MASCOT IS A MARVEL
Rollie Bourassa, K9 of the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats, has been wearing the costume since 1978. At 81, he has no intention of hanging up the suit.
There is only one visible holdover from the Regina Pats’ most-recent WHL championship team — the 1979-80 season.
He has never played a majorjunior hockey game for the Pats, but everyone who frequents the rink knows him.
He was introduced in 1978 as Big Blue, and later became K9.
In dog years, the Pats’ mascot is pushing 280. In human years, the affable gentleman inside the suit — Rollie Bourassa — is 81.
Despite being an octogenarian, Bourassa has no intention of hanging up the, er, paws. And why should he? How many 81-year-olds are seen sliding down railings at hockey games?
“It has been a great experience doing this,” Bourassa reflects. “If I quit, I’d miss it.
“I see the looks on the kids’ faces, and on the faces of the moms and dads. It has always been a lot of fun.”
Most of the time, anyway.
One fine day, while resplendent in the dog suit, Bourassa went to reach for a hockey stick, which unexpectedly splintered. The sharp edge penetrated the costume and one of Bourassa’s knuckles.
“I had to get a tetanus shot and they all joked about it at the hospital,” Bourassa recalls. “Usually it’s because of a dog that someone gets a tetanus shot.
“The needle was worse than the sliver.”
Since getting his first shot as the mascot nearly 40 years ago, Bourassa has outlasted more than 20 head coaches. He has also gone through 10 costumes, being that a new one is required every four years due to the wear and tear.
Bourassa, a commercial artist, also designed the original mascot suit, and every one since. As well, he created the original Gainer the Gopher costume, which was unveiled at Saskatchewan Roughriders home games in 1977, when Dave Ash and Don Hewitt took turns wearing the costume.
In the early years, the Pats’ mascot was sponsored by Labatt Breweries, which explained the Big Blue moniker. At the time, Labatt also sponsored the Canadian men’s hockey team, which also adopted Blue as the mascot on occasion.
Most memorably, there was an evening in which Bourassa dressed up as Big Blue for two different hockey games in two different cities.
He started at the then-Agridome (now the Brandt Centre). After the first period, he was whisked to the airport and flown to Calgary, where he did the third period of a national-team game at the Saddledome.
“I was staying in a really nice hotel,” Bourassa says. “I went downstairs for a sandwich and, by the time I got back to my room, the bed was made — and there was a chocolate on the pillow.”
The Pats’ mascot used to be conspicuous on the ice, between periods, as well as in the stands and on the concourse. An agile skater, Bourassa also demonstrated his hockey prowess.
“They used to have a shoot-toscore contest,” says Bourassa, remembering an intermission contest in which some lucky fan was invited to shoot a puck through a small slot in a board that covered the net.
“I used to shoot it as well. Anytime I made it, they’d give $25 to the humane society. It got to the point where I started hitting it every third game and, all of a sudden, the program stopped.”
K9, though, is unstoppable. “The kids make it fun,” Bourassa says. “They’ll bring chocolates and Valentine’s Day cards and do drawings. A couple of the years, one of the kids fell asleep on me.”
A kid at heart, K9 is still sliding down the railings — without incident, after nearly 40 years.
Just one more question: Has a doctor advised Bourassa that perhaps it is inadvisable for an 81-year-old man to perform such tricks?
“Well,” Bourassa says, “I don’t know if I’ve ever told him.”
The Pats played host to the ■
Swift Current Broncos on Friday in Game 5 of a best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal. Coverage appears on leaderpost.com and the Regina Leader-Post’s app.