Al Sobotka was born on October 16,1953 and is the former building operations manager for Olympia Entertainment.
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11 Facts About Al Sobotka
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2.
Al Sobotka's responsibilities included day-to-day operations at Little Caesars Arena.
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3.
Al Sobotka was involved in the operations of Cobo Arena until Olympia Entertainment relinquished management in 2011 and Joe Louis Arena until it closed for good in 2017.
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4.
Al Sobotka came in second with 97,261 votes in Zamboni News' 1999 Zamboni "Driver of the Year" Award.
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5.
Al Sobotka had been driving the Zamboni between periods at Joe Louis Arena for over 30 years until the arena's closure in the spring 2017 and currently drives the Zamboni between periods at the new Little Caesars Arena, beginning in the fall 2017.
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6.
Al Sobotka is known for taking pride in his work, and he ensures that the arena's ice surface is of the highest quality.
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7.
Al Sobotka is famous for being the employee responsible for handling any octopuses thrown on the ice during a game.
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8.
Al Sobotka will grab the octopus with his bare hands and swing it around his head.
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9.
Al Sobotka typically receives an appreciative cheer from the crowd for this response.
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10.
Al Sobotka said in 1996 that an unofficial record of 54 octopuses were thrown during one game of the 1995 Stanley Cup final series between Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils.
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11.
Al Sobotka stated that Detroit fans throw an average of 25 octopuses per playoff game.
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