Dead catfish, it turns out, are potentially dangerous objects. Nashville Predators fan Jacob Waddell found that out to his cost after throwing a fish on to the ice during his team’s Stanley Cup final opener in Pittsburgh.
Waddell was carrying out a tradition among Nashville fans, who regularly throw catfish on to the rink during their team’s home games. It has worked too, with the Preds reaching their first ever Stanley Cup final this season. Perhaps hoping to head off Waddell’s brand of Tennessean voodoo security staff escorted him out of the arena and he was later charged with disorderly conduct, disrupting a meeting and possessing instruments of a crime. By then, the damage was done though and the Penguins failed to register a single shot on goal in the second period after the catfish had made its appearance. Pittsburgh did eventually rally to win the game 5-3.
So this dude just got kicked out of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final for throwing a catfish on the ice. pic.twitter.com/DzLK6l1Mv5
— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) May 30, 2017
“I thought ‘Man, wouldn’t it be awesome to get to go to that game?’” Waddell told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “And then, like an ignorant redneck, I thought ‘Wouldn’t it be awesome to throw a catfish on the ice at this game?’”
Waddell had to work hard to hatch his plan in the first place. Pittsburgh fishmongers had already said they would not sell catfish to Predators fans during the final, and Waddell had to vacuum seal the fish inside a bag, spray it down with cologne to disguise the smell and smuggle it down through security in his compressions shorts.
The whereabouts of the catfish were unknown at the time of going to press.
