NHL issues octopus twirl ban
Photo taken by Michael Hammond before Game #5
In a frustrating move, the NHL has issued a ban on any employee picking up an item that would fall to the ice (ie. an octopus). Linesmen are the only ones allowed to remove it now and if anyone goes against that, it’s a $10,000 team fine. The act of throwing octopi on the ice is a 56 year old tradition. Al Sobokta, the Wings’ zamboni driver, has been twirling octopi over his head for the last 17 years so this isn’t an issue that just popped up yesterday. Since I’m not sure if what I say could get the Wings in trouble, I’m not going to comment on this matter. I’m simply going to let these other bloggers and media members speak for me.
I don’t expect it to last very long: This decision seems like the kind of flimsy legislative appeasement that’s quickly tossed in the trash after die-hard fans in an Original Six city and their newspaper columnists offer colorful rebuttals. Every facet of the octopus toss in Detroit contributes to one of hockey’s most inspiring and distinctive fan traditions.
Details were scarce Friday, but the Wings have been told by the NHL that head octopus wrangler Al Sobotka no longer may swing the mollusks over his head while removing them from the ice at Joe Louis Arena. If he (or anyone else) does, the team will be fined $10,000. That’s $1,250 per tentacle.
In an e-mail to the Free Press, NHL spokesman Frank Brown gave this explanation: “Because matter flies off the octopus and gets on the ice when he does it.” The Wings wouldn’t comment.
Ducks general manager Brian Burke complained about Sobotka’s swinging last year. Before Friday’s game, an octopus landed on the ice, as usual, and Nashville defenseman Greg Zanon whacked it aside with his stick.
“Certain teams and certain traditions, they should just leave them alone,” the Wings’ Chris Osgood said. “It’s a shame. It’s great for the atmosphere, and the fans love it. The league should ask the fans first before they do anything. That’s who pays to get into the rink and see the game.”
Ironically, it was 56 years ago this week the tradition started, when Pete Cusimano tossed an octopus on to the ice to celebrate a playoff goal by Gordie Howe against the Canadiens. The Wings then reeled off eight straight victories en route to the Stanley Cup, and a playoff tradition was born in Detroit.
Sobotka’s own unique role in it began in 1991, as he recalls.
“Last game of the regular season against Chicago, and somebody threw one just inside the blue line and nobody went to grab it,” he said. “So I went out and got it, and since the playoffs were coming up, I twirled it. And that was the start of it all — it just grew from there.”
Matt @ On the Wings:
According to John Niyo, the act of removing an octopus (or any other object) from the ice will be the responsibility of the linesmen from now on.
So there goes a tradition that has served to get fans revved up for the game for years. What’s next, a team fine for having an octopus thrown on the ice at all?
Dave @ Gorilla Crouch:
I read about the ban on Al Sobotka’s routine for pulling an octopus off the Joe Louis Arena ice and on the one hand it’s not that big of a deal to me. But given that it’s a) wildly popular and b) completely harmless it just seems like an incredibly retarded decision by the league. It’s a bit like the NFL’s crackdown on touchdown celebrations which earned the league the moniker of No Fun League.
But twirling an octopus isn’t a form of excessive celebration and it doesn’t disrespect the opponent. Those are the two reasons the NFL fines celebrations that cross the line. Otherwise they’ve pretty much relented and realized that the choreographed routines that definitely put the I in TEAM generate insane amounts of attention and enjoyment.
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5 Responses to “NHL issues octopus twirl ban”
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April 19th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
[…] Christy Hammond […]
April 19th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Does Gary Bettman realize what he is doing to hockey. Instead of helping hockey succeed, and regaining their old fans back, he is pushing away all fans in general, by trying to make the game “more exciting.” Little does he realize what he is doing is actually HURTING the game, first fighting, which was a BAD BAD MOVE, and has made hockey a dirtier game, with all the cheap shots, and now this? WTF!!!!! If they wanted to keep the game entertaining they would have kept fighting in the game, and made it so the players could police themselves. Hockey has all these cheap shots now because the enforcers can’t go out there and do their jobs.
April 20th, 2008 at 12:07 am
MAKE HOCKEY THE WAY IT USED TO BE, AND ALLOW ALL TRADITIONS!!!!!
April 21st, 2008 at 8:27 am
Sign Al’s petition against the octopus twirl ban!
April 26th, 2008 at 5:26 am
Well, to be honest, twirling a dead organism over one’s head is hardly something which people should be doing in this day and age.
Imagine if someone threw a dead and bloody cat on the ice, and the zamboni driver ran on, picked it up by its head, and started twirling it around his head.
Would you expect the NHL to allow that?