University of New Hampshire hockey fans have a pretty strange (and gross) tradition of throwing a dead fish on the ice after the team’s first goal. Because it doesn’t make much sense to me, I’ll let the Wildcats’ website explain it.
According to Bob Norton, a former UNH assistant coach, the fish-tossing tradition began in the early 1970s. “It goes back to when we were playing a Division II team, and our program had gone way past theirs. I remember (the UNH fans) threw out this little dinky thing and they called it a Division II fish. I guess they were trying to tell them they weren’t worthy of a first-rate fish.”
This tradition caught on as a local fraternity made it a ritual to throw out the fish after UNH’s first goal. The fish was used to resemble the visiting team, “fishing the puck out of the net.”
This weekend, the UNH fan entrusted with upholding this storied (and, again, disgusting) tradition had some trouble with the duty.
With the Wildcats taking on a talented Boston University team, it certainly wasn’t a little dinky “Division II fish” that the fan was attempting to throw on the ice. That thing was a monster, and he struggled mightily trying to get it over the glass.
The kid eventually completed his task, but one would imagine he walked away a little embarrassed, and probably smelling a little raunch, too.
