NJ Devils Fan Wins Twitter Debate vs. Panthers

In game 5 of the series between the New Jersey Devils and the Florida Panthers, rubber rodents found their way onto the ice before time expired. This was, you see, a bit of a problem, because for years now, the NHL has been making empty threats to teams for throwing stuff on the ice during games. They can only be thrown after the final horn. However, they threaten to call a delay-of-game penalty on the home team, if something is thrown mid-game, for not being able to control their crowd.

But they've never actually done it before.

After game 5, the president of the Panthers, Michael Yormark, announced that they will no longer be selling the rubber rats at the games (they sell these rats for $5, wait til after the game, recollect the ones thrown on the ice, resell them for the next home game). But what really stirred the hockey world was that in his explanation, he said, "Panthers will not sell rats at Pantherland (team shop). This is a result of visiting fans throwing rats on the ice during the game. Panthers will not tolerate any fan throwing items on the ice during our game. If seen, they will be ejected from the arena immediately."

So pretty much every hockey fan outside of Fort Lauderdale just shook their head at the bizarre remark and went on with their day. There's a very slim chance that it was a Devils fan who maniacally threw a rat on the ice in a devilish (no punn intended) attempt to draw a penalty. In all likelihood, it was an exciting Panthers fan who was psyched for a big home win and couldn't resist the toss. And even if it was a Devils fan, how could you possibly prove that Devils fans threw it? 

One Devils fan who took offense to this statement by the Panthers was 26 year old Laura Rubino. She said that they took the easy way out by blaming the Devils fans instead of just saying that their fans were too exuberant. 

So, like any normal hockey fan would, she tweeted her thoughts.

"@PanthersYormark is making an ass out of himself and the organization."

Little did she know, her Twitter feed was about to explode as the President of the Panthers obnoxiously responded to her with the following:

Really? Is that how a president of an organization is supposed to talk to fans? Also, since when do opinions become valid based on a person's amount of followers?

This really shook up Laura. "I was like, 'Wow, this man is the president of a sports team and this is how he talks to people?' I would have been fine if he had said shut up, but he said 'your opinion doesn't matter.' I really don't care how many Twitter followers I have. I'm on Twitter because it's fun," she said. "But to tell someone their opinion doesn't matter kinda rubs me the wrong way."

The Star-Ledger picked up the story and blasted Yormark for his remarks on the situation. 

The Devils heard about the story and invited Laura to game 6 with free tickets in a luxury suite. Oh and by the way, the Devils won that game to force a game 7 thanks to Brendan Shanahan...errr..... I mean Travis Zajac's overtime heroics.

What happened next gets intense.

This situation became news. And since the hockey community is so freaking awesome, fans of all nearly all teams gave Laura Rubino (@LaurenAshley07) a follow. Their goal was simple. Get Laura's follower total to overpass Yormark's total before game 7.

Ladies and gentlemen, it has.

Earlier today I received note that Laura did indeed beat Yormark. Not only that, she completely obliterated him. 

Right now:

@LaurenAshley07: 4,036 followers and rising (give her a follow!)

@PanthersYormark: 3,313 followers

So now the question arises. Is her point more valid now than it was before? I guess according to Yormark it is.

Anyway, this is truly a great story of the underdog getting help from the world to defeat the evil villain. This media attention certainly causes some damage and embarrassment for the Panthers and they really lost this battle.

But the real battle comes tomorrow. Game 7.


Edit: Things got even better for Laura when Michael contacted her the next night, apologizing for his remarks on Twitter. He then offered her and her Father tickets to fly down to Florida to watch game 7 in box seats.

after tonight's game 7