Several members of the NHL's Boston Bruins showed up to the team's annual "Halloween Hospital Visit" dressed up as some of the most iconic characters in the Super Mario Bros. cast. The Halloween season has fully arrived and the gaming world as a whole is getting into the Halloween spirit. Online marketplaces like Steam are featuring sales on horror games to celebrate the spooky season, and franchises like Resident Evil and Silent Hill have seen major reveals during the month. Now, one of the NHL's biggest teams is celebrating Halloween with a gaming twist.The Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League held their annual Halloween Hospital Visit Monday with multiple members of the team visiting children at Mass General for Children and Boston Children's Hospital. The team came to the event dressed up as several characters from Super Mario Bros with players like team captain Patrice Bergeron and assistant captain Brad Marchand dressed as the iconic brothers. Others came dressed to the event as characters like Toad, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi.The Halloween visit has become an annual tradition for the Boston-based NHL team with the players regularly dressing up and visiting children. This year's edition of the Halloween Hospital Visit also featured a few amusing costume choices from the Bruins, like defenseman Derek Forbort dressing up as the Mario franchise's Princess Peach. Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman commented on the "excitement" of the team to participate in the event, with the Bruins unable to visit in-person last year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bruins' Mario-themed costumes aren't the first example of professional sports finding itself tied in with gaming. The NBA and NFL have also featured collaborations with one of gaming's biggest online personalities, Dr. Disrespect. Dr. Disrespect was featured in 2K Sports' NBA 2K23 with cosmetics based on the popular streamer, as well as making a selection in the NFL Entry Draft for the football league's San Francisco 49ers. Sports games have also gained significant popularity in the world of esports, with franchises like FIFA and Madden seeing success in particular.
As one of the most widely-recognized franchises in gaming, it's no surprise the Boston Bruins chose to dress as the iconic Super Mario Bros. cast. The upcoming Super Mario Bros. animated film from Illumination Entertainment recently received its first trailer with fans able to hear Chris Pratt as Mario for the first time. Mario spinoffs have also seen success throughout 2022 with Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope launching last week alongside Mario Strikers: Battle League earlier in the year. The Mario franchise has become an unmistakable part of gaming culture and pop culture as a whole.
Source: NHL