No 'ducking' way: Stars, Blue Jackets mascots stage best fanbase battle

FRISCO, Texas --What better way to determine which team has a better fanbase than with thousands of rubber duckies?
Spawned from some friendly banter between Stars mascot Victor E. Green and Blue Jackets mascot Stinger in late July, the duo called upon their fans to settle the score. The competition was simple: Whichever mascot received the most rubber duckies would determine which team had the better fans.

Welcome to the "mascot" days of summer.
The origin of the competition can be traced back to a Twitter poll posted by Stinger on July 21. But when Victor E. Green provided a mailing address, the competition got real.

Within 24 hours, more than 2,000 rubber duckies were en route to the Stars' and Blue Jackets' headquarters in Frisco, Texas and Columbus, Ohio, respectively. The following Monday, Victor E. Green had 3,229 ducks at his desk. By Friday, Vic had received more than 4,000 to claim victory with over 12,000 rubber ducks in all.
The massive influx of ducks tested the mettle of Vic's officemates.
"Every day there were more of them," said one Stars employee, who wished to remain anonymous. "They were taking over, and we were severely outmanned. We were the protagonists in an action movie locked in a room with water flooding in, but instead of water, it's ducks.
"All sizes," the employee added. "Ducks as big as a chinchilla and as small as a thumbnail. Glittery ducks, ducks dressed up as soccer balls, ducks on a rollercoaster that sings. They were everywhere."

Combined, Victor E. Green and Stinger accumulated more than 23,000 rubber duckies. But instead of letting them sit around, the mascots are gifting them to their local communities.
In Columbus, Stinger is donating its share to a local children's hospital and nearby healthcare facilities for kids' visits. Vic is offering them to middle school art teachers across the Metroplex for students to decorate. But it gets even better.
Teachers that request ducks by emailing
[email protected]
and pick up their desired amount can choose the best three decorated ducks from their school for a chance to win four tickets to the Stars' home game against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, Dec. 1.
Vic is also running a contest for fans to guess the number of ducks surrounding him in a hot tub. The person who gets the closest to the total will also win a pair of tickets to the game.
For more information on Vic's rubber duck contests,
click here
.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Kyle Shohara is the Digital Manager for DallasStars.com and writes about the Stars/NHL. Follow him on Twitter @kyleshohara.