Why panthers fans throw rats

Forward Scott Mellanby killed a rat with his hockey stick, which had tried scurrying across the team's locker room before the Panthers' home opener on October 8, Mellanby went on to score two goals in the game with the same stick with which he killed the rat. Once word had spread to the fans about Mellanby's Rat Trick, they established the Panthers' newest tradition of throwing rubber rats onto the ice during games after a goal was scored.

The tradition especially grew in popularity once the team clinched its first playoff birth in and continued when Florida reached the Cup Finals vs. By then, thousands of rats came crashing down onto the Miami Center's ice. This rare happening obviously delayed the game quite a bit.

Following the season, the NHL had initiated a new rule where the home team could get penalized for fans throwing objects onto the ice excluding hats for a hat trick that would delay a game for an extensive period of time. The tradition returned in when the Panthers made the playoffs for the first time in 12 seasons -- fans happily threw rats back onto their home ice after Florida beat the New Jersey Devils during the first round of the playoffs.

It was the Panthers' first playoff win since Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Gallant was asked if he would ask team management to not do such a giveaway in the future.

It almost cost us tonight. This article is more than 5 years old. The Florida rat craze harks back to , when Scott Mellanby killed a live one in the locker room before going out and scoring two goals. Photograph: Luis M. However, as the Panthers faded from relevance, so did the Panthers rats. Fans no longer threw them at games and they seemed to be only a distant memory. Yet, for whatever reason, something happened in and with this group of Panthers.

For the first time in recent memory, fans began to throw rats again after the team won. The new ownership group, which had already brought back a version of the classic red sweaters, embraced the tradition and began selling plastic rats at the Bank Atlantic Center. Many players have even scooped up rats as souvenirs after key wins. Believe it or not, but the rats became a storyline in the first-round playoff series against the New Jersey Devils.

The flying rodents seem to have gotten to certain Devils players, including Martin Brodeur.