The Penguins are 0-3 in Cup Finals games this year in which octopi land on the ice before the initial face-off. The Detroit tradition was obviously in place during the Red Wings' two home wins, but the Wings' Game 4 victory came only after a rogue fan defied Pittsburgh's effort to curtail octopus-hurling.
Zach Johnson, a 19-year-old Red Wings fan from Cleveland, purchased his octopus with his girlfriend in Detroit, drove to Pittsburgh, wrapped the octopus in plastic, taped it to his stomach under his shirt, then chucked it onto the ice just after the National Anthem. After getting ejected and threatened with arrest, he put on his Red Wings sweater and re-entered the game with a scalped ticket. Check and Playmate.
