As a hockey player, do you have any rituals you do before or during a game?

Question

I always have to sit in the same seat in the locker room, and I always get dressed the exact same way, and I can never be the last one out of the locker room, I have to be somewhere in the middle of the line.

Answer 1

same spot in the locker room. whether if in goal or skating out I like to have the spot Bobby Clarke occupied when he was here in March.

always dress left side first.

Answer 2

re - tie my laces (even if they don't need them), check my tape, push my gloves on tighter. i have the same dressing sequence also.

it'll be interesting to see the myriad of answers from all the knowledgeable hockey - playing users in this section.

Answer 3

I played years ago, and I used to be the last one out of the dressing room every game. I used to have a coffee one hour before the game. I used to drive down the same street for home games, even if firetrucks were in the way. I used put tape around my stick about half-way down the shaft for a better grip. I never wore socks inside my skates.

And I'm thankful I did all of these things at the time, because today ...  wait ... now that I think of it it didn't make a d**n bit of difference.

Answer 4

Same seat, same dressing sequence. Always wore one of two identical grey t-shirts for several years.

Biggest thing for me though was that I didn't like for anyone to talk to me once I had started dressing until I got out onto the ice. Always felt it broke my concentration.

Answer 5

same spot in locker room, get dressed same order.  always after i have my lower body dressed i usually wonder around, shoot a couple pucks agsainst a wall, wonder then go get finished,  always one of the first out of the dressing room/on the ice.

Answer 6

I put everything on and then sit down about 10 minutes before the game starts and listen to some songs on my Ipod.

Answer 7

Known on my team as the  OCD Machine...just a few dozen or so.  But then like most goalies, I'm just not right in the head.

Everything from food, undergarments, to how to get to the rink, to dressing, to water bottle placement..."freak show" is the term most often used by my teammates.

Answer 8

when i get dressed everything left goes on first, and i re-tie my skates even if their tight already its a habit

after im done totally dressing, i wax my hockey stick when im done i don't leave it alone it sits with me in the locker room

im totally silent i focus and do tons of visualizing

Answer 9

im a goalie so i put my pads on REAL slow making sure theyre on the same settings as always. then i sit in the farthest corner of the locker room with  a towel over my head and just visualize te game and picture myself in different situatations making big saves. i like to be completely alone and completely quiet

Answer 10

i am a goalie and i always go to the other teams room and i like to trash talk and i always listen to my ipod after i trash talk and i do my handshake with my teammate