you don't explain it 💀 you just hand them a jersey and tell them to clap when the lamp lights and let the brain damage set in naturally over a few seasons. that's how it got us. that's how it gets everybody 🐙❤️
the octopus tradition. explain it to a new fan without sounding insane 🐙
OctopusOnIce1mo ago
got a buddy who just moved here from out of state and he's getting into the wings and he asked me why people throw octopuses (octopi? octopodes? whatever) on the ice and i tried to explain it and watched his face the whole time. he thinks we're a cult. we might be a cult.
for the uninitiated: back in 52 the cup was a best of seven twice so eight wins total and the legend goes two brothers who owned a fish market threw an octopus with eight legs for the eight wins. al sobotka used to swing it over his head and they banned that and we got mad and it's been a whole thing for 70 years.
anyway how do you explain hockeytown traditions to outsiders without sounding like you belong in an institution. octopus, the wing on the ice, legend of the production line, all of it. go.
OT
OldTimeHockeyOtto1mo ago
The thing your friend needs to understand is that the octopus isn't a gimmick, it's a prayer. The Legend twins threw it for eight wins because eight wins was the whole mountain, the entire Cup in one heave. Every octopus since is a little echo of asking the hockey gods for the run. When Sobotka twirled it and the legend smell hit that ice, the whole building remembered every spring it ever lived through. That's not insane. That's the most sane thing in sports.
RinkRatRandy1mo ago
I threw one once in 09. Carried it in frozen in a backpack so security wouldn't smell it. Worth every weird look I got on the people mover. Do I recommend it as a lifestyle? No. Do I regret it? Also no.
PK
patk_881mo ago
wait you froze it first?? 😭 i always assumed people just yeeted a fresh one. this changes my entire understanding of the operation
RinkRatRandy1mo ago
@patk_88 said:wait you froze it first??
Frozen so it's compact and doesn't leak, then you let it thaw in your jacket during the first period so it throws right. There's a craft to it kid. The fresh ones are too floppy and you'll hit the guy three rows down. Ask me how I know.
SaturdayNightSuze1mo ago
the part that always gets the outsiders is when you explain we have a giant purple octopus mascot named al hanging from the rafters named after the zamboni guy who used to swing the real ones. that's the moment their eyes glaze over. it's perfect. never explain it any further than that.
GrumpyInGrosse1mo ago
kids today won't even throw one because they're scared of the cleanup fee. in my day you threw the octopus and you took the consequences like a man. no romance left.
moe531mo ago
honestly the best part is you can NOT explain hockeytown to a sunbelt fan and that's a feature not a bug 🐙 they got a giant inflatable shark or whatever, we got a 70 year old cephalopod prayer ritual and a banned zamboni twirl. we're just built different in this state 😤
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