To start, we’d like to point out that we specifically included ‘wild’ in the title here. We know there’s been plenty of food items (waffles, anyone?), many jerseys of frustrated fans, countless hats, a lone brassiere, and other head-scratching items thrown onto an NHL ice surface at one point or another.
In this article, though, we’re specifically looking at animals and sea creatures, because what on earth is hockey’s obsession with throwing them onto the ice? Seems a little cruel, if you ask us, but some of these weird instances are part of hockey’s long list of strange traditions. So, behold: five (once) living things that have been tossed onto the ice at an NHL game.
Honourable mention – A chicken
Since this only happened one time, and the rest have happened on more than one occasion, we’re throwing it under the ‘honourable mention' category. However, don’t let that fool you – this one is downright weird, and might even be the strangest on the list. In the winter of 1988, an LA Kings fan who wasn’t pleased with the way his team was performing tossed a live chicken in a purple jersey onto the ice during a game versus the Montreal Canadiens.
Octopi
We’ll start with the most obvious one. Everyone is familiar with the Detroit Red Wings’ longstanding tradition of hurling an octopus onto the ice during the playoffs that dates way back to the 50s, and it’s probably what inspired the rest of the weird animal throwing that goes on in the NHL. Way to be the OG, guys!
Sharks
As previously mentioned, most of the animal-hurling that goes on in NHL arenas is Red Wings inspired. Such is the case for sharks. Yep, there’s been more than one occurrence where a San Jose fan has tossed small sharks with octopi sewn into their mouths onto the ice in response to Detroit’s tradition.
Rats
This one might be the most cringe-worthy, but luckily, the majority of rodents that were thrown onto the ice were fake. Florida’s rat-craze was inspired by Scott Mellanby’s infamous ‘rat-trick’, when he killed a rat with his stick before the team’s home opener, and then proceeded to score two goals. From there, the Panthers had the best season in team history, riding the rat train all to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Ducks
Honestly, this one is a little sad. More than one duck has been tossed onto the ice to taunt Ducks fans, and to that we say ‘ew’, and ‘this seems illegal’. Also, did they have to pluck Donald like that? Come on, guys.
Catfish
Oh, Nashville Predators fans. Music city hockey fans are some of the most passionate in the game, and upon learning that other teams were throwing animals, they figured out a ‘thing’ of their very on – catfish! Better news? They even have catfish who wear masks. Very responsible, Nashville.
