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The tradition of Predators fans throwing a dead catfish on the ice had an interesting run this postseason.
First going viral in the earlier rounds, the catfish made more notable appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals when one self-proclaimed redneck was able to sneak one into enemy territory for Game 1 and a well-dressed, bedazzled catfish taking the ice in Nashville during Game 4.
But as crazy as the tradition has gotten, Pittsburgh fans took the catfish theme to the darkest timeline on Sunday night after the Penguins late victory in Game 6 brought the Cup back their city for a second straight year.
As Sidney Crosby and company raised the cup on the ice in Nashville, celebrating fans took to the streets of Steel City and…. began biting into raw catfish.
If you're local team has ever won a championship, you know that the thrill of victory can lead people to do some unreasonable things. Usually this amounts to shot-gunning one more beer than you should and chanting loudly in the streets, and I'm sure this was the case for many sports fans in Pittsburgh on Sunday night.
But for others, the hunger for catfish was too strong to resist.
Far be it from me to judge the way another person celebrates a championship season, but I feel compelled to mention here that there are plenty of ways to prepare catfish that make it a much more desirable meal.
At the very least, you don't need to eat it off the streets.
Fans have started to eat catfish in celebration of the @penguins winning their second straight #StanleyCup @PittsburghPG @PGVisuals #Pens pic.twitter.com/HerR2d65DA
- AntonellaCrescimbeni (@AntonellaCres) June 12, 2017This guy took a bite out of a raw catfish after @penguins beat @PredsNHL to win Stanley Cup. Photo by @RussBurgh. pic.twitter.com/Fg5QiTD0YA
- Tom Fontaine (@FontainePGH) June 12, 2017Pens fan eats catfish #catfish #StanleyCup #penguins @TribLIVE @TribSports pic.twitter.com/xHXaocbw4j
- Shane Dunlap (@shanedunlap) June 12, 2017