This year, Minnesota has taken up the tradition of throwing a stuffed fish into the stands while announcing the three stars of the game, as Seattle has done for the past few seasons.
This seems to have struck a nerve with some people, but I would be interested to see more takes, especially from people who are more invested in the tradition.
For context:
Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 lakes, and has a strong fishing culture. While there is no connection to fish throwing, like in Pike Place Market, the idea of fishing as an industry and a lifestyle is very prevalent within the state.
Minnesota's thrown fish is a Walleye, our state fish.
Terms associated with Seattle's tradition (ie: "yeeting the fish") do not seem to have been used.
As far as I know, Minnesota has not done any of the same research or outreach with indigenous communities that Seattle has.
It does not seem like Seattle was consulted about Minnesota starting this practice.
32 comments
Doesn’t bother me in the least 🤷🏼♂️
Who cares
I don’t care
I think you guys should throw wild bears into the stands since that’s the logo but hey you do you.
Let’s get every team in the league lobbing their state fish into the crowd.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Love it here, and glad Minnesota fans get it too!
Ultimately it does not matter at all and they can throw whatever they want, but if they do something that another team has already done (with lots of effort put in) I think a bit of ribbing about copying our homework is fair game.
Copycats ☹️ They should be chucking squirrels into the stands.
No skin off my sack.
More fun is more fun. If the fans and players like it have at it.
We’ll always know who did it first, **p**lus know where the **i**dea **k**am**e** from…
Love to see other teams throwing fish, the more the merrier!
They could throw Bundt cakes instead
I don’t mind it but it is kinda weird to do something that was unique and specific to a different team. Was there nothing else they could throw?
Who cares. Teams have always borrowed other team’s ideas for fan engagement. Heck, the mariners salmon run over the summer wasn’t in the least bit original, but I still cheered my butt off
It’s better than them throwing hot dish into the crowd.
Don’t really care. If it was in any way up to me I would probably prefer they throw something other than a fish seeing as that was pretty uniquely a Kraken thing, but it doesn’t bother me too much. We’ll definitely be making fun of you guys for copying us whenever we play each other and I feel like that’s completely fair.
Meh salmon isn’t walleye. It’s an entirely different thing altogether.
The Minnesota fan in the comments starting”a fan base that has collectively never held a fishing pole is angry at us” really shows how ignorant they are about anything outside of the 100sq miles they’ve lived in their whole life.
It’s weird, but i’m not aggressively against it. I think they’re gonna let the admins have some fun with it, maybe sort some stuff out in legal. We’ll see where it goes. FWIW, Seattle’s, and Washington as a whole’s fishing culture is nothing to sneeze at, either. May be more ocean and river fishing than lake, but still.
I couldn’t care less
Whatever, let them do them.
The only thing that irks me is the Minnesotans in the comments not giving credit where it’s due, and even going “THIS IS A COMPLETELY ORIGINAL IDEA THAT WE JUST DECIDED TO DO (even tho we were in the league for 20 years prior to *that other team*)”
It’s very flattering. It just goes to show how awesome our tradition is. Getting mad about it would be like the Canucks getting mad that every team in the league waves rally towels during the playoffs now.
They got inspired by us. And like so many things in life, people who know will know. Those who don’t won’t. Whatever.
We’re beefing now, bud. I will personally kneecap every Minnesotan I see from now on because of stuffed fish theft.
You’re all a dead team walking. I hope that fish comes with a side of milk because your shattered bones are gonna need the calcium.
Losers couldn’t come up with their own unique thing. I’ve seen so many teams copy the Kraken, from the lights in the player tunnel, to this. It’s like trying to be like your cool, older sibling.
It’s for the fans, if they’re into it then that’s great
I was initially pretty frustrated by it just because it’s something special to our young franchise and it’s become a part of our identity – they take the whole thing very seriously with the designing of the fish and picking specific salmon
I think that if, for example, Florida threw stuffed rats into the crowd I wouldn’t be as bothered because rats are very much their thing. Did the Wild have any connection to the Walleye before this other than it being the state fish? Did this replace a preexisting tradition of some kind? Did the organization give any reasoning for starting/changing if so?
edit: I am genuinely curious, I don’t know anything about the Wild
It would bother me more if I were a Wild fan than it does as a Kraken fan.
It’s lame. If a team wants to do something, just copying another team makes it cheap and soulless. Like, sure there are fish in Minnesota, but there are fish in every state. I think the difference is put well on display by looking at the care and attention the Kraken Fan Experience crew took to make them as accurate as possible and bringing the native community into the process, while the Wild seemingly just commissioned a fish plushy. Make your own traditions (like the incorporation of HS hockey jerseys they do, that’s awesome)
Not a huge fan. Imagine if the Kraken started throwing octopi on the ice? You’d imagine Detroit would get a little upset.