Watch above: Global’s Lisa MacGregor talks superstitions with Flames alumni and checks in with a psychic on the team’s playoff potential.
CALGARY – Superstitions, traditions and pre-game rituals are commonplace in any sport, especially when a team is on a hot streak like the Calgary Flames. With playoffs just around the corner, facial hair is sticking around and some jerseys won’t see a washer for days, but have you ever wondered what else the players do that goes unnoticed?
Former Flame Jim Peplinski remembers his favourite quirk from the 1988-89 Stanley Cup championship team.
Another Flames alumni and current assistant general manager of the team, Craig Conroy, on the other hand, ditched his superstitions by the time the team made the 2003-2004 playoffs because he’d never won.
“I had tons of superstitions, and I was like: ‘Okay let’s just try not having them.’ I wouldn’t grow a beard that year or anything. I just quit everything. I wouldn’t shave to start, I’d go the round and then shave, and I said: ‘I’ll just do that.’ But most of the guys were mad,” Conroy laughed.
“If I had a good game and I stopped and got a coffee, I’m definitely stopping to get a coffee the next time. I tried the colouring the hair and all that stuff, and when you look back it probably doesn’t mean a thing, but in your mind if you think it helps, you’re going to do it.”
The former Flames centre dished about teammate and goaltender, Jaimie McLennan, saying McLennan was one he’d remember as being a little over the top.
“You couldn’t touch his equipment. It was neatly stacked–well he kind of had it all laid out–and he would just rock. He’d make me nervous. No one could touch him, no one could talk to him, but that’s totally not his personality. But when he was playing, when he was getting ready, it was over the top,” Conroy said.
While some people turn to proven habits, others look for a more predictable approach.
Local psychic Bonnie Milner has been getting some strong energy coming from the city lately and says it very well could be related to everyone rallying around the team.
“I’m getting it’s a more cohesive team, I get that people are getting along better, working together better. I also get that something’s changed recently, something’s changed the mindset of people that are organizing the team…The first thing that came to my mind was that I didn’t see 100 per cent them winning, but I saw a strong playoff season,” Milner said.
Milner pulled three tarot cards to read the Flames playoff chances.
“All three cards are positive,” she said. ‘If I was reading this for a person, I would say that they were nesting and that sort of thing, so I would say this is being loyal to their city and being rooted in Calgary. The green man can be about financial, but in this case I would say it’s a winning card. It’s about them moving forward and having a good winning streak. It’s also a very strong male card which makes sense,” Milner said.
When asked to pull one card to predict if the Flames would make it into the playoffs, Milner pulled the worst card in the deck.
“It can have a good meaning. It’s literally tearing down and rebuilding. That can mean where the team is in general now, they’ve kind of torn down and rebuilt. Or it can mean, unfortunately, that things are not going to work out in their favour, but it will be a renewing experience.”
She pulled another card to help clarify: “A positive – that’s holding up your own universe and being strong. I would say this means that they are going to win and they’ll have a positive outcome.”
Milner also added she saw nothing negative in the team’s outlook.
The Calgary Flames are currently sitting third in the Pacific Division after Monday night’s 5-3 win over Dallas, and look to solidify their playoff hopes with only five games left in the regular season.
With a report from Lisa MacGregor
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