Yep, that was a real shark thrown on the ice at HP Pavilion last night.
Reporter Damian Trujillo talked to one of the guys behind the stunt. He didn't want to give his name, but said he and his friends did it in response to Detriot's tradition of throwing an octopus onto the ice. He sent photos of the shark being strapped to someone's leg using an ace bandage. Apparently the group smuggled it in Sunday night under some loose sweat pants.
Watch Raw Video of Incident Here
The heave ho of what appears to be a 36-inch long baby tiger shark happened after Joe Pavelski scored his 8th goal of the season. A Yahoo! reader named Mark. S sent in the above photo to a Yahoo! blogger. Mark S. says the guy who threw the shark was in Section 114 and the creature was quickly picked up by a snow scooper.
The San Jose Mercury News photographer seemed to accidentally catch the shark mid-throw. It is slide No. 10 in this gallery. People watching on Versus did not see this highlight.
We also talked to a couple people who were at the game and they were unaware of the event.
Sunday night's shark-tossers also could be keeping their identity quiet because of a similar stunt by a Red Wings fan during Round One of the NHL playoffs.
A group of guys from Detroit drove to Phoenix and threw a few baby octopuses on the ice following a Red Wing goal. They videotaped the evening, including the "get out of jail" portion of the night.
Lori Preuitt's love of sharks precedes the San Jose team. Her dad caught at 451-pound hammerhead when she was a kid during a deep sea fishing trip in Key West.
