Most people know that professional athletes are creatures of habit, ritual and, yes, even superstition.
Hockey players are especially notorious for keeping to their routines. As the Hawks prepare to play on Friday the 13th, it gave me a chance to dig deeper into their psyche. I couldn’t find a Hawk who was worried about playing on this unlucky day, but I did learn a whole lot more. I asked every coach and player for a game-day ritual or superstition.When I played, I would always get dressed from right to left, with the exception being my elbow pads. I would pack my bag in the same order every game. If we were the home team, I would put that jersey into my bag on top of my away jersey and vice versa, as if it had some type of correlation as to how the game would turn out. I ate the same meal before games: a peanut butter and jelly and a 32 oz Gatorade. I would do the same warm-up stretches. If we had back-to-back games over the weekend and I scored on Saturday, I wouldn’t re-tape my stick before Sunday’s game if it was in decent enough shape.
I can’t imagine how crazy I would have gotten if I ever was good enough to go pro.
oh the superstitions. brings me back.
