Mojo In The Morning Joins the Fight against the Octopus Finings

[Kcjacoby 10]

Taken from the Mojointhemorning Webpage...

April 19, 2008 (Detroit Free Press) -- Details were scarce Friday, but the Wings have been told by the NHL that head octopus wrangler Al Sobotka no longer may swing the mollusks over his head while removing them from the ice at Joe Louis Arena. If he (or anyone else) does, the team will be fined $10,000.

That's $1,250 per tentacle.

In an e-mail to the Free Press, NHL spokesman Frank Brown gave this explanation: "Because matter flies off the octopus and gets on the ice when he does it." The Wings wouldn't comment.

Ducks general manager Brian Burke complained about Sobotka's swinging last year. Before Friday's game, an octopus landed on the ice, as usual, and Nashville defenseman Greg Zanon whacked it aside with his stick.

HERE'S WHAT WE WANT YOU TO DO...

Send an email NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. Tell him what you think of his plans to keep Octopi out of the Joe.

Two email address we have for him are gbettman@nhl.com & bettman@nhl.com. Commissioner Bettman also hosts a radio show that is a rotated with League executives, including Commissioner Bettman, Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, and Senior Executive VP of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell. They are on the air from 4-5pm EST. You can email nhlhour@nhl.com or call 877.645.6696 to ask questions or share your comments.

Make sure you make a subject creative enough so he'll open your email, like starting off with "Re:"

[Lovin Jiri Fischer 147]

Yeah my boyfriend called me to tell me about it since I'm in East Lansing for school and don't get that channel anymore. But he told me that they said on the radio that they want everyone to email at the same time. Do you know anything about that?

And by the way, I think everyone should avoid profanity because if you want to get something done, you need to use facts, not emotion.

Edited April 22, 2008 by Lovin Jiri Fischer

[JayUp88 1]

I think this sounds like a job for LGW.com

[VM1138 1,921]

Well, he just got one more complaint E-mail.

Does anyone think Burke's complaint is ridiculous. How many Octopi-slime accidents have happened? I don't remember that being a problem against ANaheim or any other team....ever. Sounds to me like psychological games.

Edited April 22, 2008 by VM1138

[Kcjacoby 10]

I don't recall any octo-slime incidents ever happening... I personally think its bull

[Vincanni 1]

Sent him a semi-hateful complaint just now. Mentioned the pointlessness of this action aside from further alienating fans, and called him Burke's puppet.

[Opie 308]

Here is my question:

If the team is fined for him swinging the Octopi around will a player who hits it with his stick get fined or a penalty for spreading octopi matter!!

I can hear it now:

Nashville penalty, #5, 2 minutes spreading Octopus Matter!

[Echolalia 2,961]

email'd

[fastballspecial 0]

if I email him, I'll go to jail.

all I know is that he's out to kill tradition and create his own version of the sport, which if I may so, is NOT going over too well, Gary, you punk *****.

[Kcjacoby 10]

if I email him, I'll go to jail.

all I know is that he's out to kill tradition and create his own version of the sport, which if I may so, is NOT going over too well, Gary, you punk *****.

Kill tradition? Bettman? NOoooo... say it ain't true!

[Osgood4President 8]

he's got a few emails coming from me

[AtlantaHotWings 987]

My short and concise email to Mr Gary who want so hard to make the NHL a figure skating contest.

Mr Bettman

I have been a life long Wings fan and know the true tradition of the Octopus as taught and passed down generation to generation as you may or may not know Detroit is an original 6 team. I suffered through the years of being a "Dead Thing" fan and now am excited as are my children to sit in front of the TV in Atlanta and see Al swing the Octopus and to know what the Joe sounds like when he does gets me very excited as a fan. For you to arbitarily announce that if he does it again to "incite the fans" he will be fined is ridiculous!! What's next fining players that make a goal or hard check because they "incite the fans"?

I ask you to reconsider your attempt to shelve a tradition of those of us that live, breath each year during the playoffs for the Winged Wheel.

Sincerely

Mark

Canton, GA

[WingsZR2 1]

Here is the email I sent to Bettman

Dear Mr. Bettman,

I have recently read about a warning sent to the Detroit Red Wings concerning their zamboni driver/octopus wrangler Al Sobotka and a possible fine of $10,000 US for each instance when the cephalopod is twirled in the air. While I fully understand that objects thrown onto the office can result in a delay of game penalty to the home team I feel that a fine is quite ridiculous. For 56 years octopi have been a staple at the Olympia and Joe Louis Arena, during the last 30 years Mr. Sobotka has been responsible for removing them from the ice.

I can understand the fear of octopus matter being plastered all over the ice but I ask you to fear not for the players’ safety. Mr. Sobotka takes great pride in the quality and consistency of the ice surface of JLA. A twirling octopus is as much a part of Red Wings history as Jack Adams, Gordie Howe, and The Captain Steve Yzerman. Years ago

Frank Brown was quoted as saying “Every so often, an octopus slips out of someone’s hands and Al is right there to take care of the matter. And he cannot be blamed if, as it tries to break free from Al’s grasp, the octopus lifts Al’s arm and twirls itself in the air.”

I understand from recent press clipping that Mr. Brown’s and the NHL’s stance on the matter has changed to “Because matter flies off the octopus and gets on the ice when he does it.”

Please reconsider the fine you intend to impose on the Red Wings for Mr. Sobotka’s actions. I would like to point you to the advertisements Versus has been running regarding the Stanley Cup Playoffs, one in particular where the camera shows said octopus sliding across the ice as the narrator says “I am a cult following”. This “cult following” is headed by Mr. Sobotka, we look to him for inspiration as we reflect on this simple act. We are talking about a tradition that is over a half century old and I don’t feel will die any time soon. As long as the Red Wings make the post season and as long as Mr. Sobotka maintains some of the most immaculate ice in the NHL you will continue to see cephalopod after cephalopod grace the ice. After all, tradition is something grand; it brings generation after generation together to understand something beyond being a spectator, being just a body in a seat.

Respectfully yours,

Jason

Nashville, TN via Detroit MI

Edited April 23, 2008 by WingsZR2

[Echolalia 2,961]

Here is the email I sent to Bettman

Dear Mr. Bettman,

I have recently read about a warning sent to the Detroit Red Wings concerning their zamboni driver/octopus wrangler Al Sobotka and a possible fine of $10,000 US for each instance when the cephalopod is twirled in the air. While I fully understand that objects thrown onto the office can result in a delay of game penalty to the home team I feel that a fine is quite ridiculous. For 56 years octopi have been a staple at the Olympia and Joe Louis Arena, during the last 30 years Mr. Sobotka has been responsible for removing them from the ice.

I can understand the fear of octopus matter being plastered all over the ice but I ask you to fear not for the players’ safety. Mr. Sobotka takes great pride in the quality and consistency of the ice surface of JLA. A twirling octopus is as much a part of Red Wings history as Jack Adams, Gordie Howe, and The Captain Steve Yzerman. Years ago

Frank Brown was quoted as saying “Every so often, an octopus slips out of someone’s hands and Al is right there to take care of the matter. And he cannot be blamed if, as it tries to break free from Al’s grasp, the octopus lifts Al’s arm and twirls itself in the air.”

I understand from recent press clipping that Mr. Brown’s and the NHL’s stance on the matter has changed to “Because matter flies off the octopus and gets on the ice when he does it.”

Please reconsider the fine you intend to impose on the Red Wings for Mr. Sobotka’s actions. I would like to point you to the advertisements Versus has been running regarding the Stanley Cup Playoffs, one in particular where the camera shows said octopus sliding across the ice as the narrator says “I am a cult following”. This “cult following” is headed by Mr. Sobotka, we look to him for inspiration as we reflect on this simple act. We are talking about a tradition that is over a half century old and I don’t feel will die any time soon. As long as the Red Wings make the post season and as long as Mr. Sobotka maintains some of the most immaculate ice in the NHL you will continue to see cephalopod after cephalopod grace the ice. After all, tradition is something grand; it brings generation after generation together to understand something beyond being a spectator, being just a body in a seat.

Respectfully yours,

Jason

Nashville, TN via Detroit MI

this is excellent

too bad noone will ever read it

[96Homer 0]

It's just another way for Gary to kill the NHL and please the expansion market, If Burke never complained I bet we wouldn't have an issue would we? Gawd, how childish can one be? I thought the NHL was made of men and longtime tradtion not children!

[wingsfan75 2]

Excellent message Echo. I for one hope someone hears the complaints although I doubt a fine will ever come of it and if it does Mr. Ilitch will pony up I'm sure.

[NHLrules? 32]

Funny how they want to go after another team because of Burke but Burke himself thumbed his nose at the league and made the NHL law team and NHLPA look like impotent retards by exploiting an oversight of the CBA.

Isnt it funny how the NHL works? Just another reason the sport is laughed at by the US.

Gary Bettman and his band of high power attorneys out smarted by a Canadian Bumpkin whiner, ousted from Vancouver.

[PenaltyShot 96 521]

Why are we talking about octopus slime as an issue at all? Do they think that gallons of slime and water are just coating the octopus and oozing all over the ice? I'd like to see some evidence that "octopus slime" has ever had an impact on a game in the 56 years octopi have been thrown onto the ice. An octopus would mostly be slimy to the touch, I guess, but even if some matter flies off the octopus when Al twirls it, it's a very insignificant amount; if anything, more matter gets on the ice from the initial hit. Oh Gary, you and your own brand of logic

[NHLrules? 32]

Another one of his brilliant ideas to protect the NHLs "Star Players".

We can have stompings and hits from behind with almost no penalty, but that octopus slime is just too dangerous.

[Sergei Fedorov91 24]

if I email him, I'll go to jail.

all I know is that he's out to kill tradition and create his own version of the sport, which if I may so, is NOT going over too well, Gary, you punk *****.

I know what you mean. Tight water proof jerseys? Are you kidding me? Tell me ten NHL players that gave a F about a lighter jersey.

[hallelujahlogic 1]

My short and concise email to Mr Gary who want so hard to make the NHL a figure skating contest.

Mr Bettman

I have been a life long Wings fan and know the true tradition of the Octopus as taught and passed down generation to generation as you may or may not know Detroit is an original 6 team. I suffered through the years of being a "Dead Thing" fan and now am excited as are my children to sit in front of the TV in Atlanta and see Al swing the Octopus and to know what the Joe sounds like when he does gets me very excited as a fan. For you to arbitarily announce that if he does it again to "incite the fans" he will be fined is ridiculous!! What's next fining players that make a goal or hard check because they "incite the fans"?

I ask you to reconsider your attempt to shelve a tradition of those of us that live, breath each year during the playoffs for the Winged Wheel.

Sincerely

Mark

Canton, GA

i love that subtle dig. very nice.

[dw185 0]

Here is an online petition, for what it's worth.

www.gopetition.com/online/18689.html

Edited April 23, 2008 by dw185

[dw185 0]

I guess i'm signed #601. (i think)

I wonder how many people will actually sign it.

[asmith18 3]

If Bettman didn't like it when they Al started swinging the octopus at the beginning he should have said something then. Instead he waits until now to fine him b/c he has nothing better to do.

Do everyone a favor Gary, quit the NHL, you've already screwed us in the lockout and everything inbetween. And this is a bulls*** fine. It's tradition, let it be!

[Vincanni 1]

Here is an online petition, for what it's worth.

www.gopetition.com/online/18689.html

There's this one too, seems to be doing fairly well.

http://www.petitiononline.com/octopus8/petition.html