Panthers mock Pittsburgh after fan was charged with strange crime for throwing catfish in Game 1

BarDown Staff

NBC

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final is in the books, but everyone is still buzzing about what was an entertaining opening game of the series.

In fact, there's one thing that happened during Game 1 that everyone is still talking about, and that's the fan who threw a catfish on the ice.

So this dude just got kicked out of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final for throwing a catfish on the ice. pic.twitter.com/DzLK6l1Mv5
— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) May 30, 2017

The fan who threw the catfish, Jake Waddell, was also charged with a number of odd crimes.

in pennsylvania, a catfish is "an instrument of crime" pic.twitter.com/8DFUkKhqmh
— J.R. Lind (@jrlind) May 30, 2017

Obviously the most noteworthy charge on that list was the "instrument of crime" one, and the Panthers decided to have some fun with it by mocking with this tweet:

Pictured: Instrument of a good time. [🐀] pic.twitter.com/Abv2bMF4md
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) May 30, 2017

So, here's the backstory you need to know to better understand the shade being thrown by the Panthers, the Pens and Florida squared off in the Eastern Conference final during the 1995-96 season.

Florida won the series on the road in Game 7, but won at home in Game 6 to force the final game of the series.

During that playoff run, fans threw rubber rats on the ice any chance they could, hence the "instrument of a good time" caption.

The tradition has been continued in recent years, but the 95-96 season will always be the year of the rat, and Penguins fans know that fact better than most.