Screaming Eagles on the lookout for missing mascot
Screech, the beloved mascot of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, has disappeared ahead of a playoff game.
Peter MacDonald, the team's director of marketing, went to a storage room on Tuesday and found the door partially opened. After quickly glancing around, he noticed the mascot suit was gone.
MacDonald spent the rest of the day and most of the next trying to track it down.
"I called all of the people who have keys to the room, went to the building manager, all the staff here to see if they've seen anything. But nothing turned up," he said.
At first, team officials thought it might be a prank. Then they called police. As officers checked out the messy supply room, MacDonald realized more things were gone.
"I noticed there were some minor hockey jerseys that were missing. There was an old computer — that I can't imagine would be worth stealing — that was gone as well. That's kind of when we really started to think that someone must've broke in here and stolen it," he said.
The $5,000 suit was new this season. The team knew last year it was time to replace the old one when children told Screech he needed a bath, MacDonald said.
MacDonald was hoping the suit would have been returned by now. The team plays its first game of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs at home Friday against the Saint John Sea Dogs.
"We're going to have to dust off the old suit and Screech will be sporting a slightly different look, but I guess the show goes on," MacDonald said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Screaming Eagles office or Cape Breton Regional Police.