In Philadelphia, the hats are collected and displayed.
There is a hat trick display in the First Union Center concourse. The hats are piled up in a section of wall which is covered in glass, with separate piles of hats and plaques noting the accomplishments.
Hats that aren’t on display are stored in big garbage bags. The PR folks in Philly count them and pass the word around about “record hat tosses” after so-and-so’s last hat trick.
Many arenas collect them and trash them.
I saw the first hat trick in Columbus Blue Jackets history a couple of weeks ago (by Geoff Sanderson). On the main concourse at Nationwide Arena, there was already a glass-fronted bin for the purpose. It already had a few hats in it, though - either those were seeds, like in the tips cup at the deli, or from exhibition games. Anyway, I’d guess there were about 300 hats thrown, some from the farther seats via relay throws, and the crew had them all off the ice in about 2 minutes.
yabob, Flashy had the first one in history, right there at Lord’s, didn’t he?
I think that’s right. And, as confided by Flashy, mainly through guile and deceiving the officials, though GMF noted in his footnotes that Flashman could possibly have been one of the great bowlers of his era had he not been a soldier.
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What’s this? A lame attempt at a bump?
Oh, I get it, it’s the first period. No hat tricks yet tonight.
Wow…this is the second hockey question I’ve seen this week on this message board. I contacted the United Center, home of the Chicago Blackhawks, and was told they donate the unwanted hats to charity.
They did say some of the players keep them after they score one and at one time Tony Amonte’s car and locker were filled with hats.
I also contacted the Molson Centre, where the Montreal Canadiens play, but I didn’t get a response about what THEY do with the hats…
By the way. A hat trick is 3 goals in a game. A natural hat trick is 3 consecutive goals scored by the same player, though I have also heard it defined as 3 goals in one period.