Members of the St. Louis Blues say they are trying to change the culture of celebration in the NHL.
The post-goal scoring celebratory team high five has been customary throughout the hockey world. Members of the squad that do the scoring typically make a loop toward their bench to celebrate with their teammates, but members of the Blues organization say their team is above all of that, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis players will no longer celebrate goals with their teammates on the bench.
“That came from a few gentlemen who used to play here,” winger David Backes said. “They felt like the going through the line thing was a high school, college type of play.”
The change has been most noticeable over the last two games. In wins over Nashville and Winnipeg, the players involved in the goal-scoring have raised their arms and smiled in celebration but, “there has been no skate to the bench for a Conga line of high-fives,” as the Post-Dispatch put it.
“I think this is a unique thing that maybe we can change the trend a little bit — score the goal, congratulate each other and let’s go do it again,” Backes said.
The idea that the post-goal high five is juvenile seems to be widely held within the Blues organization, with players and coach Ken Hitchcock jumping on the bandwagon.
“I think [not going to the bench] shows confidence, shows we’ve been there before. It’s kind of a business-like attitude, center T.J. Oshie said. “When we score a goal, we want to line up and get the next one.”
The Blues are second in the NHL in goals per game with 3.7.
