scored their first goal with 2 minutes left in the first period. During the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals, in which the Red Wings defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, seafood wholesalers in Pittsburgh, led by Wholey's Fish Market, began requiring identification from customers who purchased octopuses, refusing to sell to buyers from Michigan. This also took place in the lead up to the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals with markets refusing to sell catfish to Tennessee residents. In Game 1 of the 2010 Western Conference Quarterfinals between the Detroit Red Wings and the Phoenix Coyotes, a rubber snake was thrown onto the ice after a goal by the Coyotes' Keith Yandle. In Game 2 of the 2010 Western Conference Semifinals between the Detroit Red Wings and San Jose Sharks, a small shark was tossed onto the ice with an octopus inside its mouth. In Game 3 of the 2017 Western Conference Finals between the Anaheim Ducks and the Nashville Predators, a Predators fan threw a skinned duck on the ice. In Game 1 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators, a fan threw a catfish on the ice in the second period, and was escorted out of the arena. Twirling ban Al Sobotka, the former head ice manager at Little Caesars Arena and one of the two Zamboni drivers, was the person who retrieved the thrown octopuses from the ice. When the Red Wings played at Joe Louis Arena, he was known to twirl an octopus above his head as he walked across the ice rink to the Zamboni entrance. On April 19, 2008, the NHL sent the Red Wings a memo that forbade this and imposed a $10,000 fine for violating the mandate. In an email to the Detroit Free Press, NHL spokesman Frank Brown justified the ban because matter flew off the octopus and got on the ice when Sobotka swung it above his head. In an article describing the effects of the new rule, the Detroit Free Press dubbed the NHL's prohibition as "Octopus-gate". By the beginning of the third round of the 2008 Playoffs, the NHL loosened the ban to allow for the octopus twirling to take place at the Zamboni entrance. See also Al the Octopus Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup Rat trick References History of the Detroit Red Wings Culture of Detroit Symbols Animal welfare