What is a hat trick in hockey?
Definition and Types
In ice hockey, a hat trick occurs when one player scores three goals in a single game. The goals can be scored in any manner—even strength, power play, shorthanded, or penalty shot—and they count regardless of which period they occur in.
There are variations: a 'natural hat trick' is three consecutive goals by the same player without any other player scoring in between. A 'Gordie Howe hat trick' is a goal, an assist, and a fight in one game, though it's not an official statistic.
- Standard hat trick: 3 goals in one game
- Natural hat trick: 3 consecutive goals by the same player
- Gordie Howe hat trick: goal, assist, and fight
- Playoff hat tricks count the same
Why Hats?
The tradition of throwing hats onto the ice after a hat trick is believed to have originated in the 1940s or 1950s. One popular story credits a Toronto haberdasher who promised a free hat to any player who scored three goals in a game.
Today, fans continue the custom, and the ice crew collects the hats. The player may keep some or donate them to charity.
- Fans throw hats to celebrate
- Origin stories vary, but it's a long-standing tradition
- Hats are collected and often donated
Common mistakes
- Some think a hat trick requires the goals to be consecutive, but that's only a natural hat trick.
- A hat trick in soccer is also three goals, but in hockey it's specifically three goals by one player.
- Not every three-goal game is called a hat trick in other sports; the term is most common in hockey.
