I am by no means a soccer fan, but the other night I watched the Women’s World Cup — that turned out to be an “exciting” one-to-one tie between the United State and the Netherlands. Anyhow, during the game one of the announcers mentioned the term “hat trick.” Needless to say, there was not hat trick in the game I was watching, but I got to thinking about that phrase.
When I was growing up in Oklahoma, most people around Maysville had never even heard of soccer and I’d heard the term hockey, but there were no hockey games played anywhere near were I grew up. I was an adult when I first heard the term “hat trick” — and I always associated it with hockey. I was told that the feat of scoring three goals in a hockey game was known as a hat trick…. it didn’t make much sense to me, but I really didn’t understand hockey, so I just accepted it.
But I thought today was as good as any to explore a little further.
Here is the “true story” from the Hockey Hall of Fame as to the origin of the phrase hat trick:
When Chicago Blackhawks winger Alex Kaleta visited Sammy Taft’s Toronto haberdashery in January, 1946 before a game with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he fell in love with a fedora. But Kaleta — who had just returned to playing professional hockey after serving in the Canadian military during World War II — didn’t have enough money to buy the hat. So Taft cut him a deal: If Kaleta could score three goals against the Maple Leafs at the game that night, he’d give him the hat for free. (Turns out that Kaleta scored four goals that night — Chicago lost to Toronto 6-5 — but he got a free hat.)
So that’s the Hockey Hall of Fame’s story, and as far as I know, they’re sticking to it….
But apparently, the term “hat trick” actually originated in British cricket. A bowler who retired three batsman with three consecutive balls was entitled to a new hat at the expense of the club to commemorate this feat. Eventually, the phrase was applied to a single player scoring three goals in any goal sport and later to three victories or successes in sports as different as horse racing and golf. The phrase finally broadened to include a string of three important successes or achievements in any field.
If I have three glasses of wine with dinner, I usually refer to that as a hat trick….
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