WTH? Some nutcase swinging an octopus carcass? 
@ItsOver It's a Detroit thing. At one time there were just six NHL teams. Top four teams made the playoffs - which were two rounds of 4 best of 7 series. So a perfect sweep was eight wins in a row. The Wings pulled it off back in the 50's, so the next season fans would stop at the fish market in Greektown and pickup an octopus and throw it on the ice in honor of this feat.
Jump ahead about 40 years, the Wings are really great again and the tradition is revived. They tried to discourage it - the modern arena was much bigger so sometimes the critter wouldn't make it and hit some patrons down by the glass. PETA was complaining. Having stinky, slippery slime on the ice wasn't great for the players but the fans loved it. The nutcase is Al Sobotka, the Wings Zamboni driver. He'd have to go out and pickup the octopus off the ice but instead of doing so quietly, he'd twirl that bitch around his head and fire up the crowd. So they eventually put in that mechanical thing to try and squelch the practice [you can get a lifetime ban for doing it now] and named it Al after Sobotka.
