Re: Bentley Hockey 2012-2013: The New Era of JAR Pride Begins
But the fish isn't a Bentley tradition. It's UNH's. It's a University full of bright people, come up with something fresh and unique to Bentley that inspires those things.
Eaxctly, fish throwing is not a Bentley tradition, and copying another team's tradition is no different than plagiarism in my book. Below is the summary in Wikipedia, which is reasonably close to my long-term recollections of all things UNH hockey. To me the funny part about the UNH fish throwing tradition is that Zeta Chi alums are allowed to attend home games these days for only as long as it takes to throw out the fish, then must leave Lake Whitt, as their fraternity received a lifetime ban from UNH (think Delta Tau Chi [sic] in Animal House).
But, the stupid thing about the Bentley fish-throwing incident late last season was that the head ref warned the students that he would assess Bentley a 2-minute minor if another fish was thrown, and the students tried to throw a second fish anyway. Fortunately, after two tries, they could not get the second fish over the glass, with it breaking apart and falling onto the walkway on the second try. Taking stupid penalties is never a good idea, and I think that more disciplined play is one of the major reasons that Bentley performed better last season.
from Wikipedia on UNH hockey
Traditions
Throwing Out the Fish (Hockey)
UNH has a long history of successful hockey programs. Dating back to Charlie Holt in the ‘70's to present day coach Dick Umile, it has had great support and is a figurehead among the university community. A prominent tradition within the program has been the throwing of the fish. After UNH scores its first goal, all fans turn their attention to the opposing teams net. Up and over the boards, a fish is thrown onto the ice. The crowd erupts in excitement.
According to Bob Norton, a former UNH assistant coach, the fish-tossing tradition began in the early 1970s. "It goes back to when we were playing a Division II team, and our program had gone way past theirs. I remember (the UNH fans) threw out this little dinky thing and they called it a Division II fish. I guess they were trying to tell them they weren't worthy of a first-rate fish."
This tradition caught on as the Zeta Chi fraternity made it a ritual to throw out the fish after UNH's first goal. The fish was used to resemble the visiting team, "fishing the puck out of the net."
One of Umile's favorite fish incidents occurred in the early 1990s. At that time, the home team received a penalty if fans threw objects on the ice. "At all these different rinks people were throwing things—tennis balls, newspapers --and it was really holding up the game," Umile recalls. "It's the Maine weekend, and the cops won't let the kid in with the fish. I'm in the office before the game, and the students come to get me. So I go down there, get the fish from the cops, and we're walking in with the fish in the bag. The kids say, 'But coach, we're going to get a penalty.' I say, 'Don't worry about it. We'll kill the penalty. Just throw the fish.'"