Al Sobotka

Al Sobotka is the building operations manager for Olympia Entertainment. This includes both Joe Louis Arena and Cobo Hall. Sobotka is known mostly for driving the Zamboni during Detroit Red Wings games for the past 30 years and for collecting the octopi thrown on the ice during Red Wings playoff games. The offical mascot of the Red Wings is named after Sobotka. Sobotka came in second with 97,261 votes in Zamboni News's 1999 Zamboni "Driver of the Year" Award.

"I wanna drive the Zamboni"

Sobotka has been driving the Zamboni between periods at Joe Louis Arena for almost 30 years. He takes great pride in his work and always makes sure the ice surface is up to par:

You know I'm particular, so if I see anything that's wrong -- a little chip of snow or something, you know, all that stuff matters a lot, 'cause a little snow can freeze and a guy hits it, never know what can happen, you know?

When Brendan Shanahan played for the Red Wings he had some nice words for Sobotka:

Al's very good and he takes it personally. I mean we see him a lot. Everybody knows Al. We're able to go out and make comments to him. He'll know when there's a tough night, you know, in the playoffs, or if it's a humid day and he'll respond accordingly. He'll ask the players after the game, 'What'd you think of the ice?'

When asked about going out and driving the Zamboni in front of Joe Louis's 20,066 fans, Sobotka responded by saying:

Well, some people are a little shy about it and ah, can't handle it I guess... I guess I [got] accustomed to it, over all these years.

Detroit fans are even show up way before games time to watch Al do his stuff. Also, kids can compete to drive around with Al between periods. They learn that driving a Zamboni is no quick study. It's a science and an art that can take years to perfect.

Sobotka started drving the Zamboni early in life, and when asked about his "dream job", he had this to say:

"It was just a job I got when I was in high school, and I kept at it, working in the maintenance department for a few years, [and] I still enjoy getting up in the morning. If you don't enjoy your work, it's hard getting up in the morning, you know?"

Dealing with octopi

Sobotka is also famous for being the one to handle any octopi thrown on the ice during a game. Sobotka will grab the cephalopod with his bare hands and swing it around his head. He always recieves a huge cheer.

In the April 2006 edition of Sports Illustrated Michael Farber wrote:

“The first face-offs [of the Stanley Cup tournament] were in Ottawa and Detroit at 7:12 p.m., although the unofficial commencement occurred two minutes earlier when an octopus landed on the ice with a splat during ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ at the Wings' Joe Louis Arena. Nothing screams ‘playoffs’ like a cephalopod. (The Red Wings’ tradition began in 1952 when two fishmongers realized that the number of tentacles on an octopus matched the number of wins then necessary to win the Stanley Cup.) Octopus-tossing is officially proscribed, but arena superintendent Al Sobotka tacitly encourages it by twirling octopuses over his head as he chugs off the ice after cleaning them up. In this year’s playoff innovation, some Oilers fans threw hunks of prime Alberta beef onto the ice in response.”

Sobotka said in 1996 that an unofficial record of 54 Octopi were thrown during one game of the 1995 Stanley Cup final series between Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils. He also stated that Detroit fans throw an average of 25 Octopi per playoff game. Sobotka dumps the octopi in the Detroit River after the game. For his tireless efforts, the Red Wings named their octopus mascot "Al" after Sobotka.

External links

Legend of the Octopus with picture of Sobotka on Detroit Red Wings.com