Whenever you see fans littering the ice with hats during a hockey game, you know that a hat trick has occurred. While questions remain about how this convention started, fans enjoy a hat trick because it gives them a chance to become involved in the action. Witnessing a hat trick during a hockey game provides excitement, as it remains a difficult feat for a player to achieve.
Definition
A hat trick occurs whenever a player scores three goals in one game. A player can also score a natural hat trick, which occurs when he scores three straight goals in the game. A few players throughout hockey history have also scored double hat tricks, which means they scored six goals in a game.
Origins
The term hat trick originated in cricket and referred to a bowler taking three straight wickets during a game. The hat trick's connection with hockey, however, is less clear, and different legends exist about how the term became associated with hockey in the middle of the 20th century. According to one legend, a Toronto-based retailer named Sammy Taft started giving out free hats to anyone who scored three goals in an NHL game. These hats went to members of the Toronto Maple Leafs and visiting teams alike. According to another legend, Henri Henri, a Montreal hat store, gave out free hats to any player scoring three goals in a game. No one seems to know for sure, but eventually excited fans began throwing their own hats on the ice, too, to celebrate a player's hat trick.
Most Hat Tricks
Wayne Gretzky holds nearly every NHL scoring record, including the records for most hat tricks. He scored three or more goals in a game 50 times over the course of his career, well more than second place Mike Bossy, who had 39 hat tricks. Gretzky holds the record for most hat tricks in a season, as he scored at least three goals 10 times in the 1981-82 and 1983-84 seasons. Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux both had nine three-goal games in a single season. Gretzky also recorded 10 hat tricks in playoff games during his career, which remains a record.
Fastest Hat Trick
Near the end of the 1951-52 season, Bill Mosienko, a winger with the Chicago Blackhawks, scored three goals in 21 seconds in the third period of a game against the New York Rangers. This remains the fastest hat trick in history. This scoring barrage spelled the end of the NHL career for Rangers' goalie Lorne Anderson, as he did not play another game in the league.
References
- "A to Z Guide to Hockey Terms"; Perry Moshansky, et al.; 2006
- "A Canadian Saturday Night: Hockey and the Culture of a Country"; Andrew Podnieks; 2006
- Minnesota Hockey: Glossary: Hat Trick
- NHL.com; NHL Records Held or Shared by Wayne Gretzky; October 2003
- "The Official Illustrated NHL History: The Story of the Coolest Game"; Arthur Pincus, et al.; 1999
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