Hexes, Curses and PowerPlayGoals
Since Halloween is just around the corner and is commonly associated with curses, superstitions and stuff, I felt it quite suitable to bring up a popular topic along those lines: curses and superstitions in hockey!
Now I won’t lecture anyone on the more famous curses such as the Curse of 1940, which saw the New York Rangers suffer one of the longest Stanley Cup droughts in NHL history, lasting for 54 years until 1994. However, I will bring up a more recently noticed curse and another one which may seem more fitting for Halloween (despite it happening during the 1975 Stanley Cup Final).
One particular curse I am referring to is what some call the “President’s Trophy Curse”. Basically, there is a belief that when a team wins the President’s Trophy (which is awarded to the team with the best overall record in the NHL, immediately giving that team home ice advantage throughout the playoffs), then there is a chance of that team becoming cursed. The belief came about because since the trophy was introduced in 1985, it has been awarded 23 times: most teams that win this trophy end up being defeated early in the playoffs. Two have made it to the Stanley Cup Final and lost, and only seven have gone all the way to win the Cup, with an example being the 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings, who also happen to be the team that has won the President’s Trophy six times, the most by any team.
Some of you may be familiar with an event that occurred during the aforementioned 1975 Stanley Cup Final, in which the Philadelphia Flyers faced the Buffalo Sabres. Because of unusual heat in Buffalo in May, a heavy fog had appeared inside the arena and the teams were forced to play under that condition, and they, as well as the on ice officials and the puck were invisible to the fans. At one point, a bat had appeared seemingly out of nowhere flying across the rink, and it was killed by Sabres centre James Lorentz, who spotted it, raised his stick and swatted it (in doing so he earned the nickname ‘Batman’). Some Sabres fans considered this to be an “Evil Omen”, and although Buffalo won the game in OT, the Philadelphia Flyers were the team that would win the series 4-2 and win the Cup.
Hope you had an interesting read, and Happy Halloween!