Flyers mascot Gritty threatens to kill the Pittsburgh Penguins

In case you missed yesterday's official unveiling of Gritty, the Philadelphia Flyers' new mascot, brace yourself. This wild, orange beast is truly the stuff of childhood nightmares. To say that Gritty has been met with mixed reviews would be the understatement of the century. After all… again this guy is the stuff of childhood nightmares… I mean… just look at him:

As if Gritty's horrifying appearance wasn't enough, just check out this description of the NHL's newest mascot, courtesy of the Flyers' official website:

His father was a "bully," so naturally he has some of those tendencies - talented but feisty, a fierce competitor, known for his agility given his size. He's loyal but mischievous; the ultimate Flyers fan who loves the orange and black, but is unwelcoming to anyone who opposes his team. Legend has it he earned the name "Gritty" for possessing an attitude so similar to the team he follows. 

He claims that he's been around for a lot longer than we know it, and recent construction at the Wells Fargo Center disturbed his secret hideout forcing him to show his face publicly for the first time. He has some oddities that are both humorous and strange. A number of times he's been caught eating snow straight from the Zamboni machine, and unbeknown to most, his love of hot dogs has been inflating the Flyers Dollar Dog Night consumption totals for years.

 That being said, there's no denying that he's one of our own.

Gritty's first day on the job was pretty epic. His first act of business will surely endear him to Flyers fans across the NHL as he basically threatened to kill the Pittsburgh Penguins... say what!? In response to a Tweet in which the Penguins poked fun at the new mascot, Gritty replied with this cryptic message:

Yikes... nightmare fuel... and at the same time, he's Philly to the core. Love it.

Gritty also made his NHL preseason debut last night as the Flyers took on the Boston Bruins in 4-3 loss and... well let's just say that Gritty made quite the first impression. First, the horrifying mascot took out a member of the Flyers' ice crew with a t-shirt cannon. Check it out:

Unfortunately for gritty, that t-shirt cannon would be his undoing. Check out Gritty going down HARD after getting rocked by some t-shirt cannon recoil... warning you may or may not see some Gritty brains on the ice in this clip:

Ouch... no word yet on whether or not Gritty has decided to join the NHLPA's joint lawsuit against the NHL for CTE and post concussion symptoms...