OK, I called UNH SID Eric McDowell, and this is the story behind The Fish, or
at least its present incarnation.
 
7-8 years ago at Providence, some UNH fan tossed a fish on the ice when the
Wildcats scored their first goal, but that was where it ended.  When the
late Bob Kullen ascended to the head coaching position at UNH in the mid-80s,
he went to a local fraternity (Delta Chi?) and worked out with them the
details of The Fish.  Kullen remembered the fish incident and wanted to
incorporate it as a new UNH tradition.  Funding was established (to buy fish,
I suppose) and it quickly became an honored position at the fraternity to
be The Fish Tosser.  There is only one Fish Tosser each season.  Only three
people have ever been Fish Tossers; there will be a new one in 91-92 as a
freshman is given the title.  The Fish Tosser sits right behind the boards
separating the home and visitor benches.
 
So the UNH hockey people themselves are actually behind this tradition.
 
I mentioned to Eric that two years ago, I was at a UNH game and there was
no fish.  He said that was because that season, the kid that was The Tosser
was sick a couple of times, and they were afraid to have anyone else throw the
fish.
 
There is also Exhibition Fish.  Last season during a preseason game against
Holy Cross, someone threw a box of Mrs Paul's.
 
I asked Eric about The Fish road-tripping, and he mentioned the Minnesota
incident.  One of the UNH players' girlfriends was on the trip and when the
Wildcats scored their first goal at Mariucci, she threw The Fish on the ice.
According to Eric, the crowd was stunned and silent, as they didn't know
what to make of it.  And the Wildcats themselves were shocked to see The
Fish make it all the way out from Durham.  It didn't last, as the Gophers
pulled together from this hair-raising experience and won, 6-3.  It is true
that The Fish has made it to BC and Providence in recent years as well,
but Eric thinks it should remain a home tradition.
 
Finally, Eric's favorite fish story took place this season when the Wildcats
hosted Yale.  The UNH mascot happened to be near the Fish Tosser when the
Wildcats got on the board, and in an unusual breaking of tradition, it was
decided that the mascot should be allowed to throw The Fish.  But the mascot
wears blue mittens, and when he threw The Fish, it slipped and landed on the
head of the Yale equipment manager.  One of the Yale players picked up The
Fish and threw it out on the ice, but needless to say the manager was not
too happy and he raised quite a fuss about it.  UNH sent him an apologetic
note, explaining that no harm was intended and that it was just a tradition.
 
I asked about the Catholic connotations raised by Mark Daly, and Eric
reiterated that The Fish does not discriminate on the basis of religion.  As
for any symbolic value, it has none whatsoever although the idea of a beaten
goalie flopping like a fish out of water sounds great.  It's just a fish.
 
 
- mike, for 20/20