Traditions Make For Excitement

For those of you who do not know much about hockey traditions but wish to attend a game sometime, one bit of advice: don't take your best hat. You never know when you might lose it.

Rick Nash became the first Columbus Blue Jacket to score a hat trick Monday evening in over four years at Nationwide Arena. His first goal was a short handed goal in the second period to give the Jackets a 2-1 lead. His second was a power play goal late in third to give Columbus a 3-2 lead. And finally his third goal came with seven seconds left into the Edmonton empty net.

Myself along with hundreds of others threw our hats. Why? Because; that's why! The because is the tradition of throwing hats when a player scores three goals. The fellow in front of me appeared to lose his very nice wool hat. We watched that thing tumble from the top row of 228, to the middle of the lower bowl, to the ice. I watched my hat I got for Christmas several years back take a similar path. Mine made it to the Zamboni entrance. Still into the hands of the ice crew who clean the ice at stoppages.

"My wife is going to kill me," said a guy walking down the steps leaving the arena. The reason being his wife bought him the hat for Christmas. Hopefully she understands hockey tradition.

I decided the second that thing landed on the frozen surface of Nationwide Arena, I would head to the Blue Line to replace my lid. On the way, there was a fittingly name store called "The Hat Trick Shop." This was a small kiosk that only sells hats around section 120. I quickly snagged my $16.95 replacement and walked out. On the way out, I saw what appeared to be about 15,000 in line to replace their beanies outside the Blue Line shop. It appeared most everyone was in line for hats. It was obvious the Blue Line had one of their best selling nights.

But who started this tradition of throwing hats on the ice? Good old Wikipedia has the following info on a hat trick: If a member of the home team in ice hockey scores a hat-trick, fans acknowledge it by throwing their own hats from the stands onto the ice, often causing a delay in play. This custom was started in Guelph, Ontario with the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters, sponsored by Biltmore Hats. Mr. Biltmore would throw his top hat onto the ice for the player that scored 3 goals. Fans soon followed his lead and offered their hats to the player as well.

Hopefully the lady who bought her husband a hat for Christmas only to have him throw it a pile of ice won't kill him after reading about what might be one of the best traditions in all of sports.