Where does the NHL draw the line with debris on the ice?

On the same night, the ice crew in Philadelphia needed extra time to clean the ice before the Flyers and Jets started overtime play because a fan threw a hot dog. And of course, there was Thursday’s tilt between the Panthers and Devils in which fans invoked the craze from the 1995-1996 campaign and hurled fake rodents onto the ice, drawing two minor penalties for Florida.

It’s all just quirky sports fan stuff, really. But this practice of interrupting play to litter the ice does, in turn, cost the home team and break the flow of a game. And not everyone is too happy about it.

So was it just a whacky week in hockey land, or are we at the start of a wave where this practice gets a bit out of hand? And where, if at all, does the league and its teams draw the line?

Following the rat debacle against New Jersey, Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr — who isn’t one to mince words — voiced his displeasure with the scene drawing two penalties for his team.

“I don't really agree with the penalties," Jagr reportedly said after Florida’s 3-2 win. "We can always say, 'Hey, it was New Jersey fans throwing them, we should have the power play.' It's too important a game, and it's going to be more important in the playoffs. I don't think we should get two minutes for that. I think the league should do something about it."

Jagr does make a point: What’s to stop fans of the visiting team from throwing things and costing the home squad? It wouldn’t be the first mean-spirited thing fans have done — ahem, John Scott All-Star voting, anyone? — and isn’t easy to police if a team chooses to give throwable things away before a game starts. That's not to mention that fans were warned after the first time the rats were thrown that there would be consequences, and a second wave of flying rodents ensued.

Interestingly enough, the league rule in which the home team is issued a delay-of-game minor for debris ascending onto the ice is because of the Panthers. SportsNet reminded us:

For the uninitiated, the rat-throwing celebration or "rat trick" can be traced back to the 1995–96 season and the Panthers' unlikely run to the 1996 Stanley Cup Final. As legend has it, former Panthers captain Scott Mellanby killed a rat in the dressing room ahead of the home opener in October of 1995 and went on to score twice that evening with the same stick he used to take down the rodent. 

After the ice was littered with plastic and rubber rats throughout the 1996 post-season, the league instituted a rule that would penalize the home team if objects were tossed onto the ice.

OK, so clearly the best solution is to stop handing out rubber rats or what-have-you to fans, right?

Even if teams stop handing out memorabilia capable of flying across the rink, that isn’t going to stop fans from turning something else into an aerodynamic object. Wells Fargo Center probably isn’t going to stop dollar hot dog night because Flyers fans want to throw their food onto the ice. And perhaps this is harder to police than we think: Joe Louis Arena has a clear bag policy, but that didn’t stop someone from smuggling a squid in his pants to the Red Wings-Sabres contest. Plus, nobody’s going to stop throwing their hats after a hat trick — that isn’t even a topic worthy of discussion.

Maybe we’re taking this whole thing a little too seriously. Again, it is entirely possible that it was just a debris-heavy week at the league’s hockey arenas.

Hopefully this isn’t something that will cost a team a detrimental penalty once the playoffs start.