a new mascot, the eagle "Screech". For months after the move, the fate of Youppi! hung in the balance. Negotiations were held with ten groups, including the Montreal Alouettes. On September 16, 2005, the Montreal Canadiens announced that Youppi! would become the first official mascot of the organization, and the first mascot to ever switch between any two major sports leagues in North America. Prior to Youppi!, the Canadiens had no mascot. The terms of acquisition were reportedly in the six figures. Youppi! now sports the Canadiens' bleu-blanc-rouge (blue, white, and red) jersey. Youppi!'s first game in the Bell Centre was on October 18, 2005. On February 19, 2012, at the Canadiens' first home game after the death of Montreal Expos great Gary Carter, Youppi! wore the Expos colours in Carter's memory. On May 16, 2014, on the eve of the Canadiens series against the New York Rangers in the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals, New York City native Jimmy Fallon, the host of NBC's Tonight Show, which is taped in New York, made a bet with the Montreal Canadiens that if they won the series, Fallon would wear a Montreal jersey during his opening monologue. However, if the Rangers won the series, Youppi! would have to wear a Rangers jersey around Montreal and post at least ten pictures of him doing so on the Canadiens' Twitter account and also change their avatar to a pic of Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist playing guitar. The Rangers won the series on May 29 in six games. As such, on June 1, the Canadiens honoured their bet and a dejected Youppi! was photographed around Montreal in a Rangers jersey with Fallon's name on the back, and the last photo, as Fallon stated, featured him riding the mechanical bull at Montreal bar Chez Serge. See also List of National Hockey League mascots List of Major League Baseball mascots References External links Official Youppi! website Youppi Major League Baseball team mascots National Hockey League team mascots Montreal Expos Sport in Montreal Montreal Canadiens Mascots introduced in 1979 Canadian mascots Fictional characters from Montreal Culture of Montreal 1979 establishments in Quebec