Odd bounces: The Thrashers’ pre-game routines

Every once in a while, we’ll come across stories that are just too strange to pass up. Sometimes we’ll get a tip from an e-mail; sometimes will stumble across something bizarre on a hockey site. Either way, this might not be the most “pertinent” information but it certainly will be strange, funny or a bit “off.”

Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talked to some of the Atlanta Thrashers about their ‘odd’ rituals before games. Here’s a few:

Johan Hedberg warms up before games the exact same way each time, with Slava Koslov taking shots at his glove and then his blocker side.

Quote: “I’ve tried to take away every superstition I’ve had. There are times when some things start creeping in on me again, but I stop doing them. I don’t want to have stupid habits.”

Kozlov laces his right skate first before each practice. Before a game, he laces his left skate first.

Quote: “Sometimes I don’t even pay attention, and that’s how I do it. It comes from the memory.”

He has some others, from Chris Thorburn, Maxim Afinogenov and John Anderson. They’re all pretty vanilla “this is how I warm up each night” type stuff. It’s always interesting to read about the players’ routines, but I’d like to hear about some of the more...juicy stuff.

Actually, after I think about it I’d rather not hear about anyone’s tradition when it comes to their jock strap or their skate lining.