- Al Sobotka
Al Sobotka (born
October 16 ,1953 ) is the building operations manager forOlympia Entertainment . This includes bothJoe Louis Arena andCobo Hall . [cite news|author = Brian McCollum|title = Seger's Cobo stop a high note|url = http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070315/ENT05/703150410/0/SPORTS06&template=printart|publisher = Detroit Free Press
date = 2007-03-15|accessdate = 2007-04-03] Sobotka is known mostly for driving the Zamboni during Detroit Red Wings games for the past 30 years and for collecting theoctopuses thrown on the ice during Red Wings playoff games. The official mascot of the Red Wings is named after Sobotka. Sobotka came in second with 97,261 votes in Zamboni News' 1999 Zamboni "Driver of the Year" Award. [cite web |title=Zamboni "Driver of the Year" Award - 1999 |url=http://www.zamboni.com/news/newsBallot.html| accessdate=2007-04-03]Sobotka has been driving the Zamboni between periods at Joe Louis Arena for almost 30 years. He takes great pride in his work and always makes sure the ice surface is up to par:
When
Brendan Shanahan played for the Red Wings he had some nice words for Sobotka:When asked about going out and driving the Zamboni in front of 20,066 Joe Louis Arena fans, Sobotka responded by saying:
Detroit fans even show up way before games time to watch Al do his stuff. Also, kids can compete to drive around with Al between periods. They learn that driving a Zamboni is no quick study. It's a science and an art that can take years to perfect. [cite web |title=The Great Zamboni | url=http://www.cbc.ca/national/alderman/ald991126.html | accessdate=2007-04-02]
Sobotka started driving the Zamboni early in life, and when asked about his "dream job", he had this to say:
Dealing with octopi
Sobotka is also famous for being the one to handle any octopuses thrown on the ice ("see
Legend of the Octopus ") during a game. Sobotka will grab the octopus with his bare hands and swing it around his head. He always receives a huge cheer.In the April 2006 edition of
Sports Illustrated Michael Farber wrote:"The first face-offs [of the Stanley Cup tournament] were in Ottawa and Detroit at 7:12 p.m., although the unofficial commencement occurred two minutes earlier when an octopus landed on the ice with a splat during 'The Star-Spangled Banner' at the Wings' Joe Louis Arena. Nothing screams 'playoffs' like a cephalopod. (The Red Wings' tradition began in 1952 when two fishmongers realized that the number of tentacles on an octopus matched the number of wins then necessary to win the Stanley Cup.) Octopus-tossing is officially proscribed, but arena superintendent Al Sobotka tacitly encourages it by twirling octopuses over his head as he chugs off the ice after cleaning them up. In this year's playoff innovation, some Oilers fans threw hunks of prime Alberta beef onto the ice in response."
Sobotka said in 1996 that an unofficial record of 54 octopuses were thrown during one game of the 1995 Stanley Cup final series between Detroit Red Wings and
New Jersey Devils . He also stated that Detroit fans throw an average of 25 octopuses per playoff game. [cite web |title=Octopus | url=http://www.azhockey.com/Oc.htm | accessdate=2007-04-02] For his tireless efforts, the Red Wings named their octopus mascot "Al" after Sobotka.According to NHL rules, if any fan throws an object on the ice in celebration, the supported team could be issued a
delay of game penalty. However, the NHL tends to look the other way when Sobotka does his stuff. Frank Brown, the league's vice president for media relations, said in response:"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." [cite news|author = Vincent M. Mallozzi |title = Wrapping His Arms Around the Red Wings|url =http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/sports/hockey/20cheer.html?ei=5088&en=c5066b57eebb0e26&ex=1337313600&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all|publisher = New York Times
date = 2007-05-20|accessdate = 2007-09-07]In the 2008 playoffs, the NHL issued a warning that while they were fine with Octopuses being thrown on the ice, the Red Wings would be fined $10,000 if Sobotka twirled the Octopus in the air, as bits of the Octopus were getting in the ice and on the opposing goaltender. [cite news|author = Helene St James|title = No more twirling of the octopus|url =http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080418/BLOG09/80418084/1053/rss17|publisher = Detroit Free Press|date = 2008-04-18|accessdate = 2008-04-18] However, it was announced on May 7, 2008, that the NHL would allow Sobotka to twirl the octopi. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080507/BLOG09/80507089
External links
* [http://redwings.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NHLPage&bcid=his_octopus Legend of the Octopus with picture of Sobotka on Detroit Red Wings.com]
References
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