It’s one of the best traditions in the NHL: when the fans throw their hats on the ice when a player scores a hat-trick. No matter how much the game of hockey evolves, this is one tradition that has stayed with every generation. Hat tricks are rare in the NHL, so it’s always worth celebrating when one happens. In the 2023-2024 season, there were 115 hat-tricks scored by NHL players which is significantly higher than the 96 scored in the 2022-2023 season.
But have you ever wondered what NHL teams do with all of the hats thrown on the ice? Over time, there have to be thousands or even tens of thousands of fans’ hats collected off the ice. It turns out that every NHL franchise has a different way of dealing with hat-trick hats.
What Do NHL Teams Do With Hat-Trick Hats Thrown by Fans on the Ice?
If you’ve ever seen the celebration of a hockey arena for a hat trick, you’ve definitely asked yourself this question before. After watching the arena staff skating around and picking the hats up off the ice, the game continues as if nothing happened. But wait, where did all the hats go? Do the fans get them back? Do they go in the bin? Here’s a team-by-team list of what every NHL franchise does with the fan’s hats.
Anaheim Ducks
Does anyone else miss when they were called the Anaheim Mighty Ducks? The Quackers do not have any set policy in dealing with hat trick hats from fans. They have placed some on their Wall of Fame at their home arena the Honda Center. Anaheim has also donated hats to those in need which is always a nice choice.
Boston Bruins
The Bruins have a nice tradition for the players on the roster. The player who scored the hat-trick gets to choose one hat and sign it. Boston keeps the signed hat for future generations and the rest of the hats get donated.
Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres are another generous franchise. Whenever a Buffalo player scores a hat trick and fans throw their hats on the ice, the Sabres collect them and donate them to the Buffalo City Mission, a homeless shelter in the city. We know how cold it can get in Buffalo so it is nice that the hats can do a small part in keeping people a little warmer.
Calgary Flames
The Flames are one of the teams that do not have a very imaginative way of dealing with the collected hat trick hats. They dispose of them for sanitary reasons, which seems a little wasteful, especially for the fans who threw their hats on the ice.
Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina offers the hats to the player and he can choose what to do with them, whether it’s to keep some for memories or donate them. The Hurricanes also store them for future use or donations.
Chicago Blackhawks
Like Calgary, the Chicago Blackhawks take the easy way out and discard them for what they deem to be sanitary reasons.
Colorado Avalanche
Colorado does not have a set policy but has given them away to fans at events or donated them in the past.
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets have a display case with all of the fans’ hat trick hats in them in the concourse of their arena. It’s a nice way for fans to re-live past Columbus hat-tricks!
Dallas Stars
The Stars are another generous franchise as they donate the hats (after cleaning them) to the local Children’s Medical Center at Frisco Family Services.
Detroit Red Wings
A team with a rich history of winning and an all-around classy organization. It’s not surprising that the Red Wings donate these hats to charity or the homeless shelters around town.
Edmonton Oilers
With superstars like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers definitely have seen their fair share of hat tricks over the years. The team holds them for future displays and donates some of them as well.
Florida Panthers
Florida is one franchise that allows fans to get their hats back. Fans have until the end of the season to claim their hats before they are donated to local charities.
Las Vegas Golden Knights
The Las Vegas Golden Knights keep some of the hats to put on display at their arena but also end up donating a lot of the leftover hats to local charities.
Los Angeles Kings
The Kings also offer any hat trick souvenir hats to the player who scored the hat trick. Any other hats are donated to local charity organizations or hospitals.
Minnesota Wild
Minnesota is another classy franchise that does right by their fans. Like Florida, the Wild allow their fans to re-claim their hats until the end of the season. For every unclaimed hat at the end of the year, the Wild will donate a brand new one to local hospital cancer wards.
Montreal Canadiens
The NHL franchise with the most Stanley Cups in history has a wonderful way of dealing with hat-trick hats. The Habs keep some hats for posterity for future generations and donate the rest to local children’s hospitals and foundations.
Nashville Predators
The Preds do not have any official policy for dealing with these hats but often donate them to local hospitals or homeless shelters around the city.
New Jersey Devils
The Devils have always been known for their stifling defence but on occasion have provided their fans with some hat-trick celebrations too. The team keeps the hats for display at the arena for fans to see at home games.
New York Islanders
The Islanders offer the hats to the player or their family. Any leftover hats can be claimed by fans at future home games.
New York Rangers
The Rangers offer the hats to young children through the organization’s Garden of Dreams Foundation.
Ottawa Senators
The Senators will make the hats available to the fans who threw them onto the ice. For any hats that are unclaimed, they are cleaned and donated to local charities.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers display the hats at their home arena for fans to enjoy.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins have been known to partner with local charities and foundations to clean and donate the hats to those in need.
San Jose Sharks
The Sharks collect all of the hats, clean them, and donate them to local charities, particularly ones that the team is affiliated with.
St. Louis Blues
The Blues are another team that lets the player who scored the hat-trick choose any souvenirs first. Then they are distributed through affiliated organizations to charities and homeless shelters.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning offer to donate most of the hats to non-profits and charities. The team will also sell some of the hats to season-ticket holders or home game attendees at a discount.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs are another team with a long, rich history in the NHL. Although they haven’t won a Stanley Cup for decades, the Leafs do donate hat-trick hats to charity, particularly those that help serve homeless youths.
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks are another team that holds the hats and lets the fans come claim them if they wish. After a certain period of time, the team will donate them to Goodwill and other local organizations.
Washington Capitals
With Alexander Ovechkin on your team, there’s bound to be hundreds if not thousands of hat-trick hats collected over the years. The Capitals display their fans’ hats in the concourse of their arena.
Winnipeg Jets
At one time, the Jets were collecting hat-trick hats to display at their home arena or their practice complex.
NHL Prop Betting: Wager on Goals Scored for NHL Players
Did you know that you can bet on NHL players to score a hat trick in each game? NHL player prop betting has become a popular way for Canadians to bet on the country’s national sport. If you think a player has a chance to score a hat-trick, you can get incredible odds on that ticket. All you need to do is bet the over +2.5 goals and add that to your bet slip.
Is betting on a hat trick a smart bet? NHL prop betting is like any other sport: some props are easier to hit than others. With only 115 hat-tricks last season in 1,312 total regular season games, that means a player will score three or more goals in a game in just 8.0% of all regular season games. Let’s just say the odds are against you on any given night. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use BetVictor to place a hat-trick bet to enhance your NHL experience.
FAQs
Every NHL team handles this differently. Most franchises will clean them and either put them on display for fans to see or donate them to local charities or homeless shelters.
Yes, Bet Victor offers NHL player prop betting for individual games throughout the regular season and playoffs. To be a player to score a hat-trick, you will need to wager on the player scoring over 2.5 goals.
A hat-trick in the NHL is the same as it is in most sports. A player has to score three or more goals in a single game to qualify as a hat-trick. Technically, a hat-trick is just three goals in a single game, including overtime.
