- Two Islanders fans faked yellow wristbands from streamers to sneak onto the ice after Carolina clinched the Cup
- Andrew Metelitz drank a beer out of the Stanley Cup at an all-night party at Caesar’s Palace
- Read below for how the pair talked their way past security and into the Hurricanes’ inner circle
Two New York Islanders fans just pulled off the hockey heist of the year.
After the Hurricanes beat Vegas 3-0 in Game 6 to win the Stanley Cup last month, Andrew Metelitz and his buddy Alex talked their way onto the ice at T-Mobile Arena, celebrated with the players, and ended up at an all-night party at Caesar’s Palace. Nobody stopped them.
News12 Long Island’s Kevin Maher tracked down the pair to figure out how two random fans crashed one of the most exclusive parties in sports. Watch the whole story:
The trick started with a wristband. Metelitz noticed that friends and family of Hurricanes players were getting onto the ice with yellow wristbands. So he grabbed some yellow streamers from the pregame party outside the arena and made his own.
“Tucked it in right underneath my watch. I licked it a little bit so it could stay,” Metelitz said. “At that point, I said, I mean, this is the best moment of my life, it’s not going to get any better, this is it.”
That got them on the ice. The after-party took a little more nerve. Metelitz said he and Alex blended in with the Hurricanes’ entourage headed to Caesar’s Palace and acted like they belonged.
“Fans are like high-fiving me as if I was a player,” Metelitz said. “They look at our ID and, no questions asked, let us right in, and that’s where the party happens.”
Then came the part every hockey fan dreams about. Metelitz drank a beer straight out of the Stanley Cup, something usually reserved for players and staff.
“It was insane, crazy,” he said. “I feel like I genuinely have won the Stanley Cup.”
This wasn’t a first-time thing either. Metelitz said he got right outside the Panthers’ dressing room after Florida’s Game 6 win over Edmonton last season. The pair have chased the Cup for four straight years.
“Wherever it is, we’re going to be with the Cup, or the Cup is going to find us,” Metelitz said.
The Hurricanes finally got their Stanley Cup after years of knocking on the door. Two Islanders fans grabbed a piece of it too.
