(If someone scores a "hat trick" in hockey, it means that a player has scored three goals in one game.)

Watching a hockey player charge down the ice and slap the puck past a floundering goalie for his third goal of the game is one of the most exhilarating plays in all of sports. The term used to describe such a feat, "hat trick," has long been linked to hockey, and, after a bit of searching, we discovered its unusual origin.

We first visited the Word Detective, the online version of the popular newspaper column written by Evan Morris. He says the term came from the English game of cricket and cites The Oxford English Dictionary, which explains: "The feat of a bowler who takes three wickets by three successive balls: originally considered to entitle him to be presented by his club with a new hat or some equivalent."

We next checked out an article titled "Puck talk: A guide to hockey lingo" from The Dallas Morning News. In addition to learning that the terms "mucker," "pipe-fitter," "plumber," and "grinder" are interchangeable, we unearthed another interesting tidbit about the term "hat trick."

In the article, John Halligan, an NHL executive who writes a hockey trivia column for the NHL web site, says in the 1940s, a Toronto haberdasher used to give Maple Leaf hockey players free hats when they scored three goals in a game. Halligan also agrees that the term "hat trick" probably evolved from cricket.

So, what happens to all those hats that litter the ice? Well, it seems Dave Kindred, a columnist at The Sporting News, has been asked that question a few times. As we would have guessed, the hats are usually given to charities.
He shoots, he scores, he wins a hat.
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