Athletes from the NHL might be the most superstitious of all athletes. The playoff beard is the most common superstition that we associate with the NHL.
The playoff beard is the practice of a National Hockey League player not shaving his beard during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The player stops shaving when his team enters the playoffs and does not shave until his team is either eliminated or wins the Stanley Cup.
It's not known whether the origins of the practice are purely superstitious or not, but according to Hall of Famer Denis Potvin, he says that the Islanders of the 1980s would "play four games in five nights in the first round and it was just something that kind of happened."
Other players have said the beard is both a reminder of team unity and a way to get you thinking about the playoffs from the moment you look in the mirror in the morning.
In any event, the playoff beard is not the only superstition practiced by players of the NHL. In fact, there are dozens, if not hundreds of players that practice all sorts of different superstitions.
These are just a fraction of the ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Trevor Thibodeau
Madonna, Lucky Socks and Other Weird Hockey Superstitions
July 29th, 2011 by Trevor Thibodeau Leave a reply »
Advertisement