Posted on 05/23/2008 7:42:18 PM PDT by swampdweller
With Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings set for Joe Louis Arena on Saturday night, angst over one of the postseason's biggest controversies continues to linger in the Motor City: The NHL's decision to ban octopus twirling on the ice.
Tossing octopi on the ice has been a Detroit hockey tradition dating back to 1952, and longtime arena operations manager Al Sobotka has been whipping around cephalopods to whip Wings fans into a frenzy since 1991. But back in the first round of the playoffs, the NHL vowed to hit the team with a $10,000 fine if Sobotka or anyone else dared twirl an octopus thrown onto the playing surface. The decision sparked massive and immediate fan protests, but the policy has remained in place.
This week, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman defended the League's decision on WDFN's "The Stoney and Wojo Show," claiming the twirl ban is an issue of safety:
"Actually, there's a very good reason for it. We haven't fined or given a delay of game penalty for the throwing of the octopus because we understand and respect the tradition. Having said that, when you swing the octopus around - and I don't know the exact term for it -- but octopus 'gunk' gets on the ice and occasionally has gotten on the players -- the goaltenders -- as it goes by. Occasionally, when it freezes on the ice, it creates a potentially hazardous situation for the players. It's not about interfering with a tradition; it's about making sure nobody gets it in their eyes, like a goaltender nearby, or that nobody blows out a knee getting caught on some frozen gunk."
Somehow, blowing out a knee on octopus goo has escaped us on injury reports for the last 17 years.
The Detroit News has a terrific mini-documentary that details octopus tossing history, and the passion, the sights and the smells that go along with it. While Sobotka's great on-ice tradition has been halted, the News reports he can still swing the octopi on the concourse.
That means even more are going to be thrown this time in Hockeytown.Bettman has all but destroyed this great game. I can’t wait til someone with a brain and balls comes along and takes over the NHL.
That being said...what a series this is going to be.
Octopi will be sold out in Detroit for this series. The games are going to be two hours longer because of all the protest octopi that are going to be sailing through the air.
Excuse my stupidity, but where would one get octopi to toss if one wanted to do so????
I’m so very, very blessed that my northeastern-born father isn’t a hockey fan.
I've wondered that myself. Open air Lake Michigan fish markets?
2. Octopi are hard to find away from the coasts.
3. Octopi belong on the grill, not on the ice!
“Excuse my stupidity, but where would one get octopi to toss if one wanted to do so????”
Octopi-R-Us Saturday is 2 for 1 Octopi with a purchase of the Ninja Turtle dress up kit.
Wouldn’t giant squid be a fair compromise?
From the ocean, silly!
I’m no Bettman fan, and I think his reasoning is a bit off — octopus are usually thrown during breaks in the game and are almost immediately cleaned up, so the risk to players is minimal to none. But I always thought this tradition was sort of, well, strange and a bit gross anyway, so my reaction to this one is mostly “oh well, not a big deal.”
I’d rather just concentrate on watching a great game than get uptight about fans’ rights to chuck ocean molluscs onto the ice. Now if they take away the hat trick hat-throwing too, I might feel a little differently, I admit.
Gonna be a good series, though. I still think that this is the best major spectator sport there is. Game on!
Yeah, any idea what the significance is to this tradition?
Are octopi lucky or something?
Yeah, any idea what the significance is to this tradition?
Are octopi lucky or something?
The eight arms signifies the number of games that the Red Wings have to win to win the Stanley Cup. So the octopus is thrown out when there are “eight more games to go.” Kind of silly if you ask me.
I hadn’t known it myself until recently — back in the day, you just had to win the semi-finals and then the finals — 8 wins. Now it’s 16.
But the plural of octopus is not octopi — it’s octopodes.
And yes, it is also a symbol of good luck, because I believe the Wings swept all eight games after the first time, or two, that the octopus was thrown. So ever since then it was a good luck charm of sorts.
There is no excuse for animal abuse.
LOLOL!
Q: What did the boy octopus say to his date?
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