NBC Announcers Disgusted As Islanders Fans Litter Ice With Beer Cans After OT Win: ‘This is Dangerous … This is Your Team!’
A thrilling overtime finish during the NHL Playoffs was overshadowed by unruly New York Islanders fans on the NBC Sports Network broadcast Wednesday night.
Trying to keep the focus on Anthony Beauvillier’s overtime goal to force a Game 7 for the Islanders in their Stanley Cup playoff matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning, NBC’s announcers couldn’t ignore Islander fans littering their home ice.
As players celebrated at the Nassau Coliseum, fans struggled to contain their emotions and began throwing beer cans, water bottles, rally towels and whatever they could grab at their favorite team. It was reminiscent of a scene that might occur when fans are disgusted by their team, but an overtime win victory to keep championship hopes alive should trigger the opposite of disgust.
“Your team just won in overtime…and you’re one win away from going to a Stanley Cup Final. I can’t understand this,” NBC hockey analyst and former Rangers Stanley Cup champion Eddie Olczyk said. “They are throwing them from all sections! This is dangerous for the players. This is your team!”
“Cal Clutterbluck just absolutely knocked a can of something out of the air!” Olczyk added.
The Islanders survived getting knocked out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for at least one more game, but their players had to duck and bat beer cans away to avoid being knocked out by their own fans.
Even the game’s hero, Anthony Beauvillier noted he was fearful of flying objects after the game. “This buildings going crazy right now,” Beauvillier said during an interview with NBC. “I’m kinda scared to get hit by a beer or something.”
Winning Game 7 in Tampa would mean a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals and at least two more games in the Nassau Coliseum, but Islander fans acted like they don’t expect to be pack. Treating the ice like a dumpster, instead of a hockey sanctuary that once housed a historic run of four consecutive Stanley Cup championships. The Islanders are set to move out of “The Old Barn” after the season concludes, with a new arena being built eight miles west of the Coliseum.
Watch above via, NBC Sports Network
