‘He’s a hugger’: NHL players talk pre-game hallway rituals

Matthew Knies remembers the elevator doors sliding open.

The Toronto Maple Leafs winger and now-former teammate Mitch Marner made room for a small group of fans as they all headed down to the hotel lobby.

A youngster walked up to Knies and, without uttering a word, latched onto the big forward.

“The dad’s like, ‘Oh, he’s a hugger,'” Knies recalled with a grin. “From that game on, me and Mitch would pretend to hug each other and say, ‘Oh, he’s a hugger.'”

And with that brief interaction, a hallway ritual was born.

NHL players are often creatures of habit and routine. Some have lucky suits. Some have lucky routes they take to the rink. Others have to pull on their equipment a certain way at a specific time.

Those moments, however, are largely for the individual.

Hallway rituals — handshakes, fist bumps, dances — outside locker rooms leading to the ice are also part of the preparation. Those small interactions can either ramp up excitement or cut the tension.

“You just do something one game,” Chicago Blackhawks centre Connor Bedard said. “That guy goes and scores, and it’s like, ‘OK, we’re doing this every single time we go out here.’ Stuff like that … keeps you loose.”

Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson said most of the rituals come from conversations or funny moments.

“A lot of them are born from inside jokes or something dumb that happened in the locker room,” he said. “And I think that’s what makes it special, right? It’s something that no one else really knows, that you get to share with one of the guys in the room that you’re going out on the ice battling for and putting your body on the line for.

“It tightens the group and creates those bonds … I trust you and you trust me.”

The Washington Capitals’ hallway rituals took centre stage last season as captain Alex Ovechkin chased down Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record. The larger-than-life Russian winger’s personality shone through as cameras caught a routine accented by lyrics from the hip-hop song “Bandz a Make Her Dance,” making light of the headband defenceman Jakob Chychrun wore in his flowing locks during warm-ups.

“(Ovechkin) sets the tone,” said Washington centre Pierre-Luc Dubois, who joined the team before last season. “You can’t not laugh. You don’t need to be part of the ritual … we have a handshake. He says his thing in the hallway.

“But obviously the best one is probably with (Chychrun).”

Minnesota Wild forward Matt Boldy said stress can be cut by those little exchanges before stepping out under the NHL spotlight.

“Everyone’s pretty riled up, ready to go, excited,” he said. “Stuff like that keeps it light. To have stuff like that with your teammates, whether it’s a bunch of guys or one guy, it can put a smile on your face, kind of loosen things up and make things a little bit more enjoyable going out there for the first shift.

“It kind of just happens.”

It also doesn’t necessarily happen for all players. Vegas Golden Knights centre Jack Eichel is often rushing to get his gear on, and doesn’t have time for secret hallway handshakes.

“I’m the last guy running out there,” he said. “Trying to put a piece of gum in my mouth, grab my gloves from the trainers. I start getting dressed too close to warm-ups, and I’m usually late.

“I’m not really a ritual guy.”

Tampa Bay Lightning captain Victor Hedman has spent his entire career with the same team, which means he’s had plenty of rituals with plenty of teammates.

“New guys come in and you try to feel each other out and see what works,” said the defenceman. “You try something, you win that game, you probably keep that going. But with the guys I played with a long time, I got the same stuff going from game time until the end of the game.

“It’s just part of the DNA.”

New York Islanders centre Mathew Barzal said it doesn’t take newcomers long to mesh when it comes to hallway antics.

“That stuff happens instantly,” he said. “Handshakes … you just walk up to a guy, you do something, and then boom — it sticks.”

And sometimes, it can be traced back to quick fan exchange in an elevator.

“Never really planned,” Knies said. “Little things like that just make a handshake.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2025.