The penalty box in hockey is commonly known as the “sin bin,” a place where players who break the rules sit to contemplate their transgressions until their penalties are over.
The Spruce Grove Saints, a Canadian junior team that plays in the British Columbia Hockey League, have a new way for the penalized to feel even more guilt.
Chucky the Angel has been the mascot for the Saints since 2019. He’s a blonde-haired, sassy-looking cherub with a halo over his head and wings on his back.
This season, Chucky has added something to his repertoire for home games. When a visiting player is in the penalty box during a TV timeout, Chucky skates over and stands in front of the glass in silent judgment of the player, much to the delight of the fans and the discomfort of the opponent.
He has done it three times this season, including during the Saints’ 5-4 overtime win over the Vernon Vipers on Friday night.
In the second period, Vipers forward Leon Bussmann was issued a misconduct penalty for an illegal check to the head. Chucky skated over, stopped in front of the sin bin glass and stared at him. And stared at him. And stared at him some more.
Bussmann looked down at his skates to avert his eyes, but could only eventually smile as Chucky remained at the glass for a hilariously uncomfortable amount of time.
“Honestly it was a great moment and we’re happy that the player from the other team took things so light-heartedly as well,” said Trevor Miller, the Saints’ director of communications.
If this hockey cringe comedy sounds like something a teenager might think up, there’s a good reason for that: Eric Weidman, a 14-year-old student at Woodhaven Middle School in Spruce Grove, is the performer inside the Chucky suit this season.
“I’m smiling inside the suit, grinning ear to ear, and I’m trying not to laugh,” he told ESPN on Monday.
The Saints had posted an ad on Facebook looking for a new mascot. Weidman didn’t have any previous experience but was interested in applying and had an “in” with the team through his dad, Jordi Weidman, a former sports reporter with The Score who was the director of business operations for the Western Hockey League’s Edmonton Oil Kings.
Eric Weidman said the penalty box act came to him during a Saints game against the Trail Smoke Eaters last month.
“It was during a TV timeout and the T-shirt toss. I’m like, ‘OK, this would be really fricking funny,'” he said.
At first, he was just amused by the act. It wasn’t until the second time when Weidman realized how his costume made the moment such a perfect fit.
“I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, this is ironic to me. I’m dressed like an angel,'” he said.
After Bussmann’s time in the penalty box, he scored his first goal of the season in the third period to eventually send the game to overtime.
Weidman didn’t realize the target of his mockery ended up scoring a big goal later in the game — but he has a theory for why it happened.
“I think he repented for his sins and things went his way,” Weidman said with a laugh.
