Hockey fans--we're not like other people.

This year's "Dude, You Rock Award" goes to Zach Smith, Red Wings fan from Cleveland and Cephalpod Chucker Extraordinaire.

The octopus hit the ice of Mellon Arena to a chorus of boos just after the national anthem Saturday.

But the tentacled toss didn't come from a Michigander. Zach Smith, 19, of Cleveland, an avid Red Wings fan and adrenaline junkie, hurled the slimy creature.

Then he got tossed. Security guards threw him out.

"You're outta here," Smith said they told him. "Come back in and you get arrested."

But Smith and his two friends from metro Detroit, who asked not to be identified, had a plan.
They had bought an extra ticket in anticipation of his booting. That's an extra $300 from a scalper.

And Smith was wearing a regular T-shirt, instead of Red Wings gear, when he threw the octopus.

Outside, he quickly threw on a Red Wings sweater and walked back into Gate 3.

Awesome. Hopefully, this is the night the Wings go to 11.

Oh, and we had a flat tire yesterday, I mowed the lawn, drove over the wife's keys with the lawnmower (Briggs & Stratton 1, Keys 0), turned 39, had to go to Home Depot to get new keys and generally had a fine old time.