The Florida Panthers have embraced one of hockey’s most unique traditions this Stanley Cup Final. Brad Marchand, who joined the team via trade from Boston in March, now sports a giant gold-outlined rat on his locker hat.
“I hope we get some rats thrown at us. I just hope it’s on the ice and not outside,”
Marchand said before Game 3.
He got his wish. After Florida’s 6-1 victory over Edmonton on Monday, plastic rats rained down on the ice at Amerant Bank Arena. Marchand’s teammates pelted him with the rodents before leaving the ice.
The tradition dates back 30 years to the Panthers’ early days at Miami Arena.
Before their 1995-96 season opener, players waited in a cramped dressing room when a large rat scampered across the floor. **Billy Lindsay**, who played for Florida from 1993 to 1999, remembers the chaos.
“Players were jumping on top of their stalls… big, tough hockey players. Most of us were pretty scared of this big rat running around,”
Lindsay said.
**Scott Mellanby** grabbed his stick and slapped the rat into the wall, killing it instantly.
The Panthers beat Calgary 4-3 that night. Mellanby scored twice with the same stick he’d used to kill the rat.
“Scott Mellanby didn’t even have time to really tape his stick. So he’s got a little rat and blood there on his stick and went out there and scored a couple of goals,”
Lindsay recalled.
Goalie **John Vanbiesbrouck** called it the NHL’s first “rat trick” in his postgame press conference.
The story hit local newspapers the next day. A week later, a toy rat appeared on the ice after a home win. More followed the next game.
By season’s end, rat throwing had become such a phenomenon that pest control company Orkin sponsored the team.
A Tradition That Stuck
The Panthers made the Stanley Cup Final that 1996 season, cementing the rat tradition in South Florida hockey lore.
**Colin Fox**, a 32-year-old fan from Boca Raton, wore a throwback Mellanby jersey to Game 3.
“Even when they weren’t very good, when they weren’t on these hot streaks, there were still rats on the ice. It’s something that has persevered through the years,”
Fox said.
The NHL changed its rules after that initial season. Teams now face penalties for in-game celebrations involving thrown objects, but post-game rat tosses remain legal.
Plastic rats are sold throughout Miami at gas stations, party stores and online. Rat-themed merchandise fills Panthers’ team shops.
**JP Kirkpatrick**, a 23-year-old Orlando native, received extra rats from a fellow fan during a recent game.
“It’s a feeling you can’t replicate. You’ve got to be there to get it. You can’t watch it on TV. The fans, everybody there, it’s electric,”
Kirkpatrick said.
For Marchand, the tradition represents Florida’s team chemistry during their championship pursuit.
“This group has a ton of fun. It’s an incredible environment to be a part of. In the room, on the ice, even just in the city, there’s a lot of excitement around right now,”
he said.
Lindsay takes pride in the lasting impact of that 1995 moment.
“There’s been enough people from back then to hang on to the tradition and pass it along. And now you get this unparalleled success where you get three Stanley Cup appearances in a row, you win a Stanley Cup championship, you’re looking for a second. And that rat is just going,”
he said.
The Panthers lead Edmonton 2-1 in the Stanley Cup Final as they chase their second consecutive championship.
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