Rat Trick - 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs

1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Panthers defeated the Boston Bruins in five, then the Philadelphia Flyers in six to reach the Eastern Conference Finals. They then defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven to win the Prince of Wales Trophy 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 Orkin as a sponsor and employed a crew of 40 rink attendants dressed up as exterminators to clear the ice after each Florida goal.

The "year of the rat" in south Florida reached a fever pitch as the Panthers made their only trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. Area supermarkets sold "rat cakes"—cupcakes with rats drawn in frosting—while baseball's Florida Marlins showed the Panthers' game seven victory against the Penguins, in Pittsburgh, on the jumbotron between innings 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 42 home games during the regular season, sold out their first two playoff games against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in seven minutes.

In Game 1, a 3–1 Colorado victory, fans of the Colorado Avalanche 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 Patrick Roy famously refused to duck under his net, as other goalies had, to hide from the barrage of rats after he surrendered a goal in the first period. During the intermission, Roy announced to his team that there would be "no more rats". True to his word, Roy did not surrender another goal as the Avalanche won Game 3, then shut out the Panthers 1–0 in Game 4 to sweep the series and win Colorado's first Stanley Cup.