John Tavares displays heartwarming ritual during Saturday's 7-0 win over Pittsburgh
Photo credit: NHL
Anyone who follows hockey with any sort of regularity knows that hockey players are creatures of habit. One example of this is Sidney Crosby famously stickhandling around the golden arches of the McDonalds logo in his home rink during every single pre-game warmup as a part of his ritual. Another example is Mitch Marner pretending to be "off", with William Nylander skating by and hitting Marner's "on" switch before games. Now, another Leaf was caught on camera displaying his own little ritual.
John Tavares is often referred to as a pretty robotic character. His calm, stoic presence is something he has maintained throughout his career, but now, as a family man, Tavares has found a fun way to motivate himself during games.
Tavares places 3 strips of tape just below the handle of his stick, with his kids' names and birth dates written on them. On Saturday, with the Leafs already up 5-0 over the Penguins, Tavares was spotted tapping his finger and thumb on each of the 3 strips of tape as motivation to play hard for his kids.
As a family man myself, that's a pretty cool quirk to me. We often see players, during the pre-game warmups, skating to where their families are along the glass and giving their kids a fist bump along the wall. This little ritual by Tavares during the game, however, is pretty unique.
Previously on MapleLeafsDaily
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 17 | 950 ANSWERS John Tavares displays heartwarming ritual during Saturday's 7-0 win over Pittsburgh If the Leafs re-sign John Tavares after his current deal expires, should he keep the C or pass it off? | ||
| Pass it off to Rielly | 156 | 16.4 % |
| Pass it off to Matthews | 430 | 45.3 % |
| Keep it | 364 | 38.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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