If you are like me, you are trying to schedule your shoot around the NHL playoffs, okay I admit I am the only one doing this and unsuccessfully I might add. More than any another sport, Hockey and the chase for the Stanley Cup has more crazy traditions. Here are my top 5 NHL playoff traditions;
#5 The Rats in Florida
It's been a while since we've seen the Rats in Florida, but with their win Saturday night against the NJ Devils, the Rats made their first appearance since the Panthers Cup run in 1996. Born from Scott Mellanby's extermination of a rat in the locker room prior to the game, followed by a 2 goal night, the fans took to throwing rubber Rats on the ice.
#4 Towel Power
A sea of white towels appeared in Vancouver's 1982 Cup Run, after Roger Neilson's disgust with the referees calls in the Western Conference Finals, he waved the white flag in surrender, a towel on the end of a stick, the next game fans were handed white towels upon entering the arena and a tradition was born.
#3 Shaking Hands and Overtime (tied)
After trying to kill each other for 2 weeks, the culmination of a playoff series sees a gentlemen like handshake following there last game.
Where the regular season tie leaves fans disappointed, being settled with a quick 5 minute overtime and a shoot out to break a tie. The playoffs reward the fans by letting them play on and on until they find a winner. Longest playoff Overtime, in 1933 Toronto and Boston played 164 minutes plus to determine a winner, that's almost 2 and a half games.
#2 Octopus on the Ice
The originator of the Florida Panthers Rats, the Detroit Red Wings Octopus thrown on the ice has an even better back story. Back in 1952 two brothers who owned a fish shop snuck an octopus into the arena and threw it onto the ice after a Red Wing goal, the 8 legs signifying the 8 wins it used to take to win the cup prior to expansion.
#1 Playoff Beards
By fear the best tradition on all of sports, the Playoff Beard. Upon entering the playoffs, players stop shaving until they are eliminated or win the Stanley Cup With the playoffs almost lasting 2 months you get some pretty crazy facial hair. Fans have now joined in with the tradition even raising money for Mario Lemieux's Foundation. The origin of the tradition is unknown, but some say when the teams used to play on back to back to back nights, there was no time to shave. Scott Hartnell and Lanny McDonald, 2 of the all time best playoff beards. Crosby .. not so much
ESPN's take on top 5 Traditions
http://espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2012/story/_/id/7779740/5-playoff-traditions
