Panthers why rats

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. The NHL has asked the Panthers organization to stop selling rats in the arena after a few made their way onto the ice during gameplay.

For now, the team asks the fans to toss the rats on the ice after a win rather than in the middle of the game. A month later, more than rats were regularly being thrown onto the ice by fans following every goal the team scored. The franchise had only played three seasons at the time and went on to beat the Boston Bruins , Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins in the playoffs. All three opponents were well established and are one of the NHL's original twelve teams.

The "year of the rat" would come to an end after getting swept by Patrick Roy and the Colorado Avalanche during the Stanley Cup Championship. A year later, the National Hockey League implemented a rule that would allow referees to penalize the home team if the fans disrupted the game by throwing objects onto the ice.

Of course, NHL league officials would still allow for the more traditional "hat trick" celebrations to take place across the league. The rat trick tradition was once again revived in when the Florida Panthers returned to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and won it's first playoff victory since 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. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads.