A Tradition Renewed -- Sort Of
Call it a compromise, and keep your tentacles crossed: It appears the NHL front office has come to its senses.
Beginning with tonight's Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, Joe Louis Arena building manager Al Sobotka apparently will be twirling the traditional playoff octopus again. He won't be doing it on the ice -- the NHL insists octo-pieces fly off and land on the pristine pregame surface -- but he will be allowed to do his thing in the tunnel by the zamboni entrance, with that display presumably shown on the jumbotron for the fans to cheer.
Banned from the practice earlier in the playoffs -- and threatened with a $10,000 fine if he disobeyed NHL VP Colin Campbell's directive -- Sobotka was relegated to the role of bemused, if disgruntled, bystander during the conference semifinals.
The league forced its linesmen to handle the on-ice cleanup duty, which meant noticeable delays for the opening faceoff, and even went so far as to post the standby referee at the zamboni entrance for Game 2 against Colorado to prevent a tunnel twirl by Sobotka.
Not so, tonight. Power to the people, eh?
