Superstitious Beliefs, Mascots, and Chance Factors Hockey Players Use to Tame Luck

You’re right to think pre-game training and excellent physical form are what ice hockey players prioritize on the eve of important fixtures. Still, most of them also have irrational superstitions that occupy prominent positions in their hockey routines.

Wearing playoff beards and listening to the same song on game days are the most ordinary, almost banal rituals. Want to know the weirdest ones? Explore quirky superstitious routines that famous players, teams, and even fans follow to preserve success in upcoming matches.

You’ll also learn what players themselves and experts think about these habits. Do they actually attract luck or simply help them relax, just like those fabulous free online slots one UFC fighter played right before stepping into the ring? Join our guide on hockey oddities to solve this riddle.

 Popular Rituals in the Ice Hockey Universe

Dive a bit deeper into ice hockey culture, and you’ll soon discover that it’s entirely superstitious. Here, players’ quirky habits mix with unexplainable practices established by teams and clubs. Add fans, who also have their own rituals, and you get a vicious circle of ice rink superstitions. Let’s classify them by type:

1. Pre-Game Routines. Many prominent players have confessed to spending time in a very special way before grand games. These can be strict prescriptions: the same food, selected music, etc.
2. On-Ice Rituals. Have you noticed a hockey player getting stiffed on the ice in a sort of bewilderment before the game starts? Or see them tapping their stick exactly 88 times during the anthem? Know they’re OK, just following their usual pre-game routine, praying, or having a conversation with something you would never speak to.
3. Lucky Mascots. Oh yeah, ice hockey clubs have mascots, and among them, there are enough weird creatures. Take the example of Gritty, the Philadelphia Flyers’ Emperor of Pure Chaos. This orange giant has swiveling eyes and a tousled beard. Fans call Gritty the “nightmare coming to life,” and this might be their strategy for intimidating rivals, or?
4. Object-Tossing Traditions. Other clubs have gone even further, just like the Detroit Red Wings with its Al the Octopus mascot. Worshipping octopuses is related here to the club’s eight wins they needed in 1952 to get the Stanley Cup (just like the eight tentacles an octopus needs to catch its prey) and resulted in a singular tradition: fans throw real octopuses onto the arena.
5. Things Players Avoid. While preparing for a critical game, players and fans may face multiple restrictions unrelated to sports. For instance, they don’t shave (the playoff beard rule), they don’t ever touch the Stanley Cup, they don’t step on the club’s logo when moving from the lockers to the rink, etc.

By the way, this year, it was the Tampa Bay Lightning that were suspected of ‘superstitious activities’ on the eve of their decisive Game 7 against the Montreal Canadiens. Rumors suggested players moved to a hotel instead of spending the pre-game night at home. Whether it was a ritual to attract luck or not, we now know how it all worked.

 Top 3 Hockey Players with the Most Eccentric Pre-game Routines

Ice hockey history preserves the memory of its brilliant players and their exceptional contributions to the sport. Now, it’s time to recall the strangest routines they took purely out of superstition.

 Erik Karlsson

A Pittsburgh Penguins star, Erik Karlsson has stuck to one meal tradition for about 15 years. Before a game, the player always has the same menu with the following components:

1. Chicken.
2. Pasta Alfredo.
3. Raw red onions.
4. Meat sauce, hot sauce, & ketchup.
5. Ranch dressing.

You won’t be able to do anything but take a nap after such viands. However, for Erik Karlsson, this is part of the important rules he follows to get ready for the game.

 Wayne Gretzky

An eminent hockey player, Wayne Gretzky, also had a weird diet before games. His pre-game meal included four hot dogs with onions and mustard, which he washed down with Diet Coke. (Is there any magic in onions?)

However, fans remember other quirky traditions of the Great One. A striking example is Mr Gretzky’s warm-up routine. He’s famed for wearing his equipment strictly in the same order. On the ice, he would shoot the puck to the right of the goal and move back to the lockers to drink Diet Coke, then ice water, then Gatorade, and finally another Diet Coke. Call it an obsession or the factor of chance, but look at his stats and records!

 Patrick Roy

Who else is the subject of so many tall tales if not goalies? If you want a story about an athlete truly keen on rituals, look to Patrick Roy, a legendary goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche. Patrick Roy has a unique scheme for preparing his jersey and gear. First, he put everything on the floor, then wore each item in the same order, once and for all.

However, this player’s behavior on the ice was a real screamer. This guy was usually seen standing in the blue line zone (never treading on the line itself) and watching the net. Then he would skate back to the goal and speak to the goalposts! Explanations? Patrick Roy called those posts “his friends,” so why not talk to them before a tough battle or after they have saved your net?

 How Ice Hockey Players See Their Superstitions

You might read about many more rituals hockey players follow out of superstition. However, they don’t always see them as funny or pleasant.

Thus, Roberto Luongo, another goalie renowned for superstitious acts with his masks and pre-game habits, once said that he didn’t like those rituals for their controlling nature. Other players, like Alex Ovechkin with his eccentric eating routines, seem totally happy with the role superstitions play in their careers.

 Why Players Are Susceptible to Superstitions

So many superstitious rituals in ice hockey are natural since this is one of the toughest sports. Each game requires full commitment from the player. Experts emphasize that strange habits often help players to tune up and concentrate solely on the game. Repeated rituals taken before matches help them clear their minds and prepare their bodies for the effort.

There are enough successful stories in the history of ice hockey. So, if superstitions work, why not let them be?