Red Wings Zamboni Legend Says He Was Fired for Being ‘Old’ — Not for Peeing in Drain

There is a courtroom drama playing out this week in Detroit as a legendary former Detroit Red Wings Zamboni driver gets to plead his case that he was wrongfully terminated after taking a leak in a drain.

That's something I would argue all men are wont to do based simply on instincts, but let's get to the facts.

If the name Al Sobotka doesn't ring a bell, you'd still recognize him if you saw him swinging an octopus above his head like he was about to give it the ol' hammer-throw treatment. That's because Sobotka — who drove the Zamboni for the Red Wings for 50 years — was famous for going out on the ice and retrieving all the cephalopods that fans launched on the ice as part of a long-running team tradition.

But, according to The Detroit Free Press, back in 2022, Sobotka was let go over accusations that he peed in a drain at Little Caesars Arena. I get that, but I also feel like peeing in a drain is the second most responsible place you could pee aside from in a toilet. I mean, it all goes to the same place eventually.

Red Wings Zamboni legend Al Sobotka sues for wrongful termination, claiming he was fired for his age—not for peeing in a drain at Little Caesars Arena. (Getty images)

However, Sobotka claims that the peeing incident was used as a cover for the real reason he was fired: because he was too old.

He alleges that one executive had called him "old" not long before he was let go, and his firing was handled by another executive who didn't know him.

Furthermore, Sobotka argues that they hired his younger replacement at $81,000 a year. That's the same salary that Sobotka was making at the time of his firing after 50 years of service.

So, Sobotka has taken Olympia Entertainment — a subsidiary of the Red Wings' parent company, Ilitch Holdings — to court with a wrongful termination suit.

However, Olympia is reportedly sticking to their guns that the firing was all over an alleged act of urinating. Even in court documents, they said that, "Olympia has a right not to have its employees urinating in its building other than in a restroom."

We'll see how this shakes out (No more than two shakes, though) in court.