I remember the Panthers playoff run in '95-'96! People were buying black plastic and rubber rats by the caseload. The Panthers even had an animated rat on the scoreboard screen that would mix records as a DJ and tap his stick against the ice and goal post to the song "We Will Rock You" by Queen during the bleacher stomp part. I bet the arena took all the rats collected after each goal and re-sold them to fans throughout the year, turning a nice profit in the process, lol.
@marth1800 This was 1996. The past. There was a point in the past where Detroit would throw a lot more than one or two octopi as well. Don't deny it. And you hear the announcer say this is the heaviest of it. So it wasn't always this bad.
@zacandashleys1fan well then sorry. shovels and shit doesn't matter. the league doesn't need rats every night for the first goal. plus the octopus is a tradition when it only took 8 games to win the cup. hats is something for 3 goals. a rat is...a rat. you don't see it anymore because FL hasn't had a winning season since
I hope that every NHL fan will get to experience the the spell that every town from North Palm Beach to Homestead was under when their team were mere finalists. We may not have won the cup but we shouldn't have been playing for it in the first place. My god, if you weren't in South Florida in the summer of 1996 you'd lie and said you were.
well a guy is in court right now for a mistaminor for throwin an octopus on the ice in the d, im from Detroit n we well still do it for the playoffs this is hocky town not some joke hocky team in florida or california
@canibus123321 Detroit has a 10 percent population of whites, who mainly consume hockey. Detroit is a dying city, people run away from there. In the future the Red Wings will relocate to Milwaukee.
@MacGovernor u sound dumb as hell. its not like people from the city show up, we have 2nd best attendance over last 10 years. why relocate to milwaukee, a city that has not had a champion in anything i can think of what a looser city. u guys make shitty beer n thats it, come the detroit n get ate
@MacGovernor LMAO wow i think i can speak for both since im a native detroiter living in milwaukee...i would like to see milwaukee get an nhl team in fact i heard the chicago blackhawks ownership somehow stopped it from happening....anyways the wings would never EVER leave as for demographics lots of white wings fans live in the suburbs of detroit so they make up the majority of the fanbase but you do got some latino/black fans in the inner city who like the wings
@MacGovernor LMAO I am a Wings fan and a Brewers fan, so I don't hate on Mikwaukee. But you are an idiot by thinking the Wings will ever move. Metro Detroit has almost 4,000,000 citizens as opposed to Milwaukee's 2,000,000. They may get a team one day but never one like Detroit, it will be a Phoenix or Florida or someone like that, not an original 6 team. That would be like the Yankees moving.
Do any of you even know the history behind the rat in Florida? Probably not. Just a bunch of dumbasses jumping to conclusions. Scott Mellanby killed a rat in the locker room prior to the team's home opener with his stick, then scored two goals with the same stick. Fans immediately picked up on the idea and began throwing plastic rats on the ice to celebrate goals. By 1996 there were a ton. At least we did throw ACTUAL rats, stupid ass Detroit fans. They're plastic.
I think it's stupid of how the nhl doesn't allow any more rats to be thrown in florida but they can still throw an octopus onto the ice in detroit, does anybody see how stupid this is? the rat thing worked in florida and now they haven't made the playoffs in the last 10 years so for fuck sakes just let them throw it.
@1hugedik Sorry it doesn't take 5 minute to clear off the ice in Detroit like it did in Florida. You can still throw the rats, just possible might get thrown out of the game.
@1hugedik There are a few people who stick to the traditon and throw rats on home ice after a big win. Of course not nearly as much as this, but you still see maybe ten-fifteen on good nights. I even saw a few at a game @ the arena in Tampa vs the Lightning
@1hugedik They do not let the Red Wings fan throw them. It is against the rules. Red Wings fans have just been doing it for decades, and are not going to let a rule stop them. Not to mention, clearing one or two octopi off the ice is a lot quicker and easier than cleaning all of these plastic rats.
*spit take* Somebody smuggled a real rat into the arena and threw it on the ice!? What a bastard! I hope whoever did that got prison time for animal cruelty!
This video made me respect the Panthers a little more. Most of their fans are gone and the team sucks, and they probably shouldn't be in Miami any more, but that was pretty cool when they used to throw the Rats on the ice. I can see why it was banned, but it was real and it was passionate. Too bad they can't get anyone to go their games anymore.
@shiggityshake they do not play in Miami they play in Sunrise which is a suburb of Ft Lauderdale,this run pretty much kept the Panthers in S Florida they have been badly ran which has frustrated the fans
Julian, it was Scott Mellanby and he got two goals. Someone mentioned that he came short of a hat trick and I think Beezer mentioned that he got a "rat trick" - two goals and a rat. Mellanby didn't get his first hat trick until he was playing for the Blues.
@dolphinsneu haha no way, it started because in the home opener one of the panthers players one timed a live rat that came onto the ice, and that game he got 3 goals they called it the rat trick, so every time florida scored they'd throw fake plastic rats on the ice
Those fucking rubber (or were they hard plastic?) rats should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame! :-) That was the shit! I definitely remember that. I also remember all of the players leaving the ice when it was time for the "rat toss," except for the goalies. They took cover under the nets. Those mid-90's NHL days were pretty cool (especially the goddamn uniforms! LONG before that faggot-ass RBk trash!). NHL on FOX was wild, too. I was definitely down with the 'FOXTrax'. :-) (Glow-puck, baby!!!)
@JohanKH No, but Orkin jumped at the chance to sponsor the cleanup crew. The reason why they were throwing rats was because a player made a comment about it being the year of the rat on the chinese calendar.
Not entirely. Scott Mellanby of the Panthers discovered a rat in their locker room and "one-timed it" ( a term for shooting the puck w/out stopping it) against the wall, killing it. He then scored two goals that night, which goalie John Vanbiesbruck called a "Rat Trick" (1 rat + 2 goals = 3, # needed for a hat trick). The story got out and people started tossing rats onto the ice after goals, it gathered steams as the Panthers made an unlikely playoff run to the finals. It was then banned
So this was what was happening the day I was born.
ventor11225 1 month ago
I remember the Panthers playoff run in '95-'96! People were buying black plastic and rubber rats by the caseload. The Panthers even had an animated rat on the scoreboard screen that would mix records as a DJ and tap his stick against the ice and goal post to the song "We Will Rock You" by Queen during the bleacher stomp part. I bet the arena took all the rats collected after each goal and re-sold them to fans throughout the year, turning a nice profit in the process, lol.
SpringfieldGarand 1 month ago
Man the whole rat thing actually works. It started in the Year of the Rat and cats eat mice so panthers eat...rats?
Wafflesaurus 2 months ago
Look out the Panthers are actually good again! There was like 20 rats on the ice after beating the Capitals 5-4 12-5-11
HailDaFins 2 months ago 4
I love how the Detroit fans feel insecure enough to start a debate about rats vs. octopi. LOL
TheElectricCity224 2 months ago
ugh, what the hell Florida??? what kind of fans throw rats on the ice?
waterlizardz123 4 months ago
@waterlizardz123
Look up the story and you'll know. I don't feel like telling it for the 100th time. By they way they're plastic/rubber rats, well 99% of them.
HailDaFins 4 months ago
@waterlizardz123 What, Detroit throw's ACTUAL octopus on the ice, and we throw fake rats and get hate?
zacandashleys1fan 4 months ago
@zacandashleys1fan
well do you see how many there are? one or two octopuses vs 10000 rats.
and the argument of hats is out the door because they're larger and easy to shovel
marth1800 4 months ago
@marth1800 This was 1996. The past. There was a point in the past where Detroit would throw a lot more than one or two octopi as well. Don't deny it. And you hear the announcer say this is the heaviest of it. So it wasn't always this bad.
zacandashleys1fan 4 months ago
@zacandashleys1fan i didn't deny it. a large octopus is easier to pick up than a tiny rat
marth1800 4 months ago
@marth1800 They're both pretty damn easy when you're not living in prehistoric time and use this neat little invention called a shovel.
You know, the same thing they sometimes use for hats?
zacandashleys1fan 4 months ago
@zacandashleys1fan well then sorry. shovels and shit doesn't matter. the league doesn't need rats every night for the first goal. plus the octopus is a tradition when it only took 8 games to win the cup. hats is something for 3 goals. a rat is...a rat. you don't see it anymore because FL hasn't had a winning season since
marth1800 3 months ago
a rat is much less than a octopus
sonrac1 3 months ago
@sonrac1 but 20,000 rats are much more than an octopus
marth1800 2 months ago
Rat Trick!
bradysux360 5 months ago
i live in pensacola florida born and raised and i still hate the panthers Roy's the best goalie ever
patrickRoy33kaw 7 months ago
I wish we were still this good.
rlessg1000 8 months ago
"It would've been sad if they had to go home with all those rats in their pockets"
MadCowMindTV 9 months ago
I hope that every NHL fan will get to experience the the spell that every town from North Palm Beach to Homestead was under when their team were mere finalists. We may not have won the cup but we shouldn't have been playing for it in the first place. My god, if you weren't in South Florida in the summer of 1996 you'd lie and said you were.
strangelove262 9 months ago
well a guy is in court right now for a mistaminor for throwin an octopus on the ice in the d, im from Detroit n we well still do it for the playoffs this is hocky town not some joke hocky team in florida or california
canibus123321 9 months ago
@canibus123321 Detroit has a 10 percent population of whites, who mainly consume hockey. Detroit is a dying city, people run away from there. In the future the Red Wings will relocate to Milwaukee.
MacGovernor 8 months ago
@MacGovernor u sound dumb as hell. its not like people from the city show up, we have 2nd best attendance over last 10 years. why relocate to milwaukee, a city that has not had a champion in anything i can think of what a looser city. u guys make shitty beer n thats it, come the detroit n get ate
canibus123321 8 months ago
@canibus123321 1957 Milwaukee Braves World Series Champions
1982 Milwaukee Brewers American League Champions
1971 Milwaukee Bucks NBA Champions - Lew Alcindor Finals MVP
1966 Green Bay Packers Super Bowl Champions
1967 Green Bay Packers Super Bowl Champions
1996 Green Bay Packers Super Bowl Champions - Desmond Howard Super Bowl MVP
1997 Green Bay Packers NFC Champions
2010 Green Bay Packers Super Bowl Champions - Aaron Rodgers Super Bowl MVP
MacGovernor 8 months ago
@MacGovernor LMAO wow i think i can speak for both since im a native detroiter living in milwaukee...i would like to see milwaukee get an nhl team in fact i heard the chicago blackhawks ownership somehow stopped it from happening....anyways the wings would never EVER leave as for demographics lots of white wings fans live in the suburbs of detroit so they make up the majority of the fanbase but you do got some latino/black fans in the inner city who like the wings
DETROIT2MILWAUKEE 7 months ago
@MacGovernor LMAO I am a Wings fan and a Brewers fan, so I don't hate on Mikwaukee. But you are an idiot by thinking the Wings will ever move. Metro Detroit has almost 4,000,000 citizens as opposed to Milwaukee's 2,000,000. They may get a team one day but never one like Detroit, it will be a Phoenix or Florida or someone like that, not an original 6 team. That would be like the Yankees moving.
SpartyFan1213 5 months ago
The greatest fan phenomenon of all time!
WatchVenusSpa 9 months ago
Just curious, I was just a lad at the time. Did they give the rats out or did people just bring them in?
Category5PHL 11 months ago
Do any of you even know the history behind the rat in Florida? Probably not. Just a bunch of dumbasses jumping to conclusions. Scott Mellanby killed a rat in the locker room prior to the team's home opener with his stick, then scored two goals with the same stick. Fans immediately picked up on the idea and began throwing plastic rats on the ice to celebrate goals. By 1996 there were a ton. At least we did throw ACTUAL rats, stupid ass Detroit fans. They're plastic.
zacandashleys1fan 11 months ago
@zacandashleys1fan you threw actual rats? Check your spelling, who's the stupid ass fan now? :)
REALTALKFEELME 10 months ago
@zacandashleys1fan So why are Detroit fans stupid?
chaldochamp3 10 months ago
@zacandashleys1fan ah Mellanby but I thought the rats only came out for two goals ??
mikko522 9 months ago
I think it's stupid of how the nhl doesn't allow any more rats to be thrown in florida but they can still throw an octopus onto the ice in detroit, does anybody see how stupid this is? the rat thing worked in florida and now they haven't made the playoffs in the last 10 years so for fuck sakes just let them throw it.
1hugedik 11 months ago
@1hugedik Sorry it doesn't take 5 minute to clear off the ice in Detroit like it did in Florida. You can still throw the rats, just possible might get thrown out of the game.
tmoore4075 11 months ago
@tmoore4075 I know, I'm not a florida fan or a detroit fan but I would still like to see something like that happening in the game today.
1hugedik 11 months ago
@1hugedik There are a few people who stick to the traditon and throw rats on home ice after a big win. Of course not nearly as much as this, but you still see maybe ten-fifteen on good nights. I even saw a few at a game @ the arena in Tampa vs the Lightning
zacandashleys1fan 11 months ago
@1hugedik They do not let the Red Wings fan throw them. It is against the rules. Red Wings fans have just been doing it for decades, and are not going to let a rule stop them. Not to mention, clearing one or two octopi off the ice is a lot quicker and easier than cleaning all of these plastic rats.
Kravis63 11 months ago 2
@Kravis63 They are only allowed to throw them on the ice _AFTER_ games of the team will be penalized...
boegfitta 1 month ago
When we make it back...I'm throwing a bucket of rats on the ice.
DYNASTYxBRADY 1 year ago
That is fucking stupid......and we get shit for Al Sobtka swinging a octopi....tasteless, and classless Panthers fans are!
djsilkie313 1 year ago
@djsilkie313 What fans?
GO STARS GO
NessMencesal 1 year ago
*spit take* Somebody smuggled a real rat into the arena and threw it on the ice!? What a bastard! I hope whoever did that got prison time for animal cruelty!
AnistonAnarchist 1 year ago
@AnistonAnarchist Should Mellanby have gotten time for killing the rat in the locker room that started this whole thing?
dolphinsneu 1 year ago
@dolphinsneu No, but there is a difference between killing a rat infesting in a building and smuggling one in.
AnistonAnarchist 1 year ago
This video made me respect the Panthers a little more. Most of their fans are gone and the team sucks, and they probably shouldn't be in Miami any more, but that was pretty cool when they used to throw the Rats on the ice. I can see why it was banned, but it was real and it was passionate. Too bad they can't get anyone to go their games anymore.
shiggityshake 1 year ago
@shiggityshake they do not play in Miami they play in Sunrise which is a suburb of Ft Lauderdale,this run pretty much kept the Panthers in S Florida they have been badly ran which has frustrated the fans
Airman241 1 year ago
@Airman241 The Panthers have never been the same since they moved to Sunrise.
lster97 11 months ago
i'm a avs fan and i love this
doncherry90 1 year ago
Search for video: Colorado Avalanche 1995-1996 Stanley Cup Winners' 15 years Reunion at Denver Pepsi Center, 2010
virsuliskes 1 year ago
ahaahahahaha awesome
econguy87 1 year ago
@ 1:28 we have got a rat delay at the bottom left corner of your screen.
StFidjnr 1 year ago
"Rat Delay" xD
FoxGoalie 1 year ago
Literally, OVER 9000!!!! rats were thrown onto the ice that goal
NessMencesal 1 year ago
I believe this is the "No more rats" goal?
skull902 1 year ago
@skull902 yep
dolphinsneu 1 year ago
@skull902 actually, I think they got another goal after this. I may be mistaken.
dolphinsneu 1 year ago
This isn't the "no more rats" goal. :/
Rob Niedermayer scored it later that game to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead.
skull902 1 year ago
@skull902 yeah, I just looked it up. Did they throw the rats after that goal too?
dolphinsneu 1 year ago
Yep. And Roy, being badass, just stood there and hung out like nothing was going on.
skull902 1 year ago
Julian, it was Scott Mellanby and he got two goals. Someone mentioned that he came short of a hat trick and I think Beezer mentioned that he got a "rat trick" - two goals and a rat. Mellanby didn't get his first hat trick until he was playing for the Blues.
jameshardiman 1 year ago
I was hoping to find when Roy had to hide in his net because of the rain of rats, but this is just as good. Memories of 3 OT games, etc. Good times.
Pharmakon7 1 year ago
are those real dead rats? SOMEBODY TELL ME!!!
dolphinsneu 1 year ago
@dolphinsneu haha no way, it started because in the home opener one of the panthers players one timed a live rat that came onto the ice, and that game he got 3 goals they called it the rat trick, so every time florida scored they'd throw fake plastic rats on the ice
Julian24151 1 year ago
this sure better than a damn octupus or hats on a hat trick
Julian24151 1 year ago
@Julian24151 Or in Nashville they have the Catfish.
Go Pens, Stars, Sabres, Preds, Wild, and Thrashers
BRING BACK THE JETS FFS
NessMencesal 1 year ago
they even had a Rat Delay clock hahahahah sick!
supercoop0125 1 year ago
Those fucking rubber (or were they hard plastic?) rats should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame! :-) That was the shit! I definitely remember that. I also remember all of the players leaving the ice when it was time for the "rat toss," except for the goalies. They took cover under the nets. Those mid-90's NHL days were pretty cool (especially the goddamn uniforms! LONG before that faggot-ass RBk trash!). NHL on FOX was wild, too. I was definitely down with the 'FOXTrax'. :-) (Glow-puck, baby!!!)
BrooklynEagle 1 year ago 2
Another example of organized sports retarded-ness.
hEADcRASH13 1 year ago
@hEADcRASH13 What, you don't like this stuff? It's what sports is all about!:-)
ckendall67 1 year ago
wtf? did they throw rats when the game ended?
xtericx 1 year ago
Are they dead?
0nePumpChump 1 year ago
rats pretty damn funny
carnini 1 year ago
Wtf? I knew sport fanatics was retarded but .. But it was an ad campain?
JohanKH 1 year ago
@JohanKH No, but Orkin jumped at the chance to sponsor the cleanup crew. The reason why they were throwing rats was because a player made a comment about it being the year of the rat on the chinese calendar.
paco62483 1 year ago
Not entirely. Scott Mellanby of the Panthers discovered a rat in their locker room and "one-timed it" ( a term for shooting the puck w/out stopping it) against the wall, killing it. He then scored two goals that night, which goalie John Vanbiesbruck called a "Rat Trick" (1 rat + 2 goals = 3, # needed for a hat trick). The story got out and people started tossing rats onto the ice after goals, it gathered steams as the Panthers made an unlikely playoff run to the finals. It was then banned
aapold 1 year ago 2
___/.___
Coodude26 1 year ago
they rocked that year.... they will bring the cup home they are still a young team.
A7X4LIFE1000 1 year ago
Good thing the Panthers never score or these games would last days for clean up.
Milessmile 1 year ago
It's funny how a video from 10 or 20 years ago look like the people were from the 60's
ChocolatePoop1301 1 year ago
hopefully the next time the Panthers are in the playoffs they bring back the rats lol
RaidersRock 1 year ago
good memories
dephiler 1 year ago
YEAR OF THE RAT!!!
flats420mcgee 1 year ago