NHL History: Popular Playoff Traditions of the League
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Time to read 8 min
From player-driven superstitions to fan-driven rituals, hockey traditions add an extra layer of excitement and camaraderie to the NHL playoffs. In this article, we'll explore some of the most iconic traditions in playoff hockey, while additionally examining their origins and significance within the hockey community. Whether it's the time-honoured playoff beard or the spectacle of fans clad in team colours, these traditions reflect the passion and dedication of hockey players and enthusiasts across the league.
Preview Image: Timur Gabbassov from the New Westminster U15 A1 team waving a white towel at the 2024 NHL playoffs in Rogers Arena, Vancouver; from Vancouver Canucks on X, Source Link.
Forming Traditions
Traditions are customs, beliefs, or practices passed down within a society, and they often emerge from shared experiences and values. As implied, in the NHL, a majority of these traditions often originate from pivotal moments or gradually evolve over time.
Some traditions are player-focused, whereas others are driven by the fans; in all instances, NHL traditions serve as enduring symbols of unity and pride for both organizations and spectators.
Playoff Beard
Likely the most well-known tradition out there, the “playoff beard” is exactly as it sounds— players don’t shave their beards while in the playoffs. Despite its expansive reach across the league and the age of the tradition itself, the exact origins are a bit spotty.
Through some photographic evidence and observation, it’s speculated that the tradition was brought to the NHL in the 1980s with the New York Islanders, where it then spread as a standard across many leagues, not just in the NHL.
Other evidence points to the playoff beard at least being introduced post-1960s, due to the structure of the league at the time. Playoffs back then were not as intricate as they are today; with them only being a couple of rounds long, it would’ve been difficult to grow a beard in that short amount of time.
May 24, 1980, Denis Potvin with Brian Trottier after winning the Stanley Cup; by Richard Drew, Source Link
Towel Power
It was the Campbell Conference final in 1982 between the Vancouver Canucks and the Chicago Blackhawks— the Canucks were getting progressively more frustrated with the game and the reffing, in particular referee Bob Myers. They were down a few goals and had a good number of unfavourable calls, including a disallowed goal and a penalty leading to a Blackhawks goal. Canucks enforcer, Tiger Williams, suggested they throw sticks on the ice in protest, but coach Roger Neilson expressed that he’d already done that before.
He ultimately opted for another approach: he put a white towel on Jim Nill’s hockey stick and held it up in the air in mock surrender. The refs either didn't see or blatantly ignored it for a while until more Canucks started “raising white flags,” including Stan Smyl, Tiger Williams, and Gerry Minor.
Neilson was kicked out of that game, and he and the team were fined $1000 and $10,000, respectively. Although Neilson and the team expected unfavourable reception amid the high tension of the game, the incident actually left a lasting impression not just on the Canucks, but across spectators and the league for decades.
Today during the playoffs, spectators will wave a white rally towel to cheer on their team. Although many teams will take and put their own spins on the tradition, the origins of Towel Power will forever live in Vancouver. A statue of Neilson holding Nill’s stick and waving a white towel can be found in front of Rogers Arena, commemorating the event.
Roger Neilson statue in front of Rogers Arena, Vancouver, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15811435
Don’t touch the Cup!
It sounds almost too obvious that superstitious players won’t want to touch the Stanley Cup before they win, similar to how teams want to avoid stepping on their logo in the centre of the dressing room. The belief is that if you touch the Cup before winning it, you will be cursed to never win it. But this unwritten rule goes a bit further than that… and for certain parts, it may not be as strict as it sounds.
Some teams won’t even touch their respective Conference Cups after they win. One major example is the Vegas Golden Knights, who didn’t celebrate with the Campbell Bowl and ended up winning the Stanley Cup in 2023. In 1997, the captain of the Philadelphia Flyers, Eric Lindros, decided against touching the Wales Trophy. Lindros described the reasoning as “[their] mission is not complete.”
However, as mentioned, this part of the superstition is pretty flexible. When it comes to the Conference Cups, some teams who originally elected not to touch the Cup and lost would decide later to “switch up their tactics” and touch it the next time they saw it. The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Tampa Bay Lightning are two such teams on this opposite side of the spectrum.
Ultimately, the loose decision to touch the Conference Cups is always left to the captain— but the rule to never touch the Stanley Cup still reigns as a prominent tradition across the league.
The Stanley Cup - Uploaded on flickr.com by user "Uncleweed" on February 13, 2006 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/uncleweed/99333325/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1068681
Colours
One of the most exciting traditions in NHL playoffs is the fan-driven coordination of colours to support one's team. This tradition is simple yet effective, and it displays unity among fans of the home team.
One notable team in this category is the Calgary Flames with their “C of Red,” which is a play on words with sea and c. “Sea (of red)” refers to how the arena looks when the fans are all adorned in red, while “C” refers to Calgary. Whether you’re wearing a Flames jersey or just red in general, all fans can contribute to the spectacle.
Their playoff tradition was countered in 1987, however, when the Winnipeg Jets notified their fanbase to all wear white to the arena, dubbed "The Whiteout." The effect was an illuminated look across the rink and a tradition that would stay with the Jets’ legacy for decades.
These two teams aren’t the only ones with colour-based fan traditions. Others, like the Washington Capitals with “Rock the Red” and the Edmonton Oilers’ “Orange Crush,” also have similar fan-driven traditions of painting the stands in colour during the playoffs.
Welcome to The Whiteout. Playoffs are back in Winnipeg. pic.twitter.com/d4l3SPBH9T
— Jeff Hamilton (@jeffkhamilton) April 22, 2023
Legend of the Octopus
In certain arenas, you may see a fan-driven tradition that’s a bit less conventional than the rest, in that some throw very specific things onto the ice— and this time, they aren’t hats.
In Detroit, there is a long-standing tradition of throwing an octopus on the ice, which is said to have started in 1952 when fish market owner, Pete Cusimano, threw an octopus on the ice after the first Red Wings goal against the Montreal Canadiens. In the old days of NHL playoffs, you needed to win eight games, thus each tentacle of an octopus represented those games.
But just because you can and just because it’s tradition doesn’t mean it’s technically allowed. The practice has been petitioned against by animal activists, and rink security won’t allow you to just carry an octopus into the rink because of “tradition.” Nevertheless, fans still manage to sneak them in, with the one rule being “by any means necessary.”
Similar to the Calgary/Winnipeg conflict over colours, there was another tradition born from the original. In Nashville, the tradition of throwing a catfish onto the ice during playoffs came about from some of the fans’ dislike and/or disdain for the Detroit Red Wings. Fans for other teams have thrown other items on the ice in response to Detroit’s octopus, such as San Jose with a leopard shark and Edmonton with steak; however, the catfish held the most traction and is still a tradition seen today.
Like we said, ROAD OCTOPI. 🐙
— Winged Wheel Podcast (@WingedWheelPod) February 26, 2024
Here's our footage of the DOUBLE octopus toss in Chicago, courtesy of our very own @AlTheOctupus! #LGRW https://t.co/Ihh5MLVVqq pic.twitter.com/ZK1Vg7nRSG
Rat Trick
Similar to the octopus and catfish throwing, but hailing from different origins that are not necessarily tied to playoff hockey, “Rat Trick” is a funny little tradition in which fans throw plastic rats on the ice after the Panthers win.
The origins of Rat Trick come from the start of the 1995 season, when captain, Scott Mellanby, killed a rat that had gotten into the dressing room with a hockey stick. During the game, he’d failed to get a hat trick, having only scored two goals. The wordplay would come from the Panthers’ goalie, John Vaniesbrouck, who commented that Mellanby scored a “rat trick” rather than a hat trick.
This tradition would take a break for a while before being revived in 2012, with Florida’s return to the playoffs. To participate in the fan-driven Rat Trick tradition, the arena also began selling plastic rats directly to fans. To avoid disrupting the game, however, staff ask the fans not to throw rats until the game has ended.
John Vanbiesbrouck skating through plastic rats; Source Link
Further Reading
Brown, Scott. “Video: On this date in 1982, Canucks coach Roger Neilson waved the white towel.” Vancouver Sun, 29 April 2015. Source Link.
Clarendon, Dan. “Detroit Red Wings Fans Keep Throwing Octopuses on the Ice— Here’s Why.” Distractify, 19 Feb 2024. Source Link.
Costopolous, André. “Did the Playoff Beard Originate with the 1980 Islanders? A Quantitative Assessment.” University of Alberta: The Quad, 6 June 2018. Source Link.
DH Calgary Staff. “7 things all Calgary Flames fans should know.” Daily Hive, 19 Dec 2017. Source Link.
Ellison, Jenny. “Fan Rituals: A Part of Hockey History.” Canadian Museum of History, 4 May 2017. Source Link.
Farhall, Grant. “The Calgary Flames Game Day Guide.” Visit Calgary, n.d. Source Link.
Ganzi, Joey. “Florida Panthers and the History of the Rats.” The Hockey Writers, 22 April 2024. Source Link.
Hoffman, Patrick. “Best fan-driven NHL playoff traditions.” Sportsnet, 20 April 2012. Source Link.
Jory, Derek. “Towel power.” Archive of Canucks: NHL.com Network, 4 June 2011. Source Link.
“Legend of the Octopus.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 April 2024. Source Link.
“Red Mile.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 August 2023. Source Link.
Riches, Sam. “Why do Florida Panthers throw rats on the ice?” National Post, 10 May 2023. Source Link.
“Roger Neilson waves the white flag.” Youtube, uploaded by Disengage, 13 Oct 2008. Source Link.
Rusnak, Simeon. “The Eye of the Storm.” Sportsnet, n.d. Source Link.
Ryder, E. Z. “NHL Playoffs: 16 Teams’ Most Bizarre Traditions.” Betus, 19 April 2024. Source Link.
Schmitt, Brad. “Catfish tossing started because some Predators fans hated Detroit.” The Tennessean, 12 April 2018. Source Link.
Shefte, Kate. “Hockey’s unwritten rules: Here’s why you don’t touch the trophy or step on the logo.” Seattle Times, 9 April 2024. Source Link.
Shelton, Cole. “Why don’t NHL teams touch the Conference Finals trophy after winning? Examining reason behind superstition.” Sportskeeda, 30 May 2023. Source Link.
Skrbina, Paul. “Watch: It’s started, catfish thrown on ice at Predators’ NHL playoffs Game 3 at Bridgestone. The Tennessean, 26 April 2024. Source Link.
Stoller, Jacob. “Winnipeg Whiteout: How the Jets Started Their Iconic Playoff Tradition.” The Hockey News, 7 May 2023. Source Link.
“Towel Power.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Jan 2024. Source Link .
Urtz, Tom Jr. “15 Great Traditions that Separate Hockey from Every Other Sport.” Bleacher Report, 21 Sept 2012. Source Link.
Woolworth, Kent. “Since 1997, teams who do not touch the conference trophy have lost a whopping 73% of finals’ matchups when their opponent touches it. The Panthers touched the Prince of Wales Trophy.” Reddit, 2023. Accessed 29 April 2024. Source Link.
