Plastic rats and playoff beards: Superstitious behaviours in hockey fans and players increase during the playoffs

By Terry Eddy, Associate Professor, Sport Management, University of Windsor

As the Toronto Maple Leafs recently limped to a third straight defeat to the Florida Panthers, Leafs fans experienced the dreaded rat trick. In this ritual, Panthers fans throw plastic rats onto the ice to summon the energy of past, unexpected successes.

A group of extraterrestrials watching this event might be puzzled to see hundreds of otherwise normal people hurling mass-produced rodents at a few dozen tired men with unkempt facial hair. If, as sport fans,…

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