Don’t Worry, Be Cappy: Whitecaps unveils new mascot

No one is quite sure where Cappy came from, at least in an origin story context.

In reality, the Minnesota Whitecaps’ new mascot came from the garage and kitchen table at Audra Richards’ parents’ house.

The idea was born from the team trying to find new ways to engage fans. “We’re kind of thinking how to keep the fan base and getting the fans interacting, other than just hockey, having them come in and and join in between periods and things like that,” Richards explained.

Her dad suggested a mascot early on and while the team was interested, it fell by the wayside for a bit. At least until Mr. Richards decided he had the time and wanted to create a mascot. So he met up with Jack White, the original Whitecaps logo designer, and Brooke White-Lancette’s dad to figure out how to bring it all to life.

“My dad wasn’t sure how to bring the wave into it as a mascot because it’s not really realistic. So they came up with an idea with the puck as the face, with as much of the original face as they could so someone could see out of it.”

Richards admitted at the beginning Cappy wasn’t looking so great, but by the end of her dad’s winter break, Cappy came together. “I don’t think he left the garage, unless it was to go to like JoAnn Fabrics or Michael’s, or some place. It took him around 16 days, all day, every day,” she said. “He took over the whole garage, the whole kitchen table. I think my mom’s ready for it to be completely finished.”

Cappy is a still a bit of a work-in-progress, though, as Mr. Richards took the mascot home “to make some adjustments.” The anthropomorphized puck can only see forward, not down or sideways. Mr. Richards might also add some other personalization touches beyond wearing the number 4 — for 2004, the year the team was founded in — and the “24” sticker on the back its helmet for Denna Laing.

As for a fictional back story, Cappy will probably need one soon, if only so the Whitecaps coach Jack Brodt has an answer for his grandson.

“Winnie Brown’s son is obsessed with mascots. And the Whitecaps never had a mascot. He’s been asking Jack Brodt, I guess their grandpa, where Cappy has been. So they think that he was gone,” Richards said. “Maybe we can go off that.”