Gritty voted best mascot by NHL players

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania -- Gritty is not just popular among hockey fans, he is a big hit with hockey players, too!

More than 500 players took part in the 2018-2019 NHL Players Association Player Poll and voted Gritty the Best NHL Team Mascot.

They were asked more than 20 hockey-related questions.

The NHLPA says it was a landslide victory when it came to the best mascot inquiry.

Gritty came in with 69.4 percent of the votes. Carlton the Bear of the Toronto Maple Leafs was a distant second with 2.7 percent.

Gritty, of course, had something to say about all this - in poem form:

"Roses are red,

The rumors are true,

#29NHLMascots,

I'm better than yous."

The orange, furry creature first emerged from his secret hideout in the Wells Fargo Center last fall and took the hockey world - and the entire world - by storm.

As the NHLPA put it, "Congratulations, rookie!"