Ottawa Senators fans have started a unique trend over the past few weeks to celebrate their goalie’s incredible stretch of play. It involves throwing hamburgers onto the ice.
Senators goalie Andrew “The Hamburglar” Hammond has his team clinging to the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference playoff standings with his 14-0-1 hot streak. During that span, Hammond has allowed just 1.67 goals per game and has a save percentage of .946. He has been showered in celebratory hamburgers for his efforts, and the team is urging fans to knock it off.
“We will continue to abide by both our own and the NHL’s policy to work in the best interests of the safety of our fans and the players — which does not permit items being thrown on the ice during play,” Senators director of communications Brian Morris told The Ottawa Citizen earlier this week. “There will be zero tolerance for any items thrown onto the ice during play.
“We are treating this seriously enough that we had Erik Karlsson and Marc Methot tape a bilingual message after practice today that will play in tomorrow’s game. The message will support the above asking fans not to toss anything on the ice during the game.”
Looks like somebody had a long chat with the Fun Police.
Rather than buying McDonald’s hamburgers just to toss them onto the ice, some have suggested Senators fans should be donating to food banks. Senators coach Dave Cameron agrees.
“I heard something on the way in today on the radio. I think there was a comment made on the radio that instead of throwing hamburgers on the ice, you make a donation to a food bank. I thought that was a great idea,” Cameron said Wednesday, per Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy. “Sometimes you appreciate the support and the enthusiasm of your fans too, but sometimes it can be channeled in a better way. And I certainly would back that up.”
While I certainly see the humor and originality in the hamburger toss, we’d hate to see an incident like this happen during a shootout. The Senators kind of have no choice but to crack down on it.
H/T Pro Hockey Talk
