The Florida Panthers had one of the weirdest, most fun fan traditions in hockey develop during the mid-1990s when fans started throwing plastic rats on the ice to celebrate goals. It's hard to believe, but it has been 20 years since that tradition began when Scott Mellanby was involved in the infamous "rat trick" incident, which we'll get back to in a minute.
The Panthers celebrated the 20th anniversary of the plastic rat tradition Thursday night by giving fans attending the game against the New Jersey Devils plastic rats with “The Year of the Rat 1995-96” inscribed on them. So what do you think happens when you give people free plastic rats?
In the second period, Jonathan Huberdeau scored on a brilliant individual effort to tie the score 1-1. For a few minutes, the BB&T Center looked like the old Miami Arena as the rats came down from the stands in force.
There weren’t as many rats as we used to see back in 1995-96, but there were quite a few out there. At least enough to keep the ice crew busy for a little bit.
Well, in the years since the rat trick tradition began, throwing things on the ice has become even more frowned upon unless it's hats for a hat trick. When fans throw things now, it can result in a delay of game penalty for the home team. The referees actually went over to the scorer’s booth after Huberdeau's goal and must have told the people in there to make sure fans knew if it happened again, there would be a penalty.
After the ice was cleared, the fans received a warning from the public address announcer and a message on their gigantic video board that if they threw more rats the team could get a delay of game penalty and offenders would be ejected from the game.
That sucks a little of the fun out of it, but rules are rules.
So what do you think happened when the Panthers scored their second goal, again off of a nice play from Huberdeau?
Oh yeah, more rats. And since the fans were warned, the Panthers did indeed get a delay of game penalty.
The Panthers went from taking the lead in a key game with the battle for the Atlantic Division title ongoing to having to kill a penalty instantaneously. Head coach Gerard Gallant looked more than a little miffed on his bench.
To make things worse, the Panthers got another penalty while killing the one from the fans and to try to kill 5-on-3 power play for New Jersey in a key moment of the game. They ended up killing both penalties, though, to hold on to their lead.
Can you imagine if they gave up a power-play goal because of their fans and it contributed to them blowing the game? That would take a little bit of the zip out of the whole thing.
But wait ... there's more.
After Jaromir Jagr brilliantly set up Aleksander Barkov to make it 3-1 in the third period, the fans threw rats AGAIN. The referees stayed consistent and called another delay of game penalty.
The Devils scored on that power play, but there was only five seconds left at that point. Someone was a little rat happy still and some folks even threw rats for the Devils goal.
This had a happy ending for the home crowd, though as the Panthers held on for a 3-2 win. Then it was OK for the rats to come down and did they ever. How many of those things did they give away?
After the game, players were more upset with the referees than they were with the fans.
#FlaPanthers Jaromir Jagr said he was upset at officials on Rat Delay...said games are too important to penalize teams for actions of fans
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) April 1, 2016
Jagr also made a point about how they're trying to sell the game.
So for those that don’t know, the “rat trick” became a thing when a rat infiltrated the Panthers' dressing room in their old arena just before the home opener in 1995-96. When the rat started approaching Mellanby, he had to think quick. Being a hockey player, he took care of the rat problem the only way he knew how -- with a slap shot.
Mellanby wound up and drilled the rodent with his stick, killing the rat. That night, Mellanby scored two goals. That was when goalie John Vanbiesbrouck coined the term the “rat trick” to describe the feat of scoring twice and killing a rat in the same day.
The story caught fire and as the team found success over the course of that season, it became a big part of the team’s mystique. Then the fans got involved when they started throwing rats after goals. During the 1996 Stanley Cup Final against the Colorado Avalanche, the rat trick was taken to the next level.
Just look at this:
That was probably the peak of the rat trick craze.
This tradition has dissipated over the years as the team has failed to reach the playoffs on a regular basis. But this year's Panthers are giving their fans hope again. Ticket sales are going up, interest in the team is rising and now they’re gearing up for what they’ll hope is a well-attended and long postseason run.
You better believe the rats will be out in full force again, but maybe wait until after the game is over next time, Panthers fans.
