S.J. Sharkie of San Jose Sharks given ultimate honor — for a mascot

SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks’ longtime mascot is now a Hall of Famer.

S.J. Sharkie will be one of five team mascots inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025, the Mascot Hall of Fame Executive Committee announced Tuesday.

Others are TORO from the Houston Texans, Blitz from the Seattle Seahawks, Fredbird of the St. Louis Cardinals and Sebastian the Ibis from the University of Miami. The five join a group of 33 mascots already enshrined in the Hall.

S.J. Sharkie was one of 28 nominees for induction, including the Stanford Tree.

S.J. Sharkie appeared alongside the four other mascots on “Good Morning America” in New York on Tuesday, which was National Mascot Day.

Only two other NHL mascots are Hall of Famers: Youppi! of the Montreal Canadiens and Tommy Hawk of the Chicago Blackhawks. Youppi! was originally the mascot of the Montreal Expos before the MLB franchise relocated to Washington.

The instantly recognizable S.J. Sharkie made his debut with the NHL franchise in January 1992 and appears at every home game at SAP Center.

Perhaps most memorably, Sharkie was stuck in the rafters of the arena, 40 feet above the ice surface, before a Sharks home game against the Detroit Red Wings on March 12, 1999.

Sharkie was meant to rappel down to the ice, but remained stuck for about 20 minutes before being pulled back up to safety.

During the 2001-2002 season, Sharkie was involved in a scuffle with former Sharks villain Theo Fleury, who was then with the New York Rangers and had significant substance abuse issues.

In happier moments, Sharkie, per the team, makes more than 450 public appearances each year and “serves as the face of several Sharks community initiatives,” including Reading Is Cool, Stick to Fitness, Anti-Bully Programming, Little Sharks, and the FINactical Kids Club. The mascot is also involved with numerous Bay Area charities and spends countless hours on behalf of the Sharks Foundation.