In the words of the great Michael Scott, hockey players aren’t superstitious, but they are a little stitious.
No, we’re totally kidding. Hockey players are most definitely not a little stitious, they are full blown, over the top, crazy amounts of superstitious. In fact, some might say that they are supersuperstitous.
While there are some superstitions that are pretty universal around the game of hockey, like not stepping on your team’s logo in the dressing room, not touching a trophy before you win it, and not shaving your beard for the playoffs, some individuals have some seriously next-level superstitions that simply must be addressed.
Sidney Crosby
We’ll start with Sid the Kid because we think his superstitions are some of the craziest in the game. Apparently, there’s more than what he’s admitted to the general public, but here’s what we do know: he’s worn the same jock since high school (how can this be true????), he doesn’t call his mom on game days because the three times he has, he’s sustained major injuries in the game (seems a little rude, but whatever), and he’s obsessed with the number 87 because of his 8/7/87 birthdate to the point that even his contract AAV is even $8.7 million.
It doesn’t end there, though! There’s a whole ROUTINE involved in his stick taping; he has to be the one to tape it, and if anyone touches it, it’s an automatic retape. He only uses the host team’s tape when on the road, he eats at the same restaurants in every away city, and of course, he does this whole crazy warm up routine every. Single. Game.
It’s safe to say Sid is one of the most superstitious guys in the game, but also, if it works, it works.
Clearly, it works.
Alex Ovechkin
Ovi’s pre-game superstitions start with the absolutely obscene to the point where it’s pretty impressive meal he devours before every game. While most modern players have opted for something lighter before games, Ovi goes full-blown carb loading before his games. Brooks Orpik told the Player’s Tribune that:
“We have a chef here who prepares our pregame meals. Ovi always orders the same thing — Mama Luccia, which is this pasta dish that’s like chicken parm with noodles, bread, cheese, the kind of thing you want to take a five-hour nap after eating. He makes a big display of it too. There’s no shame. It’ll be eleven in the morning, way before anyone is really thinking about eating lunch, and Ovi will walk into the dining area yelling, “Mama Luccia! Mama Luccia!” I don’t know. It’s weird, but it seems normal now.”
Here's a look at the Mama Luccia, for reference.
Yep, pretty impressive. There’s also THIS whole things that goes down in the hallway before every Capitals game that’s part of Ovi’s superstition routine.
Wayne Gretzky
They don’t call him the Great One for nothing, but Wayne had some seriously crazy tendencies when it came to superstitions. For us, the most bizarre one is his drink routine – between each period, he had a very specific beverage routine that looked like this: a Diet Coke, an iced water, a Gatorade, and then a second Diet Coke. Again, he did this between each period, which is insane to us. It didn’t end there, though. Gretzky couldn’t get hair cuts on the road, because the one time he did the Oilers suffered a bad loss. He would put on his gear in a very specific order (left shin pad, left sock, right shin pad, right sock, pants, left skate, right skate, shoulder pads, left elbow pad, right elbow pad, jersey, tuck the right side into his pants), and he would always miss the first shot of warm-ups to the far right of the net. He also had a weird superstition involving putting baby powder on his stick pre-game.
Stan Mikita
This Hall of Famer’s smoking superstition wouldn’t fly in today’s game, but we still find it pretty hilarious. The Chicago Blackhawks legend smoked religiously throughout his illustrious career, and was religious about lighting up a cigarette in the washroom between periods. Apparently, part of the superstition was that he would toss his cigarette over his left shoulder while leaving tunnel for the ice. Though he was advised to quit by a doctor and eventually did, this superstition is still a crazy one to us.
Eddie Belfour
Though there were many strange goalie superstitions to choose from, because, you know, goalies, ‘The Eagle’s’ was the craziest to us. Apparently, the Hall of Famer was extremely protective when it came to his equipment, to the point that no one else was allowed to touch it. Like, ‘don’t touch my stuff or I’ll kill you’ kind of protective over his own gear, which is pretty over the top when considering the job of equipment manager exists. Not for Eddie, though.
