Playoff Beard

The Playoff beard is legendary among sports traditions. Started in the 1980′s by the New York Islanders. Players start to grow their master piece once they know they will be playing for the Stanley Cup. Once a players starts to grow the Playoff beard ,that player can not shave until their team is no longer playing in the Playoffs. One exception is allowed; to change a teams luck, players may trim their beard after a loss. While this tradition is mainly player generated some fans have taken to growing a playoff beard hoping to increase their favorite team’s chances of winning the cup.

May 10, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Al Sobotka swings an octopus that was throw on the ice before game six of the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Detroit Red Wings and the Anaheim Ducks at Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Animals on the ice

Unlike any other sport; fans of the NHL are not only allowed to toss items on the ice, but during the Playoffs it  is encouraged . Two teams come to mind right away they are the Detroit Red Wings, and the Florida Panthers. In the Playoffs fans of the Detroit Red Wings toss octopus on the ice in celebration . The Octopus tradition started on April 15, 1952. Two Detroit brothers, Pete and Jerry Cusimano  threw the eight-legged cephalopod on the ice at Olympia Stadium. Each tentacle of the octopus was symbolic of a win in the playoffs. There were only the only six teams, back then, and eight wins (two best-of-seven series) were needed to win the Stanley Cup. The Red Wings swept the series that year, and the Octopus has come to be the good luck charm ever since.( NHL.com). In South Florida, Florida Panthers fan toss plastic rats on the ice. The Rat-Trick as it has become know as  came about during the 1995-96 season, when the Panthers advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. That season, Scott Mellanby killed a rat in the locker room prior to the team’s home opener with his stick, then scored two goals with the same stick. Panthers fans responded by throwing plastic rats on the ice to celebrate goals (nesn.com). It is truly a sight to see fans of these two team tossing an octopus or plastic rats from their seats to the ice surface, and the best part is the players and officials know it’s coming.

Handshake

The third (and my personal favorite) tradition  I want to talk about is the handshake.  The post game handshake pre-dates the NHL, and is among the most deeply rooted traditions in professional sports. The handshake is a show of sportsmanship, it only happens after a playoff series. Two teams battle, fighting, hitting, taking cheap shots only to meet at center ice and shake hands out of respect for the game. It is the only time in a NHL season that players put aside the pure frustration that builds up. The handshake is official end of that season for one team. There is an implication that the slate has been wiped clean, and  we will meet again next year.

Hockey at it’s very core is a pure game, a game born out of traditions. The NHL season is nearing its end. The reaming teams will continue to carry these traditions until the last horn blows, and the last player leaves the ice. This is hockey. This is how the game should be played.

Apr 6, 2013; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers center Jonathan Huberdeau (11) in the third period against the Washington Capitals at the BB

The finalists for the 2012-2013 Calder Memorial Trophy were announced today by the NHL. For those of you that don’t know the Calder Trophy is awarded to the leagues top rookie. For the 2011-2012 season Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche was given the award. This year the finalists are Brendan Gallagher of the Montreal Canadiens, Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers and Brandon Saad of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Gallagher was a fifth round pick by the Canadiens in the 2010 Entry Draft and went 147th overall. This season he has scored 15 goals and 13 assists for a total of 28 points. He has scored 2 goals so far in the 3 playoff games he has played.

Huberdeau was the 3rd overall pick in the 2011 entry draft. He was second on the Panthers in scoring with 14 goals and 17 assists (31 points). He is tied with Nail Yakupov of the Edmonton Oilers for first in rookie scoring.

Saad was also selected in the 2011 entry draft. He went in the second round and was 43rd overall. He has 10 goals and 17 assists this season with Chicago.

All three candidates show great promise which makes the future for all three teams look very bright.Which of these three candidates do you think will win?

The annual lottery that determines who gets the first overall pick at this year’s NHL Entry Draft will be held tonight and for some clubs it’s the opportunity to draft a cornerstone prospect to build their future Stanley Cup contending team around.

The rules have changed surrounding the lottery as we outlined here last week.  In prior years a team could only move up the draft by a maximum of four spots of where they finished the season.  This year, every team of the fourteen that missed the playoffs can win the draft lottery but it remains a weighted procedure to ensure the lowest ranked clubs have the best shot.

So who will win this year’s draft lottery?  The Florida Panthers have the best odds with 25% followed by the Colorado Avalanche at 18.8%.  The Tampa Bay Lightning are currently slotted third and have a 14.2% chance of winning while the Nashville Predators and Carolina Hurricanes round out the top five and have a 10.7 and 8.1% chance respectively.

The Edmonton Oilers who have owned the draft lottery for the past three seasons are in the hunt again this year albeit the odds are stacked against them with just a 4.7% chance of getting the top pick this year.  Dare we count them out?  It’s hard not to given their luck at last year’s draft but with the revised odds for this year’s lottery we might finally have a year when the Oilers aren’t called upon first to kick off the draft.

As always, we’ll have you covered right here at Too Many Men with all the latest news, updates and analysis from the draft lottery.