Why is scoring 3 goals called a hat-trick?
I have heard (unconfirmed rumour) that the scorer (or taker of the three wickets in cricket) was allowed the privilage of passing a hat amongst the spectators and keeping the takings as a reward for his achievements…
Off to confirm…
Gp
Because people toss their hats onto the ice when three goals are scored.
Or did you mean to ask, “Why do people throw their hats onto the ice when three goals are scored?”
Which leads to the next natural question: “Why is three in a row so special?” - three in a ROW was the original hat trick.
Can’t confirm or contradict the comments so far posted about hockey or Canadian usage, but here in England it’s generally assumed to have originated in cricket and refers to the taking of three wickets in three balls (three batsmen out with three consecutive throws by the bowler). It’s also assumed that the bowler would be given a new hat (especially a silk top hat) as a reward. It’s still a rare achievement and happens only a handful of times a season out of hundreds of matches played.
More recently the term has been borrowed by other sports, notably football, but in the earliest usage in that sport three goals by one player in one match didn’t count as a hat-trick unless he scored them consecutively, nobody else scoring in between. Nowadays since goals are harder to come by, any three goals by the same player in a game is called a hat-trick and the player is expected to take the ball home as a souvenir.
We’ve been here before. This thread started out with a different question (“what do they do with the hats?”) but, of course, wandered into “why do they call it a hat trick”?
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=61206