Legend of the Octopus

The Legend of the Octopus is a sports tradition during Detroit Red Wings home games in which an octopus is thrown onto the ice surface for good luck during a playoff run. This tradition dates back to the 1952 playoffs when NHL teams played two best-of-seven series to capture the Stanley Cup. The octopus, having eight arms, symbolized the number of playoff wins necessary for the Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup.

The whole started on April 15, 1952 with Pete and Jerry Cusimano, brothers and storeowners in Detroit's Eastern Market. The team swept the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens en route to winning the championship, as well as winning two of the next three championships.

The tossing of octopuses is generally viewed as a successful symbol of good luck and has persisted each year. In one 1995 game, fans threw 36 octopuses, including a 30-pounder. The Red Wings' unofficial mascot is a purple octopus named Al, and during playoff runs two of these mascots are also hung from the rafters of the Joe Louis Arena, symbolizing the 16 wins now needed to win the Stanley Cup.



The octopus tradition has launched a couple of other object-tossing manias. During the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs, fans of the Florida Panthers threw thousands of toy rats on the ice whenever the Panthers scored, inspired by the octopus toss and the story of Scott Mellanby killing a rat in the Panthers' dressing room. The NHL eventually cracked down on the rat-tossing because of the lengthy delays they could cause, and it ceased altogether shortly after the Panthers' Cup Finals run ended.

The Wings' Central Division rivals, the Nashville Predators, have mocked this tradition by throwing catfish onto their home ice, in response to the Red Wings tradition.

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