Hat-trick

A hat-trick in sports is associated with succeeding at anything three times in three consecutive attempts. In North America it is often rendered as hat trick, with no hyphen. (The Oxford English Dictionary has it unhyphenated and gives a variety of examples published in the 19th and 20th centuries both with and without the hyphen.)

Hockey

In both field hockey and ice hockey a hat-trick is when a player scores three goals in a single game. The term was brought to ice hockey in the 1940s when Sammy Taft, a Toronto hatter, gave free hats to Maple Leafs players who scored three goals in a game. It is not certain whether he picked up this practice from cricket.

Related Topics:
Field hockey - Ice hockey - Game - 1940s - Toronto - Maple Leafs

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If a member of the home team in ice hockey scores a hat-trick, fans acknowledge it by throwing their own hats from the stands onto the ice, often causing a delay in play. In the mid-1990s, Florida Panthers fans celebrated hat tricks by throwing plastic rats onto the ice. The history of this goes back to an incident in December of 1995, when Scott Mellanby scored what teammate John Vanbiesbrouck dubbed a "rat trick" after ridding the Panthers' locker room of an unwanted rat with his stick on the same night he scored a pair of goals. When Mellanby scored a hat trick in a later game some fans threw plastic rats on the ice, and the practice became universal for Panthers hat tricks.

Related Topics:
Florida Panthers - Scott Mellanby

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The NHL later responded by banning the throwing of objects onto the ice by fans at the cost of a penalty for the home team; the league, however, specifically allowed the traditional throwing of hats to continue.

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The term natural hat trick is used refer to two feats: when a player scores three goals in the same period or when a player scores three goals consecutively. The term Texas hat trick is used to refer to when a player scores four goals in one game. The term Gordie Howe hat trick is used to refer when a player scores a goal, earns an assist, and gets involved in a fight.

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