Why Nashville Predators fans throw catfish on the ice
The Nashville Predators have one of the best new traditions in sports, chucking catfish on the ice during games, and the story behind this is what makes rivalries so great.
The Predators begin their march toward the Stanley Cup Final for a second straight year where they hope to finish what they started last year. The former expansion team has come a long way in two decades and enter the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and the winners of the President’s Trophy, as owners of the best record in the regular season.
If you missed their postseason run last season, you also missed the first big exposure to the new tradition that is sure to be generating plenty of conversation during the playoffs. Last year saw fans, and even Tennessee Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan fling catfish on the ice as a rallying moment for fans in Bridgestone Arena.
According to The Tennessean, the tradition of flinging the fish on the ice began as a way to stick it to Detroit Red Wings fans who infiltrated the arena and chucked octopuses on the ice. The Red Wings penchant for chucking octopi on the ice began decades ago and represented the eight wins teams needed to win the Stanley Cup then. As legend would have it, Lower Broadway bar owner Bob Wolf claims he was the first to launch a catfish on the ice and he did so in the team’s inaugural year in 1998-99 in response to the Red Wings tradition.
It wasn’t until 2015 or 2016 that it really caught the attention of casual and die-hard hockey fans around the country. however.
As the Predators have gotten so much better in recent years, they’ve had more playoff games to raise awareness for their catfish tradition.
When the Predators played the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Final last year, there were fans in the Steel City who were even trying to keep fans from smuggling in catfish. Penguins fans clearly knew the power of the catfish toss.
And when the Predators were the victims of some terrible officiating, one fan went so far as to send a catfish to the league office as a sign of non-violent protest.
The Predators begin their first round series tonight, April 12, against the Colorado Avalanche with the game starting on NBCSN at 8:30 p.m. ET.
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