worst nightmares. The kids love him, clearly.
So where did this thing come from? When the New Jersey Devils took over as Utica’s parent club, the wheels began to turn for Comets staff accountant Chris Bowdish.
“We wanted to bring in this new mentality that we’re the bad boys of the AHL, so we’ll put an “N” in front if it and make him 'Naudie,'" Bowdish says.
Naudie was born. Well, apparently he’s been around for awhile.
“He’s way better than Audie. I like the colors and he’s naughty," a young Utica fan says.
He just took a bit to hatch.
“There is a story that there was a second egg that never hatched and was never found. We took that idea and we rolled with it. Naudie is going to be this next egg," Bowdish says.
Don’t get us wrong. Audie was great, but Naudie is, well, you know the saying about the devil on your shoulder?
“Audie was very loving and Naudie is a little more mischievous. He does his own thing. He’s been dumping popcorn on people, pieing people in the face, throwing pumpkins off roofs," says Bowdish.