Weird Things NHL Fans Have Thrown on the Ice During Hockey Games

Tossing bizarre items during games is a long-standing hockey tradition—albeit a head-scratching one. Here’s a list of the weirdest things NHL fans have thrown on the ice!

Since the 1950s, hockey fans and those who like to bet on sports in US have made a habit out of throwing symbolic items onto the ice during or after games, most of the time during playoffs. In this GamingZion article, for your amusement we’ve narrowed down the very long list of things NHL fans have thrown on the ice to some of the most funny and unusual.

Detroit Red Wings and octopuses

The one that started it all and easily the most iconic of things NHL fans have thrown on the ice. This oddball hockey tradition started all the way back on April 15, 1952, by Pete and Jerry Cusimano. The Cusimano brothers were the owners of a seafood shop, and, seeing that the eight legs of an octopus was the exact number of wins the Detroit Red Wings needed to win the Stanley Cup playoffs that year, had the genius idea of hurling it onto the ice at the start of the series for good fortune. Whether it was due to the octopus or not, the Wings would go on to beat both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens that year to take home the Cup.

Ever since then, it’s become a beloved Red Wings tradition for fans to throw slimy octopuses onto the ice. The sea creature is so adored in Detroit that it has even become the team’s official good luck charm and mascot!

Ottawa Senators and hamburgers

Ottawa Senators goalie Andrew Hammond had a smashing start to his career last year, with 20-1-2 in his first 23 NHL games. His stellar performance helped get the Senators into the 2014/2015 NHL playoffs, got him plenty of coverage on US gambling news, and even earned him the nickname “The Hamburglar” after the infamous McDonald’s restaurant mascot character, whose image he painted on his goalie mask in response.

It didn’t take long for Ottawa fans to latch onto the novelty: They started to toss hamburgers whenever Hammond did well in the net. Hammond and his teammates have taken to the new delicious tradition in good humour, with Senators forward Curtis Lazar even going so far as to eat one of the hamburgers off the ice during one playoff game.

Florida Panthers and rubber rats

Out of all the things that NHL fans have thrown on the ice, this one arguably has the oddest legend attached to it. Prior to the 1995/96 season home opener, Scott Mellanby killed a rat in the Florida Panthers locker room by shooting it across the floor with his hockey stick. He’d go on to score two goals that day, giving birth to the hockey tradition known as the “rat trick,” a play on the term “hat trick.”

Since then, Panthers fans and fans of online gambling sites in US have taken to tossing rubber rats onto the ice for good luck. The sheer number of those thrown grew so large that it caused severe delays and forced players to take cover whenever it started to rain rats, with goalies having to hide in their nets. It was eventually banned in the 1997/97 season, but was later eased by saying that fans were permitted to throw rats only after games and on special occasions.

Toronto Maple Leafs and waffles

Unlike the other things that NHL fans have thrown on the ice, which were largely in support of their teams or for good luck, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had things thrown in their stadium in protest of their bad play. One remarkable time was in 2010, when a fan chucked waffles at the Maple Leafs following their 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

The anonymous waffle-thrower eventually claimed credit via the Twitter handle EGGO_BOMBER, saying that he did it because he wanted the team to wake up and eat some breakfast (insinuating that they’d play better if they ate better?) He evidently started a trend, as since then other hockey fans have of opposing teams taken to flinging waffles onto the ice in order to taunt the Maple Leafs.

Los Angeles Kings and…a live chicken?!

This is, hands down, the absolute weirdest out of all things that NHL fans have thrown on the ice. One night in 1988, in an attempt to ridicule the Los Angeles Kings, someone tossed a live chicken wearing a blue napkin—meant to mimic the Kings’ uniform—into the rink. The terrified fowl sat motionless and soiled the ice as confused players attempted to continue the game around the disgruntled bird. Eventually they gave up and skated around and poked the chicken for a bit before the play was stopped and the hen removed.

Unlike the other items on the list, live chicken-throwing never caught on to become a beloved NHL tradition. Wonder why.