188:. It was the first playoff victory for the Panthers since 1997. In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, fans threw hundreds of rats onto the ice, making it the most since the run to the Cup. After victories at the BankAtlantic Center, workers would pick up the rats and return them to the Pantherland gift shop for resale. The Panthers organization alleged that Devils fans bought rats at Pantherland to throw them prematurely in an attempt to spur a penalty against the Panthers. Unwilling to assume the risk, the team decided to discontinue sales of toy rats at Pantherland. It remains unknown whether any other measures would be applied to discourage rat-throwing.
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160:'s goal at 11:19 put the Panthers up 2–1. During the intermission, Roy promised his teammates that there would be "no more rats". True to his word, Roy did not surrender another goal in that series as the Avalanche came back to win Game 3 3–2 in regulation time, then shut out the Panthers 1–0 in triple overtime in Game 4 to sweep the series and win Colorado's first Stanley Cup.
177:
members of the 1996 team. Mellanby, who retired in 2007, was always remembered for spawning the rat trick. "It became the motto of our team that season. When I played in the all-star game, a kid came up to me and said, 'You're the rat guy.' He didn't even know my name; he just knew I killed the rat."
76:
During the next game, a fan threw a plastic rat onto the ice following a
Panthers goal. The following game, a few more rats hit the ice. Eventually, over 100 rats were tossed to the ice following Panthers goals, as the Panthers emerged as a top team in the league by mid-November. Eventually, Florida
191:
In early 2013, sales of plastic rats resumed at
Pantherland. As the Panthers neared the playoffs in March 2016, rats again started to appear on home ice, sometimes after Panther goals and more abundantly after home wins. Twenty years since the fateful playoff run, several members of the 1995–96 team
176:
The
Panthers held a "Year of the Rat" alumni reunion in 2007 to celebrate the 1996 team and raise money for the Florida Panthers Foundation. As part of the event, the Panthers sold plastic rats for fans to toss onto the ice during the exhibition game, which saw the participation of at least nineteen
68:
on
October 8, 1995, a rat entered the dressing room, startling several players. Scott Mellanby reacted by whacking the rat and making it fly across the locker room with his hockey stick, killing it. He then went out and scored two goals in a 4–3 victory over the Flames, leading the Panthers to their
172:
season to prevent a recurrence of this phenomenon and delays to the game that followed. Per the rule, if fans throw debris onto the ice, the referee can have the public address announcer warn the fans to stop. After a warning, the referee can then issue a delay of game penalty to the home team. The
139:
showed the
Panthers' game seven victory against the Penguins, in Pittsburgh, on the Jumbotron between innings on June 1 and had the Panthers' arena announcer on hand to announce when the team scored a goal. The Panthers, who had sold out only 15 of 41 home games during the regular season, sold out
47:
killed a rat in the locker room prior to the team's home opener with his stick, then scored two goals with the same stick. By the time the
Panthers reached the 1996 playoffs, thousands of rats hit the ice after every Panthers goal, resulting in an off-season rule change by the NHL that allowed for
151:
In Game 1, a 3–1 Colorado victory, Colorado fans responded by throwing rat traps onto the ice in Denver following
Avalanche goals. Colorado won Game 2 8–1 to lead the series 2–0 as the teams returned to Miami for Games 3 and 4. In the first period of Game 3, Colorado goaltender
173:
league, however, created a special exemption for articles "thrown onto the ice following a special occasion", specifically excluding the traditional tossing of hats onto the ice following a hat trick goal from subjection to the penalty.
184:, fans revived the rat tossing by throwing plastic rats onto the ice following home victories. On April 15, 2012, the Florida Panthers threw plastic rats on the ice after a 4–2 playoff victory over the
124:
as the rat-tossing craze reached its peak as 3,000 rats rained onto the ice following goals. While officially frowning on the practice of throwing rats, the team nonetheless brought on
710:
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was the third in the NHL for the
Panthers, who had been awarded as an expansion franchise in 1992. The team was composed of journeymen veterans and rookies and led by
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first win of the season. Vanbiesbrouck described the incident to reporters after the game, stating that while
Mellanby failed to score a
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returned to South
Florida to be honored on March 12, 2016, including John Vanbiesbrouck, Brian Skrudland and Scott Mellanby.
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as a sponsor and employed a crew of 40 rink attendants dressed up as exterminators to clear the ice after each Florida goal.
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their first two playoff games against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in seven minutes. They were set to face the
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The "year of the rat" in south Florida reached a fever pitch as the Panthers made their first trip to the
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famously refused to duck under his net, as other goalies had, to hide from the barrage of rats after
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Finals. Area supermarkets sold "rat cakes" (cupcakes with rats drawn in icing), while baseball's
78:
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referees to penalize the home team if fans disrupted the game by throwing objects onto the ice.
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850:
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57:
28:
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8:
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35:, in which plastic rats were thrown onto the ice to celebrate goals. The term, a play on
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40:
185:
61:
168:
Directly as a result of the rat trick craze, the NHL amended its rules prior to the
92:. This led fans to believe that the Panthers would have great luck in the playoffs.
64:
goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck. As the team prepared for its home opener against the
650:
633:
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24:
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514:"Rats fly as Florida Panthers top New Jersey Devils in Game 2 of playo…"
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759:
70:
36:
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561:"Florida Panthers' 1996 rat pack celebration a well-deserved honor"
84:
Additionally, this Panthers' playoff appearance coincided with the
873:
464:"Florida Panthers Foundation Readies for '96 Reunion Weekend"
125:
882:
845:
466:. Florida Panthers Hockey Club. 2007-07-24. Archived from
73:(three goals in one game), he did manage a "rat trick".
81:, and qualified for the playoffs for the first time.
77:finished the regular season in third place in the
491:. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2007-04-24.
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23:was a celebration performed by fans of the
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372:"Colorado's Answers: Rat Traps and Roy"
305:"Panthers Enjoying The Year Of the Rat"
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987:
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495:from the original on October 1, 2011
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39:, was coined by Panthers goaltender
16:Celebration by Florida Panthers fans
489:"Thrashers' Scott Mellanby retires"
13:
749:Sunrise Sports and Entertainment (
180:With the Panthers' success in the
14:
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941:
932:
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116:Finals. Then, they defeated the
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536:
506:
481:
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397:"Roy: More than a great goalie"
268:Montville, Leigh (1995-11-20).
233:Montville, Leigh (1996-06-10).
435:
410:
388:
363:
342:
321:
303:Nobles, Charlie (1996-05-26).
1:
443:"Rule 63 – Delaying the Game"
212:
370:Lapointe, Joe (1996-06-05).
104:, the Panthers defeated the
7:
395:Pang, Darren (2003-10-29).
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112:in six games, to reach the
10:
1249:
350:"Florida Panthers records"
120:in seven games to win the
100:In the first round of the
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102:1996 Stanley Cup playoffs
96:1996 Stanley Cup playoffs
51:
445:. National Hockey League
108:in five games, then the
547:April 25, 2012, at the
329:"1995–96 NHL standings"
146:1996 Stanley Cup Finals
851:Savannah Ghost Pirates
122:Prince of Wales Trophy
29:National Hockey League
202:Legend of the Octopus
1197:Stanley Cup Playoffs
820:Tampa Bay Lightning
524:on 5 September 2012
518:www.miamiherald.com
245:on October 12, 2008
118:Pittsburgh Penguins
110:Philadelphia Flyers
31:(NHL) during their
1233:1995–96 NHL season
1202:Stanley Cup Finals
989:1995–96 NHL season
909:Stanley C. Panther
841:Charlotte Checkers
803:Amerant Bank Arena
280:on January 2, 2013
274:Sports Illustrated
239:Sports Illustrated
182:2011–12 NHL season
142:Colorado Avalanche
114:Eastern Conference
41:John Vanbiesbrouck
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955:
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776:Aleksander Barkov
186:New Jersey Devils
79:Atlantic Division
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1228:Florida Panthers
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904:FTL War Memorial
892:Culture and lore
656:General managers
634:Sunrise, Florida
613:Florida Panthers
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520:. Archived from
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241:. Archived from
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25:Florida Panthers
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681:Expansion draft
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137:Florida Marlins
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86:Year of the Rat
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43:after teammate
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1192:Legion of Doom
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914:Viktor E. Ratt
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870:Scripps Sports
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781:Current roster
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418:"Results plus"
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352:. hockeydb.com
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309:New York Times
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90:Chinese zodiac
66:Calgary Flames
58:1995–96 season
53:
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45:Scott Mellanby
33:1995–96 season
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751:Vincent Viola
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721:Award winners
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470:on 2011-07-24
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106:Boston Bruins
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38:
34:
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22:
1186:
1182:Waiver Draft
1064:Philadelphia
1054:NY Islanders
898:
801:
772:Team captain
768:Paul Maurice
731:Broadcasters
692:
632:
624:
569:. Retrieved
567:. 2016-03-12
565:Miami Herald
564:
555:
538:
526:. Retrieved
522:the original
517:
508:
497:. Retrieved
483:
472:. Retrieved
468:the original
458:
447:. Retrieved
437:
426:. Retrieved
424:. 1996-08-14
421:
412:
401:. Retrieved
390:
379:. Retrieved
375:
365:
354:. Retrieved
344:
333:. Retrieved
323:
312:. Retrieved
308:
282:. Retrieved
278:the original
273:
247:. Retrieved
243:the original
238:
190:
179:
175:
167:
150:
130:
99:
83:
75:
55:
20:
18:
1151:Los Angeles
797:Miami Arena
753:, chairman)
676:Draft picks
623:Founded in
270:"Rink Rats"
207:Towel Power
154:Patrick Roy
133:Stanley Cup
1217:Categories
1074:Washington
1059:NY Rangers
1049:New Jersey
1028:Pittsburgh
829:Affiliates
764:Head coach
571:2016-03-17
528:3 February
499:2009-01-31
474:2009-01-31
449:2009-01-31
428:2009-01-31
403:2009-01-29
381:2009-01-29
356:2009-01-29
335:2009-01-29
314:2009-01-29
284:2009-01-29
249:2009-01-29
235:"Rat Pack"
213:References
1187:Rat trick
1161:Vancouver
1105:St. Louis
1069:Tampa Bay
996:Northeast
899:Rat trick
813:Rivalries
760:Bill Zito
740:Personnel
644:Franchise
631:Based in
71:hat trick
37:hat trick
21:rat trick
1170:See also
1156:San Jose
1146:Edmonton
1141:Colorado
1115:Winnipeg
1037:Atlantic
1018:Montreal
1013:Hartford
937:Category
746:Owner(s)
671:Captains
545:Archived
493:Archived
196:See also
62:all-star
1136:Calgary
1131:Anaheim
1124:Pacific
1110:Toronto
1100:Detroit
1090:Chicago
1083:Central
1044:Florida
1008:Buffalo
947:Commons
874:WSFL-TV
716:Records
704:History
688:Seasons
666:Players
661:Coaches
170:1996–97
144:in the
88:in the
27:of the
1095:Dallas
1023:Ottawa
1003:Boston
790:Arenas
399:. ESPN
164:Legacy
52:Origin
1177:Draft
879:Radio
860:Media
126:Orkin
1223:Rats
883:WQAM
846:ECHL
651:Team
626:1993
530:2022
56:The
19:The
836:AHL
1219::
866:TV
563:.
516:.
420:.
374:.
307:.
293:^
272:.
258:^
237:.
221:^
148:.
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