Playoff Superstitions?

[Guest Lidstromboli]

no superstitions

[IILeiBlazeII 15]

I wear red every day the Wings are in the playoffs and I don't shave until the wings are in a dire emergency - like one game away from being eliminated or on a losing streak - as if shaving my beard is unlocking some sort of magical game-winning conduit. It worked against the Stars in the '08 WCF and against the Ducks in the second round this past year.

... I have since learned that it doesn't work twice in one playoff year. :\ DAMN YOU, PITTSBURGH!!!

[taxijim 11]

I'm bad luck so I never wear any Wings apparel on actual game day. Here's a prime & factual example. I purchased the red Helm t-shirt with the #43 on the back this winter. Last Sunday seeing it was Easter & the house was full of company so I thought I would wear it while watching the Wings-Flyers game for the first time. Sure enough, on Helmer's first shift he gets nailed & gets his nose broken with blood everywhere. Everyone thought I was nuts, but I immediatley got up & changed shirts. Not long after Helm is on the ice for Cleary's goal & then scores himself right after that.You see,this really works!!

[Jedi 1,865]

Question: If the Wings lose in the playoff do you guys blame yourselves for not sticking to the playoff superstition? Just wondering.

Absolutely, I blame myself if I didn't follow my own rules.

The last 2 times I broke the tradition were in the '02 Cup run. The first time was in the 2nd round, after Detroit was up 2-0 I'm the series against the Blues. Sure enough, the first game in St. Louis, the Wings get shellacked 6-1. The other time was after we eliminated Colorado. My family was on a cruise, and I foolishly wore my Brett Hull jersey the day after game 7. And the result? Detroit lost game 1 vs. the Canes in OT. Then and there I vowed I would NEVER break the tradition again.

[JerBaz 0]

I can't watch a playoff game without some sort of Red Wing's paraphernalia on my body (hat, tee-shirt, jersey, etc.). I have a hat I have deemed my "playoff lid"...it's a white Red Wings hard hat to which I have attached a plush octopus (pretty lame, I know). The hat must be on my head while the game is in progress; it only comes off during commercials. I'm going to give the playoff beard a go-round this year, even though the term "beard" doesn't really apply to my pathetic stubble of hair, lol.

[Jamaica Jon 1]

In '08 I shaved only after each series. In '09 I took it a step further and kept the beard going for the entire playoffs.

So you can blame me for the Game 7 loss.

Needless to say, I'm going back to only shaving after a series win.

[McAwesome 754]

Playoff beards are a new tradition for me personally, up until last year I could not grow a full beard for employment reasons, but at my current job there is no dress code or grooming standard so I indulged (plus, my job is NHL-related so I didn't have to explain what I was doing). I grew a pretty mean beard last year, but I made the mistake of trimming it the day before the SCF, so this year no trimming. I started this year's playoff beard at the end of the Olympic break, since we were basically playing for our playoff lives, 5 weeks of no shaving has scared my son and made me sweat profusely (it's hot in Florida this time of year) but I'm sticking with it this year.

Also, I only wear my hat on non-game days and wear my jersey for home games. Road games I wear a plain red t-shirt. Been doing that since '98

Don't know if this really counts as a superstition, but last season I had the playoff bracket wallpaper from this board as my wallpaper on my work computer, and I still have not changed it, sort of a reminder to me of what could have been. I'll be changing it once this year's bracket wallpaper comes out.

[pockets 9]

my friend eats only Del Taco on gameday

and last year i would come home for lunch and watch part of the game and everytime i did we lost so no going home on lunch this year

[Guest DatsyukianDeke13]

Always wear something Red Wings related on game day. Shoot pucks outside with my brother approximately one hour before puck drop. Never watch anything pregame related. During intermissions, we go back outside and shoot. I always wear a player t shirt under my jersey. I do not switch player shirts until they lose a game.

In '08 I shaved only after each series. In '09 I took it a step further and kept the beard going for the entire playoffs.

So you can blame me for the Game 7 loss.

Needless to say, I'm going back to only shaving after a series win.

Son of a *****!!! If you somebody sitting outside of your place in a red SUV with a ski mask on....its not me....

[deetroit dario 27]

like everyone else, i grow a playoff beard. first, i must shave my winter-beard. this cannot be done before the last regular season game, and must be done by a barber with a straight razor.

i've been fired for refusing to shave my playoff beard before. this is almost always good luck for the wings (and bad luck for the ex-employer!)...

[mjlegend 155]

I wear one of the Yzerman jersey, a black hooded Wings sweatshirt or a giant red Red Wings sweater, no matter what the outside temperature, during Wings games. And none of them can get washed. I also switch between two lucky mugs - an Alexander Keith's and a Red Wings one - with much the same idea and emphasis.

And no shaving, except for the ol' cleanup between rounds. The 2008 and 2009 versions were much better than the 1997 and 1998 ones.

Question: If the Wings lose in the playoff do you guys blame yourselves for not sticking to the playoff superstition? Just wondering.

Yes. Or, in 2007, my wife when she made me wash the then-lucky black hooded Wings sweatshirt just before we started sucking against the Ducks. They were something like 1-4 when I didn't wear it that year, with the last three coming after the laundry incident. Anyway, that entire playoff loss was my fault for letting her convince me to wash it.

Other times in the last three years, there have been frantic searches ten minutes before games in which I try to remember shirt it was, and then if they lose, I'm convinced I got it wrong.

[wingnut40 176]

Ok, so after reading your guys' superstition, I'll explain my biggest one. I have to medal at the state track meet and here's why. Freshman year(06-07) my track season ended May 22. May 22 was also the Wings last game, eliminated in 6 by Anaheim. Sophomore year(07-08) I made it to the State Final. Wings make the Cup Final. I get a medal. They get the Cup. Junior year(08-09) I make it to state again. Wings make it to Cup Finals again. I don't medal. Wings don't get the Cup. This year will test the theory once and for all.

So, am I crazy or is that just a really, really weird coincidence?

[SuperNovaXll 124]

Mine are pretty stupid.

1. While im watching the game, if I change the channel during a commercial or for whatever reason, not only do I have to switch it back, but then I have to go back to the channel I changed it too, and THEN flip it back for good....to even it out or something? I dont even get it

2. I also have terrible luck. So I NEVER even touch ANYTHING Red Wing related the day of a playoff game.

[Marty Barry 230]

I have a severe sickness. I have dozens, well over a hundred autographed items from pucks to jerseys to pics and litho's. My playoff room always resembles a Red Wings exclusive HHOF. With the center piece being a shrine on the coffee table with all the figurines, SC replica's and SC ring replica's. Nowaday's, my son joins me, he is 4. Before he was born we had the name discussion and I was banned from naming him after a hockey player, but given my Russian heritage I slipped one in there. I was allowed to give my boy a good strong Russian boy's name and named him Alexander Nikolay. A few months after his birth she found out that Igor and Slava's middle names were Alexandrovich and Nikolayovich. Although not very amused, she accepted the fact that I slipped one in on her. (Maybe that was a poor choice of words.) When the girl was born I had no say and she got a corn-fed farmer's daughter name. Anyway,sorry for digressing, guess I could have just said this: I put up a bunch of DRW s*** and watch with my son.

[OldMan333 13]

After the Olympics I went back to the old magic from the Yzerman Stanley Cup years -- black long sleeve underneath a black and red Wings shirt. Every game since we've won if I am wearing that, lost if not, and OT loss with a bad start if I didn't put it on until after the game started. Yup - all my fault.

If we are winning and playing well I've been adding my Wings jersey on top to try to get the magic to rub off since I miss wearing the jersey and I definitely will wear the jersey at the Joe for Game 3 (with the other shirts underneath) - the magic seems to be gaining traction on the jersey. Go Wings!

[cupforwings 138]

In '08 I shaved only after each series. In '09 I took it a step further and kept the beard going for the entire playoffs.

So you can blame me for the Game 7 loss.

Needless to say, I'm going back to only shaving after a series win.

And me.. i kept the beard going from day one... it looked ridiculous and it didn't work so I'm not trying that again... I will be wearing a wings shirt and a the 08 championship hat every game day.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

I can get a full grown beard in a matter of 3-4 days, it's ridiculous how fast I can grow facial hair, but I hate it, every time I grow a goatee infrequently and say I'm going to keep it, I shave if off after a week or a few days because I'm tired of itching and scratching at it.

No predictability on when I might wear my Red Wings jersey during playoffs either, just if I'm in the mood or whatever.

I got nothing. I am dull and lame.

[titanium2 867]

I try not to do anything that I think will upset the Hockey or Karma gods.

[hankzet40 233]

-Wear a different jersey every game (my rotation is now up to five with my Helm making its debut this year)

-Wear button I acquired at game one in '08 on jersey

-Quit shaving

-Lucky '97 champs puck/towel from game one in '08

-Say a prayer the night before every game

I only started most of these in '08 and so far they've seemed to work.

Edited April 8, 2010 by hankzet40

[Guest Crymson]

I've always tended to not eat or drink anything during the playoffs. It has caused some problems the last few years.

[Bring Back The Bruise Bros 1,029]

I've always tended to not eat or drink anything during the playoffs. It has caused some problems the last few years.

Playoff beard.i'm not so sure about Championship clothing from the past.I've had bad luck with that.