Watch: Philly-Pitt rivalry turns classless after brutal playoff loss
The Flyers were not able to add to Philadelphia’s 2018 title count, and the team’s fans took out their frustrations on the ice.
The Pittsburgh Penguins knocked out the Flyers in the first round of the NHL playoffs Sunday, but Flyers fans didn’t go down without a fight.
After an empty net goal put the Penguins up 8-5 with less than a minute remaining in the game, fans at the Wells Fargo Center littered the ice with whatever they could get their hands on, including beer cans, according to USA Today.
A statement from the public address announcer calling on people to refrain from throwing items didn’t do much to soothe Philly fans, who continued their antics during the post-series handshake line.
Thankfully, no players appeared to be hurt from the flying debris, and both teams seemed embarrassed about the whole situation.
But perhaps no one was as mad as Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford, who took a shot at the intelligence of those who threw things on the ice.
“There were frustrated fans,” Rutherford told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “They decided to waste their money and throw some things on the ice that they had already spent money on. I guess some of them have more money than brains.”
He then pointed out that one of the players from the home team could have just as easily been struck as one of the Penguins.
“I don’t know who they were aiming at,” Rutherford continued. “You have players from their home team there. Somebody could have been hurt bad. It doesn’t make any sense.”
Jake Guentzel became just the third Penguin to record four goals in a playoff game, but even he couldn’t muster a smile after watching the ice get littered with trash.
Philadelphia sports fans getting out of hand is certainly nothing new, nor is them throwing objects onto the field of play.
Eagles fans infamously threw snowballs at a man dressed up as Santa Claus in 1968 and Flyers fans threw wristbands onto the ice during a playoff loss in 2016.
It should come as no surprise that Philadelphia sports fans were voted the worst fans in America in a 2011 survey by GQ.
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