Carlton the Bear

Carlton the Bear is the official mascot of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Description
Carlton is described as a 6'4" anthropomorphic polar bear. His name and number (#60) comes from the location of Maple Leaf Gardens (located at 60 Carlton St. in Toronto) which was the Leafs home arena from 1931 to 1999.

History
Carlton's first public appearance was on October 10, 1995 at the Leafs' home-opener in Toronto against the New York Islanders.

Since his debut, he has gained fame through appearances at Leafs home games. He has also occasionally travelled with the team, having made appearances at 20 different arenas in 17 cities over his career.

To date, Carlton has tossed more than 8,000 shirts into the audience, led various cheers and spread Maple Leaf spirit to thousands of fans.

He is also credited with chairing the first annual Mascot Summit in 2000, which took place at the 50th National Hockey League All-Star Game in Toronto.

In November of 2009, reports of Carlton's retirement were circulated, however the Maple Leafs (speaking through its mascot) stated that the report was false.