Connect with us

NHL

VHN Blog: Dallas Fans Throw Beer, Dump Popcorn on Hill; Org Shows Code of Conduct

Published

11 months ago

on

Adin Hill, Dallas Fans throw popcorn

Game 3 of the NHL Western Conference Final was explosive. The Vegas Golden Knights frustrated the Dallas Stars. Trailing 2-0 in the series and quickly trailing by three goals in Game 3, Dallas’ frustration Tuesday quickly boiled. The Dallas bench basically annexed the penalty box.

After numerous penalties, including Jamie Benn’s major and game misconduct in the first two minutes, and a couple of minors for scrappy Max Domi for tossing punches at big Nicolas Hague, the irritation spilled into the crowd.

Near the end of the second, fans chucked aluminum beer cans onto the ice like catfish in Nashville or a victory flamingo in Vegas. The referees ended the period early and sent the teams to the locker rooms so crews could clean up the mess. In a vain effort to stem the problem, the organization took the intermission as an opportunity to encourage fans to clean up their own spiritual mess with a gentle reminder of the NHL Fan Code of Conduct.

Just as big corporations have a set of rules for their employees to follow, so does the NHL for their fan bases. They’re not very hard to follow, but the folks in Dallas needed a little reminder. According to the official NHL Fan Code of Conduct Policy, fans “have a right to expect an environment in which they will be treated in a consistent, professional and courteous manner by all arena, team, and National Hockey League personnel. The Players and Officials have the same rights.” Some key rules to follow are:

  • Fans may not interfere with the event and/or athletes in any manner. One could argue throwing items on the ice certainly interferes with the event and the athletes.

 

The Dallas fans were more generous at the start of the third period. In fact, someone shared their entire tub of popcorn with Vegas Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill.

“Everything was hitting me tonight,” Hill said with a wry grin following the game.

 

More from the code of conduct, just in case  you, too, were curious about sharing popcorn with players:

  • Fans shall refrain from using abusive language or obscene gestures.
  • Fans may not engage in fighting, throwing objects, or other behavior deemed detrimental to the experience of other guests, and those who engage in any of these actions will immediately be ejected from the game.

Nope. You can’t even fight your own fans.

  • Fans who choose to consume alcohol must do so in a legal and responsible manner. Intervention with an intoxicated or impaired fan will be handled in a prompt and safe manner.

Should a fan break these rules, they could potentially be evicted from arenas without a ticket refund. They could, as Dallas was warned, also cause their team to be assessed a bench penalty. That threat seemed to be enough to keep fans in check; that, and the fact that several of them left after the early intermission started.

So, consume your own popcorn, don’t share with the players unless they ask, and know when it seems like a good idea to toss a beer onto the ice, that’s a good time to stop drinking.

When in doubt, follow the advice of former Cincinnati Bengals coach Sam Wyche.

 

The Vegas Golden Knights face Dallas in Game 4 Thursday at 5 p.m. PT.

Related Topics: