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Colorado Avalanche: News from around the NHL June 13, 2014

By Sandie Gauthier
Kevin C. Cox

Because it's Friday the 13th, here are some lovely discussions on superstitious hockey players.

2. Patrick Roy is one of the greatest goalies of all time. He was also one of the most superstitious players over the course of his career. He would have long talks with his goal posts. He would also carefully lay out every piece of his equipment on the floor of the locker room before putting them on in a specific order. Also, during intermissions he would juggle a puck and bounce it off the ground. Those are just three of his many weird superstitions.

3. As a joke, the San Jose Sharks once changed former defenseman Kyle McLaren’s visor to a yellow-coloured one. Since he was colour-blind, he had no way of knowing. That game, he scored the winning goal and he decided to keep the yellow-tinted visor for good luck for the majority of his career.

Here's a few more.

Jaromir Jagr

Labelled as one of the most feared scorers during his time with the Pittsburg Penguins, with whom he won two consecutive Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992, Jagr had a rather cute superstition. The night before every game, he liked to have milk and cookies to calm his nerves.

Sidney Crosby

Sid the Kid has a laundry list of superstitions. First, he won't call his dear old mom on a game day because on more than one occasion when he's called her in the past he's gotten injured.

If his team is travelling on a bus, he will always lift his feet and touch glass if they cross railroad tracks (because who doesn't do that, right?).

And if he's playing on the road, Crosby will only use tape supplied by the home team for his sticks. The list could go on forever, as many consider him to be the most superstitious player currently in the league.




And the best superstition of all? Hockey playoff beards. I'd like to point out that even though Winnik is on that list, I did not write it!

Athletes are notorious for having some pretty out-there superstitions, and hockey players are no exception. We've got to say that our favorite tradition is the care and keeping of playoff beards. Why? They're manly, fierce, and frankly -- just plain impressive.

The tradition seemingly started in the 1980s, when a devoted cadre of New York Islanders (Ken Morrow and Clark Gilles, among others) ditched their clean-shaven look on their hunt for the Stanley Cup. Now, the practice is seemingly ubiquitous: see the Boston Red Sox in the throes of a playoff season for a prime example.

Now that the playoffs are here, we've partnered with Coors Light to bring you a round-up of NHL men who've managed to cultivate some pretty impressive playoff scruff. Scroll through the list and check out the hockey players turned mountain men.