Title: One Strip Wonder
General Information about Item:
- Sign superstition
- Language: English
- Country of Origin: Canada
- Informant: NU
- Date Collected: 10/29/21
Informant Data:
- NU is a 21-year-old Dartmouth student in the class of 2024. He was born in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada and raised from age 12 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Nick is a member of the Men’s Varsity Hockey team at Dartmouth. Away from hockey, Nick is an amateur DJ who enjoys playing his music at various functions.
Contextual Data:
- Cultural Context: Hockey players have to un-tape and re-tape their stick after almost every use. Tape on a hockey stick allows for more grip on the puck when passing, shooting, or stickhandling. Some players elect to apply wax onto the tape to prevent the buildup of snow and ice on the blade of their stick over the course of a practice or game.
- Social Context: This specific superstition was mentioned when the interviewee was their pre-game routine. Hockey players tape their sticks in a multitude of different ways, all depending on personal preference. Though the taping of the stick is often different, every hockey player does it after almost every use.
Item:
- Un-taping a hockey stick happens very quickly, but in this case, the tape must come off all in one piece. Hockey sticks are taping in a looping motion, slightly overlapping each strip so that there are no gaps. To be able to take the tape off in one piece means that the tape was worn down in a specific pattern.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript:
- “A sign of good luck in Canada is when your tape comes off all in one. I don’t really know where it started, but we were always told that if your tape comes off all as one piece then you have to stick it to a wall somewhere in the room for good luck. I was told that it means that your stick is ready for a new tape job which means you’re more likely to score a goal, kind of like a snake shedding its skin to get a new layer.”
Informant’s Comments:
- All of the Canadians on my team have heard of this and done this, but the Americans always look at us funny and think it’s dumb.
Collector’s Comments:
- I found this sign superstition to be very interesting. I am also a hockey player, and this was something that I was taught when I was young – maybe ten or twelve years old. I was equally as surprised as Nick when I heard that Americans do not treat it the same way, and always feel a sense of happiness when my tape comes off all in one go.
Collector’s Name:
Jack Cameron
Dartmouth College
Russ013 21F
Prof. Apresyan and Prof. Gronas