The National Hockey League is a story of legends, lucky breaks, bitter feuds that are frozen in ice, and plain assorted craziness. This league has seen players lose their teeth, continue playing, and then sign autograph cutters for fans. This league has allowed a plastic rat to be a mascot for playoff success, and a 42-year-old zamboni driver to be a hero of a National Hockey League game. There are myriad tales that are now a part of this story, a history that’s no less interesting than this sport.

The Zamboni Driver Who Became a Goaltender

Perhaps the most astonishing recent event took place in February of 2020. The Carolina Hurricanes were playing the Toronto Maple Leafs when tragedy struck. Both of their goalies were injured during the course of the game. NHL teams are required to have an Emergency Backup Goaltender on hand for either side. On this particular night, that emergency goaltender would be David Ayres, a 42-year-old Zamboni driver for the Toronto Marlies.

Ayres laced up in a Hurricanes jersey, but he wore a helmet with a Leafs logo on it. The Leafs scored two goals, and it looked as though it were going to be a long night for him. However, he shut down. He stopped a total of eight shots, which gave him the victory. The Hurricanes awarded him the game puck, his stick went into the hall of fame, and he became the oldest goalie in NHL history to earn a victory in his debut.

“The Octopus” Tradition in Detroit

Playoff traditions in Detroit are taken very seriously. Octopuses were the most revered symbols of tradition in Detroit Red Wings’ heydays. This tradition dates back to 1952, when a pair of brothers who owned a fish market threw an octopus onto the ice, as a symbol of their hope that their team would win, since it would take their team eight wins to take home the Stanley Cup. This marked a turning point, as Detroit won that season.

Detroit fans started tossing octopuses in huge numbers so that “Al the Octopus” became a mascot. The league was forced to fine the Detroit Red Wings for this, but fans were not bothered. They continued tossing octopuses, with some even attempting to bring octopuses in coats and shirts. This has been touted as the most bizarre tradition in professional sports.

Wayne Gretzky’s “The Trade

In 1988, hockey’s all-time greatest player was traded from Edmonton to Los Angeles. This event shocked Canada to its roots. “The Trade” was more than a trade; it was a crisis in Canada. Gretzky, with the Oilers, had won four Stanley Cups, and he was regarded as the most valuable athlete in the world. His owner, Peter Pocklington, chose to sell him for personal gain. There were protests in front of the arena. Members of Parliament asked for government action. Gretzky and half of Canada were in tears.

However, this trade would forever alter the league. Gretzky’s arrival in Los Angeles brought a spotlight to hockey in North America, setting in motion a plan for expansion teams in traditional non-hockey markets such as Anaheim, Phoenix, Tampa Bay, and Nashville. Some credit the present-day NHL as a direct result of this passionate day in 1988.

The Emergence of “Rat Trick” in Florida

A strange set of superstitions, those of the Florida Panthers. In the mid-1990s, this team became known as the “kings of supernatural weirdness in hockey.” In the 1995-96 season, Florida forward Scott Mellanby killed a rat in the locker room with a slapshot against the wall—and then went on to score two goals. Goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck aptly named it a “rat trick.” Fans started tossing plastic rats onto the ice every time Florida scored a goal. So many landed in playoffs that year that, in an effort to halt this practice, rules were established to keep rats off ice.

The lucky charm led Florida all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. While they did not take home a trophy, it has become a beloved logo of their team.

A Goalie Who Played Every Minute for a Decade

Goaltender Glenn Hall earned the nickname “Mr. Goalie” for a reason. “I went 502 games without missing a minute for my teams from 1955-1962,” he said in an interview. This record has stood the test of time, especially in a league where playing goaltender is a brutal experience. The most amazing part of this record is that every night, he would vomit before a game due to nervousness, but this would not stop him from playing incredible hockey. Eventually, Hall went on to claim two Vezina Trophies and a Conn Smythe award.

The Fog Game

“One of the most bizarre playoff series in NHL history occurred in 1975 between Buffalo and Philadelphia in a semifinals series. The Memorial Auditorium, long since a relic of a different Buffalo, lacked air conditioning. On this sweltering evening in May, fog rolled in off the ice like in a horror film. The ice rink became so foggy that players were all but invisible. The puck was stopped numerous times as officials used towels to direct players out of sight. To make this evening even more surreal, a bat appeared on the ice in the middle of play, until Jim Lorentz of Buffalo swatted it aside with his stick.”

Buffalo won the “Fog Game,” but this surreal imagery remains as a most distinctive event in the history of the NHL.

“Rocket” Richard and Hockey Passion

“Rocket” Richard was a player in the NHL, but he was also a symbol of a certain culture in Quebec. In 1955, Richard was suspended by the NHL for striking a linesman in an altercation. This punishment was deemed grossly unfair by fans in Montreal, in part due to feelings of resentment among French-Canadian players against NHL management. This erupted in a “Richard Riot.” Although it was a tragic event, it reshaped the portrait of Canadian identity and further reinforced Richard’s status as a representation of pride and resistance. There are no other individuals in sports history that have impacted society in this way. The history of the NHL has a lot of events that are in no way related to goals and standings. This league has been established in a way that it has passion, superstitions, unpredictability, and a number of incredible personalities. A story about a hero in a Zamboni driver, a playoff symbol in a plastic rat, and an octopus that gave hope to a city are all related to the greatest story of ice hockey that has heart, show, skating, and scoring.

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