Detroit’s hockey octopus tradition began in 1952

Pete and Jerry Cusimano are legendary figures in the history of the Detroit Red Wings hockey club. They made their mark some 70 years ago in 1952, not as players but as innovative fans.

 

Red Wings fans are everywhere. This is Jaclyn Schultz, Miss Michigan in 2013, who was competing in the Miss USA Pageant.

 

In the 1952 National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs, the Red Wings had swept the Toronto Maple Leafs in the semifinal round, winning 4 games to none. Playing now against the Montreal Canadiens in the finals, Detroit held a 3-0 lead. 

Just one more win was needed for the Red Wings to finish a perfect 8-0 in the playoffs and bring the Stanley Cup to Detroit. 

The Cusimano brothers had tickets for Game 4 of the championship series, with the Red Wings playing at home. Jerry had a revelation while stocking the market counter with seafood. He told Pete: “An octopus has eight legs. Let’s take it to the game and throw it on the ice. It’ll be good luck.”

“The logic was irrefutable,” sports journalist Frank Ahrens would write years several years later. “After all, when it comes to the number 8, your choices from the animal kingdom are pretty limited. What’re you going to throw, a handful of spiders?” 

“Pete and Jerry boiled the dead octopus, to transform it from its natural state of gray and slimy to maroon and rubbery, so it wouldn’t stick to the ice,” Ahrens said. 

Pete shared: “If you try to throw it like a baseball, you’ll throw your arm out. I would fling it sidearm.”

 

Ahrens reported that when the Cusimanos’ octopus “hit the ice at old Olympia Stadium, now long gone, no one knew what to make of it. The referee skated over to pick it up but recoiled when he saw what it was. An opponent whacked it with his stick.” 

“The game announcer is reputed to have said: ‘Octopi shall not occupy the ice. Please refrain from throwing same.’” 

“Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. It is known that the Red Wings, in fact, swept the playoffs and won the Cup in eight games. Coincidence? Detroiters think not,” Ahrens concluded. 

Eventually, a purple octopus mascot was created, and in the 1995 playoffs, a large octopus prop was unveiled. It’s attached to the rafters and lowered when the Red Wings skate out onto the ice.

 

As the years went on, some modifications were made to the figure. Now, its eyes light up red (blinking on and off) and it wears a large Red Wing jersey (No. 8). 

Later, the octopus mascot had a tooth extracted in order to give him a “hockey player” look.

 

The mascot figure was named Big Al, a tribute to the Red Wings’ head ice manager and Zamboni driver. He was the guy who had to scoop up the goopy debris from the rink. He developed an act of swinging the remains over his head, like a cowboy twirling his lasso, to incite the crowd. 

There is no costumed Big Al mascot. No one suits up as Big Al. The character has no feet. He can’t join in any mascot games, which gives him limited functionality.

Yet, Big Al fit perfectly into Detroit’s marketing as “Hockeytown,” which began in earnest in 1996, under Red Wings’ owners Mike and Marian Ilitch, founders of the Little Caesar’s Pizza chain. The nickname gained national and international recognition.

 

Hockeytown was and still is a tribute to all the great players…from Gordie Howe to Stevie Yzerman…who have worn the Red Wings famed red and white logo – an automobile tire that sprouted wings.