Honoring Traditions🐀
The story took on a life of its own…
The Florida Panthers are in the midst of making NHL news after taking a 2-1 Stanley Cup series advantage, courtesy of their blowout Monday night victory over the Oilers. But that got us thinking about their “Rat Trick” tradition and how it became part of their franchise lore.
Dead Rat Sparks Tradition
There are a maximum of four NHL games left in the season as of this writing, but there’s a tradition that spans decades, and it’s all because of one dead rat. Let me correct that: the rat was murdered! That’s right, and we even have the perpetrator’s name, although no charges were ever filed.
Let’s dispense with the NHL rumors. The year was 1995, and the incident occurred shortly before Florida’s home opener to the ’95-’96 season. Scott Mellanby spotted a rat inside the locker room and slapped it across the room, killing it. He proceeded to score two goals that night, in which goalie John Vanbiesbrouck relayed the story to reporters and said that Mellanby had recorded a “rat trick.”
🐀 The Rat Trick is alive and thriving in Florida!
30 years later, Panthers players and fans still rally around the iconic plastic rats—now a symbol of unity, tradition, and pure playoff chaos.
Even Brad Marchand got caught in the storm 😅🔥
#StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/PcU7cpQPbs
— BetUS Sports Nation (@BetUS_Nation) June 11, 2025
The story took on a life of its own when the team’s equipment manager, Scott Tinkler, had gotten rid of the dead rat, much to the incredulity of many of the players.
“They asked if I kept it,” Tinkler recounted. “No! It’s a huge dead rat! I picked it up with a stick and threw it away. Some of the guys wanted to take it to a taxidermist or something.”
Tinkler later spotted a rubber rat at a store and picked it up as a gag gift for the boys. Eventually, it became a shrine in the locker room, and when word got out, that’s when a dead rat became a legend. The third-year expansion team ultimately caught fire and made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals before bowing to the Avalanche in four games.
During that Cinderella season, fans would toss plastic rats onto the ice after every Mellanby goal, but soon it applied to every goal the Panthers scored. This became the “Year of the Rat” in Sunrise, Florida, and everywhere else in the Sunshine State where the Cats are loved.
The “Rat Craze” was born in Miami after Scott Mellanby shot a rodent off the dressing room wall before the home opener, then went out and scored twice in the Panthers’ 4-3 win over Calgary. Teammates said he had the NHL’s first “rat trick”. 10.08.95 #HFH pic.twitter.com/Aa0LszkNyy
— Hockey Fight History (@HistoryOfFights) October 8, 2023
The NHL would put the kibosh on the plastic rats being thrown the following year by making it a delay-of-game penalty due to the cleanup required after each Panthers’ goal. But now you know the legend of the rat, who started it, and why Panthers fans still hold it near and dear to their hearts.
On this day in 1995, the Panthers’ “Year of the Rat” began when Scott Mellanby killed a rat before a game against the Flames. He then scored two goals, prompting teammates to say he earned a “rat trick” #Hockey365 #TimeToHunt pic.twitter.com/Z0lBCJxTLi
— Mike Commito (@mikecommito) October 8, 2023
The 2025 Florida Panthers
Don’t look now, but the Florida Panthers may be consecutive Stanley Cup champions, and they’ll do it against the same team as last year! However, it took them seven games to eliminate the Oilers last season, but they’re hoping to expedite the process this year.
Ironically, the man who has been the most effective for the Panthers this series is the same man who was their nemesis for years, former Boston Bruin Brad Marchand, also known as “The Rat.” Poetic irony or some such nonsense people will say, but the fact is he’s a damn good hockey player even at the age of 37, depositing four goals in the first three games of the championship series.
Brad Marchand’s 11 career goals in the Stanley Cup Final are the most amongst active players. He has scored the last 3 Florida Panthers goals.
If they win the Stanley Cup, it will go down as one of the best trade deadlines a team has ever had.
— Vinnie Parise (@VinnieParise) June 10, 2025
But one big advantage the Panthers have over the Oilers is the same reason they won last year: the man tending the twine. Sergei Bobrovsky is a monster in the postseason, and if the Panthers win this series, maybe the MVP should be handed to the man the Florida fans affectionately call Bob.
