Why do they throw caps on the ice after a hat trick? Hockey traditions

There are many strict rules and laws in hockey, and all of them are invariably enforced by hockey players. But there is a place and no one fixed traditions, which do not become less important. So, the custom associated with hat-tricks, is, among them, one of the most interesting.

Hat-trick in soccer and hockey is called three goals scored in one match by one player. But the concept also applies to achievements associated with the number three in other sports. In English, the word combination sounds like a hat trick, and the first word hat translates as “hat”. That’s why the tradition of celebrating a hat trick is associated with hats: to congratulate a player and celebrate his performance, hockey fans throw their hats on the ice.

How did the term hat trick come about?

The first mention of a hat-trick dates back to cricket. In 1858 in England, a player named Stevenson passed three gates in a row, which in those days was quite a difficult trick. At that time, the best player of the match was traditionally given a gift with the money raised by other players, and Stevenson got a hat. After this incident, participants who performed the three most difficult strokes in a row or passed three gates were presented with a cylinder in recognition of their high skill.

Where did the tradition of throwing caps on the ice come from?

The first game in the history of the NHL took place on December 19, 1917. Then four players scored three or more pucks, but there were no hats on the ice. It turns out that this tradition appeared in hockey a little later. There are many stories about how and where it happened. According to one of them, the tradition started in the 1950s in New York City, where one of the teams was sponsored by Biltmore Hats, a local hat manufacturer. They started the tradition of giving their hats to the best players in the match. And when everyone on the team had hats, they decided to reward only those who made a hat-trick. There are similar stories in Toronto, Chicago, and Montreal, because everyone wants to believe that the originator of the tradition was their city.

One interesting legend says that a happy accident helped the birth of the tradition. In one of the matches, a forward launched three pucks in a row into the goal, with the third goal being the decisive and was scored almost simultaneously with the siren. One of the fans, either by accident or on purpose, threw his hat onto the ice, and the rest of the team’s fans followed suit. A week later, the story repeated itself and later spread across America.

Hockey Hall of Fame version

The Hockey Hall of Fame in Canada has an official version of the origin of this tradition. It is also the most romantic. It all happened in 1946, when Alex Kaleta, a rookie of the Chicago Blackhawks, walking through the city, found himself in a hat store. He liked one of them, but didn’t have enough money to buy it. Then the store owner, who turned out to be a big hockey fan, promised to give the hat to the player if he scored three pucks in the next game. Either a happy accident or a great motivation to get the hat helped Alex Kaleta to score those three goals. The store owner not only kept his word, but promised to give new hats to every player who scored a hat trick on home ice. That’s how, according to the Hockey Hall of Fame, the tradition we already know came about.

What happens to the caps off the ice after the game?

This question worries many fans. Especially those who have already had to throw their hats on the ice arena. But there are no special rules here. In some clubs, these caps are collected for the author of the hat-trick, and he already disposes of them at his discretion: he gives them to charity or keeps them for his collection. In September of this year, Sibiri forward Danil Romantsev said that the caps thrown on the ice after his hat-trick would go to an orphanage – with the hockey player’s signature.

Kirill Kaprizov, for his part, hinted several times in interviews that he would like to take the caps for himself, but they never reach him. Approximately one-third of the worn-out caps are sent, however frustrating it may be, to the trash.

Some teams have special tanks in their arenas where caps are collected. Such decorations can be seen at the Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Fans were taken to the police for a cap thrown on the ice

Who would have thought, but even with such an innocuous tradition, a nasty incident could happen. In 2014, a court fined Siberia fans who threw their caps on the ice. The police saw a violation of public order in the fact that the team’s fans began throwing hats in support of Novosibirsk forward Jarno Koskiranta, who scored a hat trick. The magistrate’s court ruled to fine the violators – each for Br3 thousand. The club paid the fines imposed on the fans.