Following last night’s loss to the Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden, some upset fans started throwing trash and other debris on the ice. This has, of course, created a chorus of outcry on social media, with many saying only Boston fans would do something like that after the team just finished an eight game winning streak. “Typical Bruins fans” seemed to be the most common response by other hockey watchers on Twitter and elsewhere, but it seems they are completely misinterpreting the reason behind the actions.
We’ll preface this whole thing immediately by saying it’s never ok to throw trash on the ice. As one user pointed out on Reddit, all it does is create more work for employees of TD Garden who have to clean up the mess once everyone leaves. It also gives people another reason to say something like “typical bruins fans.” That said, everyone (other than Bruins’ fans who know the truth) seems to think that the garbage was thrown because Boston lost their first game in eight, something they say the people in attendance should have been much less upset with. But that isn’t the real reason at all.
The debris came after Boston battled back hard to erase a three-goal deficit in the third period and send the game into overtime tied 3-3. Chicago’s Jonathon Toews would score the game winner, but just seconds before he took down David Pastrnak in what sure seemed to be an obvious penalty. Toews would take advantage, getting a breakway and the GWG on Tuukka Rask. Take a look at the video below. You can see what looks like a clear penalty as soon as the video starts, and again at around 26 seconds when a replay is shown.
This was the reason fans were upset and started throwing garbage on the ice. Again, not because they were angry with their team, they were angry with the refs for a blown call after the Bruins fought so hard to get the game tied up and into OT. It bears repeating, it’s never cool to throw things on the ice. But, if fans are going to be ridiculed for it, the ones doing it should at least get the reasons for it right. Despite the backlash, a 20-3-6 record is still pretty damn good.
