Striking Gold

February 28, 2010

Today was the last day of the Olympics and the Men’s Gold Medal Ice Hockey Game. Our Canadian boys did us proud and beat the US 3 to 2. The game took a disappointing turn with only 24 seconds left on the clock, when the United States scored their second goal, tying the game. But the Canadian fans were not disenchanted, as our young phenom, Sidney Crosby, won the game for us in overtime. What proceeded was pure magic; Canadians everywhere rejoiced in the streets and in pubs, singing and dancing and hugging their neighbours. Evidently, I got very carried away with the celebrations and ended up meeting up with someone that I haven’t seen in a long time, only to later regret my actions – no, it wasn’t my ex, but for inquiring minds, his name rhymes with today's question. But enough about that; back to the brilliant hockey game, although Crosby did not score all three goals, I started to wonder about the game terminology. So, today’s question is: where does the term ‘hat trick’ come from?

A:
The first use of this phrase was in cricket for the feat of a bowler who took three wickets with three successive balls, for which he would be presented with a new hat by the cricket club. Hat trick later came to be used for threefold feat in other sports such as horse racing, soccer, baseball, and hockey.

Sources:
http://dictionary.reference.com/help/faq/language/
http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/sayingsh.htm
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/2539