Thursday, April 07, 2016
Game Promotions Gone Bad
Kerry
Fraser put quite a few miles on his blades on National Hockey League
rinks. He began his career as a referee in 1973, and broke into the
NHL in 1980. He blew the whistle until 2010. At that time, he had
adjudicated more regular season games, and more playoff games than
any other official in the game, at the NHL level.
He
does admit that he was not the most popular official in history, and
he did take a lot of abuse for his impeccable hair. No matter. He
also worked several international games, including the Olympics.
When
I spotted him hovering above the ice at the BT&T Centre in
Sunrise, Florida, I knew I was in luck.
The
Panthers had recently suffered nearly disastrous results from a
promotion at their games. The first 10 000 fans entering the arena
were given a rubber rat. Not just ordinary, run-of-the-mill rats.
Special rats. The words, “Year of the Rat” were written on the
rat's side, as was the date: 1995-96. For twenty years, the team has
capitalized on the poor rodent.
Back
in their old barn in Miami, Scott Mellanby had fired a dazed rat
against the wall with a decent slapshot before a game. He also potted
two goals that evening. As a consequence, Panthers' goalie John
Vanbiesbrouck stated the Mellanby had scored a “rat trick”. That
was the only year that the Cats played in a Stanley Cup final.
Since
that time, fans have showered the ice surface with rats after
victories. Recent events regarding the long-tailed creature have not
gone so well for the Panthers.
On
the rat promotion night, fans tossed their rodents onto the ice after
their first goal. They were warned over the public address system not
to throw things on the ice. More rats, naturally. Then they were
assessed a two minute delay of game penalty.
Then
another goal, and more rats! And another two minute penalty. The
veins were quite prevalent on Coach Gerard Gallant's neck. He was
more unhappy with the fans, than with the call: “We've got to be
smarter than that,” he told the press after the game.
Fraser
recalled a similar occurrence one night in St. Louis. Fans were given
“coozies”, those silly rubber things you place over cans to keep
them cool. When the fans objected to some of Fraser's calls, they
showered the ice. “They filled a dozen wheelbarrows! They used them
again at another promotional night.” Look for Fraser on his popular
TSN show, “C'mon, Ref!”
I
chatted with other hockey guys about stuff being tossed on the ice.
Naturally, the octopus in Detroit comes to mind. For those of us with
slightly receding hairlines, we remember programs covering ice
surfaces. Eddie Johnson, the veteran NHL netminder laughed when I
told him I remembered toe rubbers littering the ice at the old
Memorial in Belleville.
Toe
rubbers, you ask? Check with your grandfather.
The
Ontario Hockey League has instituted a wonderful program to benefit
kids. It is dubbed a “Teddy Bear Toss”, and takes place in many
arenas. Fans come to the game with stuffed animals, in a plastic bag.
When the home team scores a goal, they shower the ice with the bears.
The rink rats pick then up and donate them to a cause.
That
is, of course, unless the home team does not score. Robert Gherson,
the affable netminder who was placed in our billet home as a kid,
shut out a team on “Teddy Bear Toss Night”. “They pelted me
with those bears after the game. They were not happy!”
Another
stuff-on-the-ice event that Gherson remembered took place in Erie,
the Pennsylvania home of the OHL Otters. They had a chap named Corey
Pecker in their lineup. And yes, as I am sure you have surmised, when
Corey scored, fans would throw stuff on the ice. And yes, they looked
like...And yes, they were dildos!
Gherson also played with another player who happened to be playing in Sweden when another rink was covered. Have a look.
On
occasion, public relations folk don't think these things through as
carefully as they should. My pal Rick Meagher played several years in
the NHL. On one occasion in St. Louis, fans were given beautiful
ceramic mugs entering the arena. When the officiating took a turn for
the worse, in their opinion, they showered the ice with the mugs.
Toronto
Blue Jays players are positioned far enough away from the fans that
they are rarely affected by items thrown on the field. I was at a
game when magnetic fridge schedules were handed out to fans entering
the park. One fan sandwiched several magnets together, and was able
to fling it near second base. That would leave a nasty mark.
After
the fans spent a Sunday pelting players with beer bottles at a
Browns' game in Cleveland, authorities decided to sell beer in
plastic bottles. Good thinking. Come to think of it, alcohol likely
has something to do with all this stuff and nonsense.
And
then there was the loonie a certain individual placed at centre ice
during the Olympics. But that's another story.
Got
any other good ones? Email me:jhurst1@xplornet.com
James
Hurst
April
5, 2016
# posted by James Hurst @ 7:37 PM 
