New York AHL team apologizes for video skit showing new Flames mascot bashing firefighter

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. – A New York minor league hockey team has apologized for a skit introducing its new mascot as a firefighter-whuppin’ flame from a devastating 19th-century fire.

The Adirondack Flames — the American Hockey League affiliate of the Calgary Flames — introduced “Scorch” on Thursday. The mascot’s back story is that he’s the lone surviving ember from an 1864 fire that destroyed much of Glens Falls.

In a video of the skit produced by the Glens Falls Post-Star newspaper (http://goo.gl/BIcZmI), Scorch is seen emerging from behind a small tree to overpower a firefighter, knocking him to the ground as “POW!” appears on the screen.

Two hours after introducing Scorch, the team issued an apology, saying the skit was done “in poor taste.”

The team begins play Friday night. The league earlier this year approved its move from Abbotsford, B.C., to Glens Falls.