NHL playoff traditions: Oilers have beef, Panthers have rats

Nearly 10 years ago the Edmonton Oilers were being booed off the ice at Rexall Place and fans were tossing their jerseys on the ice.

What a difference a decade can make. The Oilers are now competing for a Stanley Cup, and instead of tossing their jerseys in anger, some fans are throwing beef on the ice in celebration.

CityNews caught up with the man who started the tradition during the Oilers 2006 cup run.

“This was right after the mad cow crisis. I assured her our beef was fine but then it hit me, we have to throw beef on the ice,” said Chris Scheetz, a retired Edmonton broadcaster.

Scheetz says a chance conversation about the safety of Alberta beef on a plane to Detroit for the Oilers 2006 first-round match-up against the Red Wings is what started the tradition of throwing Alberta beef. Red Wings fans throwing octopus after octopus on the ice, it was only natural.

“We got beef. We crossed the border into Windsor. We got alberta beef, came back into Detroit and threw it right as the last few lines of O’Canada were being sung. Craig Mactavish, the coach, and a bunch of the players knew it was coming,” explained Scheetz.

There’s a long tradition of fans throwing stuff on the ice. Hats rain down from the stands for hat tricks, Edmonton’s cup rivals the Florida Panthers fans throw rats, and a recent NHL commercial encourages Nashville fans to sneak in catfish.

Beef on ice made a comeback during Edmonton’s series against Vancouver and has been happening at games since. Scheetz says it wasn’t him.

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“My phone was blowing up and people were saying ‘You threw the beef! You threw the beef!’ I didn’t throw the beef but I’m very happy that it happened.”

While this cup run is making fans nostalgic for 2006, it also might have you nostalgic for beef prices.

“That would probably be a $120 cut of beef now right.”