After an extraordinary effort to conceal a flattened catfish on his person, Waddell threw it onto the ice — in Pittsburgh — on Monday night. The Predators then scored three goals before Pittsburgh pulled out a 5-3 win in the opener. Waddell was charged with disorderly conduct, possessing instruments of crime and disrupting meetings or processions before they were withdrawn.
Catfish!
With the Predators' in the playoffs for the 10th time in 13 years, there has been a catfish comeback. Dead fish have never been so popular.
Nashville's catfish tradition is well known around here, but it became national news earlier this week thanks to Jacob Waddell, 36 .
"It wasn't meant to be anything but fun and answer Detroit's call to their octopus," said Wolf, now semi-retired and living in Saint Paul, Minnesota. "'Hey, we're the new Southern team on the ice, and we're going to throw a catfish on the ice.' That was kind of the attitude that day."
Tossing catfish during pregame festivities appears to work best for fans, with one caveat: Don't hit the anthem singer.
"I really tend to get tickled when I see a catfish go over the glass," Weber said. "I absolutely love that."
Nashville? The Predators have catfish, the Southern staple that has become a beloved badge of honor fans delight in throwing onto the ice for good luck.
"The first time I saw the catfish flop on the ice, we were playing Detroit so I thought it was an octopus," Leipold, now owner of the Minnesota Wild, wrote in an email to The Associated Press. "I was pleasantly surprised when I realized it was a catfish. I figured that it had to be one of our fans mocking the Red Wings. I was not disappointed."
Wolf, of course, watched all this from afar with some measure of satisfaction.
Wolf said he tossed the catfish, then ran up the aisle. Friends around the arena provided cover and a distraction by running as well.
Back then, he served burgers to construction workers and the Predators' new owner, Craig Leipold. Once Nashville landed an NHL expansion franchise,Cheap Jerseys For Wholesale, Wolfy's became a go-to stop for fans and players. There were also a fair number of Red Wings fans in the area, thanks to General Motors' nearby Saturn plant and the automaker's close ties to Detroit.
Five hit the ice one night early in the playoffs. The offensive linemen of the NFL's Tennessee Titans held up catfish while revving up fans before another game. Country star Keith Urban even held up a catfish, and the linemen had more catfish for Game 6 of the Western Conference finals. When Colton Sissons finished a hat trick, left tackle Taylor Lewan celebrated by throwing a catfish instead of a hat.
Wolf bought a nine-pound catfish and wrapped it in newspaper and plastic wrap. On Jan. 26, 1999,Cheap Jerseys, Wolf tucked the catfish underneath his Predators' jersey, walked in and waited for Nashville's first goal. The stench started wafting around him until the Preds' lone goal in what ended up a 4-1 loss.
Pete Weber, the Predators' radio play-by-play man, loves explaining to outsiders why Nashville fans toss a catfish.
Wolf marvels at the Predators' success and the tradition that started with a single fish.
A couple days before Detroit's visit in January 1999, Wolf said, he sat with friends looking for a uniquely Tennessee answer to the Red Wings' storied octopus tradition. Jack Daniel's whiskey was too precious. Guitar picks way too small. Wolf's inspiration came when he walked outside and looked down Broadway to the Cumberland River.

He says the idea to toss a catfish grew out a discussion at Wolfy's during the Predators' inaugural season, back in 1998-99. Wolf is a Rangers' fan born in Brooklyn who had played drums for Johnny Paycheck and others before going into the restaurant business in Nashville. He helped open the restaurant bearing his name across from renowned honky-tonk Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. He also lobbied Nashville to build an arena on the other corner to spur redevelopment of what then was a neighborhood down on its luck.
The Red Wings immediately became Nashville's biggest foe.
That man is Bob Wolf, and he feels his need for secrecy finally is at an end.
Indeed it is. The Predators are about to host their first Stanley Cup Final game, on Saturday night. Pittsburgh leads the best-of-seven series 2-0, but that's another story.
"The idea was to keep it a secret, and obviously we did a good job until the Pittsburgh fish," Wolf said. "And this story has to get out. It's a fun story, and it sets the record straight."
Little Fish Market in Nashville was offering a free catfish to fans with a ticket to Game 3 or Game 4 — that's $1.95 a p