Hockey Etiquette?

[back_intheussr]

Tonight I was watching the play off games with my friends who are on the hockey team at my school and I said something about a shutout for the preds and they all went crazy, saying things like "ohhh you cant say that, thats bad hockey etiquette" and blah blah blah. Now I've been a big hockey fan for years now and i don't understand why they got so upset. Can anyone explain?

[avsgirl4ever]

Eh, I guess maybe they thought you might jinx them or something, I dunno. Don't worry about it though, no big deal, imho.

[Wings Fan!]

Maybe your friends are idiots...Or Wings fans, which sadly can go hand in hand at times.

[Kimmy]

OK. It is considered bad etiquette to say the word shutout during any hockey game. Whether you are playing in or or watching it. It is an age old tradition. That is one word you don't speak in the rink. I don't know where it started but I have seen it jinx in person.

[Ganymeade27]

You can't say shutout until the game is over, its bad luck.

[wdx2bb]

It's kind of a hockey tradition not to mention it during the game. It's like a team is not supposed to say anything about a no-hitter until the final out is recorded.

One time at an NHL game, the press box PA announcer said before the end of the game that IF the home team goalie gets a shutout, it would be his fourth of the season and eighth of his career. Well, the visiting team's goalie coach went nuts, saying it was horrible. So grown men, who should know better, even think that way.

[?avsgirl?]

It could jinx your team. The game is not over till its over.

[2eighty8 V2.0]

It's more like a jinx than etiquette. Bet you that once it was said, the Wings scored their first goal.