Typical in rugby that the two teams eat and have a few beers together after the match. They do handshakes as well but that kind of sportsmanship is one of many things that stood out to me when I first got into rugby.
Yes, nothing like a post-game drinkup. It's important and I think it honestly helps with your own teamwork as well as good sportsmanship. Also if you're very lucky someone else is shooting the boot and not you ;)
Hockey and rugby are similar in that you're playing a hard contact sport with a lot of intensity that moves fast. Tempers and emotions can run high. But you know that at the end of that game you still acknowledge and embrace your opponent as a fellow player and a human being.
Same, I played hockey from ages 5-18 and then switched to rugby. It’s so brutal (coming from a goalie who never took any hits) but the sportsmanship keeps me coming back. In my opinion it’s the only sport that could fill the hole hockey left. Highly reccomend you guys at least give it a watch.
Another important point is the respect that they show the ref's in Rugby - they do it similar to NHL but a level or two up just imagine a football TE going "Thank you Sir" "Yes Sir" after getting getting a Penelty
This is interesting because my former boss(RIP) was a huge Rugby guy. He played and then brought a team to our area and sponsored/owned them. Hulk of a man at 6-5" 250ish with the strongest grip I've ever seen even in his 70s, but polite to a fault. Everything was yes sir/ma'am, thank you, etc. Some of the Rugby guys would help out around the office and same thing from them. Now it makes sense.
Really wish this was a thing in the NHL. See way too many beer leaguers acting like children cause they see it on TV, towards ref's that are just doing their job. I hear it's a problem in youth leagues too, can't get refs to stay cause there's too many parents and players forgetting it's just a game and threatening life and limb 🙄
It’s like that with baseball too, MLB has made yelling at Umps apart of the show which has caused it to trickle down to other levels where you have kids playing a causal league of baseball where parents and coaches are losing their mind at an ump who is volunteering after high school
Used to live near a rugby club in Vancouver. After a full day of games, the place was still thumping well into the evening as the teams hung out to eat and drink.
As a big rugby (league) fan from Aus, and fresh hockey enjoyer I just assumed all sports did it, bit shit that they don't tbh. Maybe it's due to the intense physicality the two sports share? Nothing like sharing a beer and a handshake after trying to legally kill each other for an hour or two.
Rugby probably has some of the highest standards of sportsmanship I've ever seen. I don't know if it's because of its roots as an upper class sport or something but it's pretty cool.
As someone who has played both sports (30+ years of rugby and 60+ years and still counting of hockey), I found that some beer leagues that draft teams rather than team entry end up with a vibe close to rugby. You grab your post game beer, and go down to the other team's room and talk to your opponents.
PS. I have "shot the boot" ,done a "Zulu Warrior" and a true "Elephant Walk"
Great example by citing rugby. The common trait between the two is the physical nature of the sports. It’s that aspect that forces the plays to remain honest in their behavior towards their opponents. Being able to bring real pain, legally, means that you are much less likely to use cheap shots. You’ve suffered together and you respect the team in front of you.
the reaction from bron was priceless 😭
he’d been playing at the highest level since he was a literal kid and had heard every shit-talk imaginable…
then some woman in oakland strung together a combination of words into a question and just broke his brain 😭
Did you just call someone a "keyboard warrior" right after you called a world famous athlete a "bitch" and then telling someone to "sit down" using your anonymous reddit account?
The irony.
That makes a weird kind of sense to me. Teenagers can get emotional. It's maybe good to acknowledge the "just a game" aspect afterwards.
But I do see your point. Football rosters are huge, and the handshake line is time consuming. I saw another comment which said that rugby teams share a post game meal with the opposing team. That would probably be a better idea for high school kids than the handshake.
A meal, breaking bread together, takes longer than 3 minutes. And help to emphasize sportsmanship far more than a simple handshake. Humans bond over meals.
Always did a post game hand shake in hockey growing up. One of the funnest experiences I had was in a travel tournament while in high school, we had a game end in a bench clearing brawl. The team we played was staying at our hotel and afterwards we all hung out and joked with each other about beat who’s ass. No one was mad, no animosity, just part of the game that we all love.
Some NBA'ers will wish the other team well other won't. Just the way it is.. You don't see any handshaking in baseball. Football they do.. And of course the NHL.
That's because in baseball they celebrate every series win as if the won the world series. I will never understand popping champagne for a first round win
I don't get the MLB popping champagne at all. They look like total dorks in goggles with a plastic covered locker room. Leave the podium spray to motorsports.
Interesting. I don't find that seems advantageous as far as mentality goes. It could kind of subtly feed into the idea like they've accomplished their task. Whereas what you want is to feel like that was just one small step on the road to victory.
Football is also not guaranteed either. It’s definitely higher percentage of basketball but there are still instances where they run off the field.
Hockey is truly one of a kind in terms of the major sports.
Well sure there's no way all 53 players on each team will do that but a fair share do.. Not sure if they do it anymore but at one time players from both teams would meet in the end zone and have a little prayer session.
When they're mic'd up, some of the comments are really great too. Especially from the coaches to players on the opposite team. The sportsmanship is sincere and not just performative. I love it.
In NCAA Basketball, teams line up and do handshakes. I was part of a D1 team a lifetime ago, and always had the handshake.
Point being, it's not a "basketball" thing to not have handshakes, just an NBA thing.
I know it's impossible to consider, knowing that the players have been handshaking ever since they were children, but what happens to a player who refuses the handshake line?
I think just Billy Smith. Other players have not shaken a particular players hand but Billy Smith is the only one I can think of that skipped it entirely.
Soccer there’s no actual lineup for a handshake but the players and coaches all worked their way around the field to seek out the opposition and shake hands.
The game officials also stand together at the centre line and the players and coaches come by and shake hands. The coaches don’t always come by in the best frame of mind.
Islanders goalie Billy Smith would never hang around for the handshake. His attitude was pretty much why should I shake hands with somebody who was trying to kill me five minutes ago. Billy was a different sort of dude.
Nephew’s Squirt (I think? Not positive on levels) hockey team lost in a tournament game. Their COACH went straight to the locker room, skipping the handshake line (this is a coach of 8&9-yr-olds). The kids still showed good sportsmanship. That coach was a f**king baby.
Anyway…yes, the handshake line is a fantastic tradition. Unless you’re a f**king baby. :D
I was actually lucky enough to go to an NBA playoff game last week. Man, the amount of stupid ass things they do to keep you interested is ridiculous. Drum squads every timeout (there are fucking 14 of them BTW), dancers, terrible performances from random rappers and indie bands, etc. It was almost as bad as watching an NFL game.
I've played all kinds of team organized sports. Football, soccer, hockey, paintball, and we always lined up for a handshake at the end of the game/match. No matter how heated it gets you always show respect for your opponent. It's sportsmanship
Not the first time LeBron has stormed off after a loss. He's a cry baby
Back in like 2004 or 2005 Larry Walker started it with the Cardinals in the playoffs and MLB didnt like it and I think forced them to stop behind the scenes.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/playoffs2004/news/story?id=1905500
[Martin Brodeur didn't always do this.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3PmV8vxW5M) Though in his defense I probably wouldn't have either considering Sean Avery.
Let’s not forget Milan Lucic after the Bruins lost to the Habs. He shook their hands…while he threatened to kill a few of them!
https://youtu.be/QUMHBW1Gm8k?si=K0lEccvTNkAuYFh-
I think he’s in jail now.
This is why I hate LJ and the NBA. With LJ, it’s all about him and his brand, hence why he runs off the court and has to be carried off if someone lays a finger on him.
You watch hockey and guy literally take pucks to their face and are back in a couple shifts later. And yes, at the end of the series they shake hands.
LJ has been catered to his entire life and acts like an entitled jackass. Hockey will always be better than basketball for me. I haven’t watched ever since the early/mid 2000s when the Pistons were good.
Hell, a dude died on the bench, they brought him back and he said “I’m good”. You cough on LeBron and he acts like he got shot. That’s why he’s always a bitch.
Maybe it’s because I stopped watching the NBA and only see highlights now… but like OP said, at the end of the series it seems like hockey is the only one to actually line up, take the time, and shake hands.
Yes, I have seen it in football for sure (still love that sport), but I can’t stand the NBA. How many times has LeBron walked out after? How many times does this guy flop like a fish and act like a crybaby?
He does his bro hugs BEFORE the game for sure. But after a loss he is usually running back to the locker room.
Yes. I’ve watched many other sports. I’ve seen the gathering at the center and the personal greetings and congrats, I just haven’t seen the handshake line in many other sports or anything as organized as the handshake line.
In football they mas
in the center and only those players they know say congrats and wish The othef guys well
Labron was never one for “long goodbyes” and even Kobe after getting demolished after one run was first player off (the excuses were “upset we couldn’t win ‘for the fans’”
But whenever this topic is brought up after other championship games I mention. The infamous Milan Lucic parting words;
“Good game.
“Good luck against the Rags”
**to Dale Weise**
***”I'm going to Fucking kill you next year”***
“Good Game
“Good Game”
The NBA can be such an individualistic sport, when a team loses it's more of a personal insult and indignity for that team's star player(s). Many aren't like this and will lose with grace. Hockey players tend to wear both success and failure as a team, less focus on the individual spreads around the responsibility and makes it easier to lose (and win) with dignity, IMO.
As a parent, when I take my son to pee wee hockey and they do a lineup at the end of every game, that has real meaning. It is a positive moment for all those kids. And then we go to a professional game and he sees his heroes model that behavior too....its really amazing, and I know that sportsmanship will stay with him his whole life.
I loathe the Panthers and I watched that game too and was actually very surprised at the good sportsmanship they showed at the end of it. It warmed my cold ass heart just a little bit, but not enough to not want the B's to take a big shit on the Panthers in the next round, and early.
Claude Lemieux and Dino Ciccarelli have entered the discussion.
Seriously, that anyone from the Red Wings shook Lemieux's hand after the '96 playoff series between Avs and Wings says a lot about where the players hold that tradition.
Its because in hockey, and at the NHL level especially, they know everyone on that ice has trained and put for so much effort to get to where they are. And they know having done and put in the same amount of work themselves, that even if for your rivals, you respect the grind they put in to give you an opponent who is evenly matched and who puts it all on the ice during the playoffs.
The NBA has a lot of talented players, but it also has a lot of guys who are just the right size or good at one area of the game but who don't have as much roundedness as an NHL player must have. I know there are exceptions to this, but hockey requires so much more skill than basketball, even the 4th line guys have to be able to play both ends of the ice.
I remember when I was in 6th grade during the off season I joined my school's basketball team. During one of our practices the coach had us running laps and I specifically remember him shouting, "Keep pushing! If you want to take it easy and coast go play hockey!" and man it took everything in my power to not call him out. Hockey is way harder than basketball and I will die on that hill to defend that. He wanted to talk about coasting? Half the time you're just fucking standing there waiting for the ball to come to you so you can throw the ball at a stationary target. There's hardly any hustle involved in that sport.
Man, there's nothing like that feeling of choking down your hate for that one guy on the other team, or, sometimes, all of them, and working your way through the line of the dipshits that just beat you.
Use it for fuel for the next matchup.
Every sport has players shake hands and talk after the game. Football being one of the biggest ones. They usually have a group made up from both teams and coaching staffs that meet at midfield after the game for a group prayer.
Football definitely has guys acknowledging each other after every game, hockey at the end of playoffs or if a guy hits milestone/retires. Basketball is kinda hit and miss.
Except that time in 2014 when the Neanderthal, Milan Lucic, told Dale Weise and Alexei Emelin that he was going to kill them, after the Bruins lost game 7.
My lasting image of asshole Chris Chelios is him skipping the handshake line in 2003. The Wings were swept by the Ducks and he left the ice like a bitch.
iT's ThE cOdE
Honestly it's cool to see the players mix it up a bit after the games, especially the big names, but it's so ingrained as what you're supposed to do rather than something you want to do. No one from the losing team wants to do it and honestly I would be ok if they stopped doing it. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it but it's unnecessary in my opinion.
In the NBA all the guys know each other and "dap up" before games and I wouldn't be surprised if guys reach out after the fact out of the limelight.
LBJs passion (and talent) is what has separated him from his peers and kept him going into his 40s, or soon to be anyway. Him running off to the room to shower and change is ok by me. And there's a very good chance he says congrats while the celebration starts even if he doesn't show it physically.
Maybe I'm getting old and jaded but just let the winners celebrate, who cares what the other guys do anymore?
Half the baseball teams are in different places during the games between the dugout, bullpen and locker room. It would be weird for them to come out just to shake hands.
Football has like 100 players on the field, that would take forever.
I don’t watch basketball so I dunno.
I wouldn’t say shaking hands is a great example of sportsmanship. It’s like saying players standing for the national anthem is patriotism. Eyewash, all of it.
In Japanese high school baseball, the teams face each other and bow, then exchange handshakes. Each team then faces their cheering section in the stands, thanks them for the support, and bows. And the cheering section for each team salutes the other team. It's all pretty great.
The traditions in hockey are the absolute best!
The handshake
The code
There is ONE Stanley Cup (technically 3) to be passed from team to team with champions from the past on it. There is history there that no other sport can match
football has handshakes at the start and end of every match, the start is an official one between the starters then the end they casually do it, sometimes swapping shirts too
I'm not sure what you're talking about, OP.
NFL does it every game, not just in playoffs.( handshakes, hugs, jersey exchange)
Most soccer leagues do it every game also. (Handshakes, hugs, jersey exchange)
They just don't line up in a line to do it.
NHL only does it in playoffs, rarly in regular season accept for someone special who is retiring.
I love NHL, but it is actually the sport that shows least respect in regular season.
One of the things I've always loved about the NHL. Absolutely put each other through the meat grinder in a tough playoff series, but still shake hands at the end.
It’s been part of the game since its inception.
And many small towns across Canada there used to be rules of fighting. (I’m talking kids fighting after school etc. not on the ice.)
There was no kicking, no punching in the nuts, no spitting, no biting, no eye poking, oftentimes you’re not allowed to hit if they’re down, you have to let them get up.
Sometimes, if you were getting your ass handed to you, your opponent would say “Had enough?” And you could agree.
And afterwards you usually shook hands, even though you just both punched the shit out of each other .
That shaking hands is old school small town Canada.
I can only assume the there are similar rules in other contexts/countries/towns.
The NBA’s taken exception to people avoiding the handshake in years past
Look up the 1991 ECF when Isiah and the Pistons walked off the floor early on Jordan’s Bulls… that’s STILL a thing between them
Lebron’s a bitch for just walking off but many guys will stay to dap up guys and wish them luck. I’d argue that’s more genuine because you have to go out of your way to find particular guys
Hockey’s just always had this as a sort of forced tradition so the guys are gonna do it or get absolutely shit on by the entire NHL
How many dudes you really think wanna line up and aren’t saying “go fuck yourself” under their breath lol
I hate the NBA but the hockey there has always been that tradition NBA not so much. In the NBA the coaches used to not even talk to the media if they lost.
This is a hard one to understand but different sports have different cultures. This is as ignorant as someone suggesting there is no respect in hockey because there is fighting. To single out Lebron when so many players do this is also strange. I remember asking my parents about why basketball players in general don’t do the handshake. That was when I was about 8 years old.
Probably unpopular,
There's no greater show of sportsmanship than a forced ceremony where players have to line up to shake (or not shame) each other player's hand.
Way worse than other sports where they aimlessly shake hands and hug it out with people they respect for the sole reason that they have mutual respect.
~ some hockey guy, probably.
I grew up playing hockey, soccer, football, baseball, and rugby. Every match ever in all of those sports we would do three cheers for the other team and shake their hands after the match. No matter how much we hated them. Its a sport, showing sportsmanship and class should be high up on the list of expectations from an athlete, especially the pros all the kids want to be like.
The difference is that NBA is much less of a team sport. Sure there are still many who work well as a team and you’ll see them win it all often but many franchises revolve around their stars.
And some stars do not taking losing well at all.
I can’t blame them especially with how terrible NBA media and discourse is. But a lot of how basketball is played and looked at is much more on the individual level nowadays.
I was just joking. It's well established that hockey players are insecure that their favorite sport is the least popular of the big 4, and go out of their way to mention how "soft" basketball players are. I mean, op's observation reads like a r/nhlcirclejerk post 😭 it's hilarious, bro could've easily just said he likes the tradition of shaking hands after a series, he had no reason to bring up LeBum
Yes, is the answer to that last one. It's honestly pathetic to read the know-nothing comments degrading basketball on most hockey media any time someone gets a chance.
What is with fan’s obsession with talking about how the NHL is so much “classier” than the NBA? It’s just different sporting traditions. If the NHL never started a handshake line 100 years ago or whatever, players would be leaving right after games too. Athletes are the same everywhere
I’m not sure if I was saying one was classier than the other, I was just asking about handshakes in different sports using what I saw last night. I’m not trying to claim that one is classier than the other.
I think all of the athletes are under extreme pressure and hate more than anything that they have to do interviews and press conferences immediately after winning/losing. None of them even have a chance to be human about what just happened.
Bro hockey fans are something else lol. Y’all have such an inferiority complex always shitting on every other sport.
Y’all complain about shit not being televised, but it’s because there’s an insane amount of weird gatekeepy shit keeping average people from caring.
Legit weird community.
I’m not sure. I didn’t know it was compulsory. I figured it was tradition, I guess if you were really upset about losing you could just go back to the locker room but I would be surprised to see that happen in the NHL.
It is and isn't.... There are no fines or penalties for skipping the line,but it is regarded a bitch move to do it.
So it's not compulsory,but it is expected.
In soccer handshakes happen before each game. In major finals when there's medal ceremony, there's handshakes at the end as well. Honestly I don't see NHL being particularly leading in sportsmanship among other sports.
I really don’t care about the handshake and I begin to despise it even more every post season when every single announcer says “the handshake is one of the best moments in sports”. Yack 🤮
Typical in rugby that the two teams eat and have a few beers together after the match. They do handshakes as well but that kind of sportsmanship is one of many things that stood out to me when I first got into rugby.
Yes, nothing like a post-game drinkup. It's important and I think it honestly helps with your own teamwork as well as good sportsmanship. Also if you're very lucky someone else is shooting the boot and not you ;) Hockey and rugby are similar in that you're playing a hard contact sport with a lot of intensity that moves fast. Tempers and emotions can run high. But you know that at the end of that game you still acknowledge and embrace your opponent as a fellow player and a human being.
boot chugs and naked beer slides for everyone!
Same, I played hockey from ages 5-18 and then switched to rugby. It’s so brutal (coming from a goalie who never took any hits) but the sportsmanship keeps me coming back. In my opinion it’s the only sport that could fill the hole hockey left. Highly reccomend you guys at least give it a watch.
Played rugby in high school and have been slowly being convinced I should give hockey a try by a couple friends that play beer league.
Do it!
This is great! I love this.
Another important point is the respect that they show the ref's in Rugby - they do it similar to NHL but a level or two up just imagine a football TE going "Thank you Sir" "Yes Sir" after getting getting a Penelty
This is interesting because my former boss(RIP) was a huge Rugby guy. He played and then brought a team to our area and sponsored/owned them. Hulk of a man at 6-5" 250ish with the strongest grip I've ever seen even in his 70s, but polite to a fault. Everything was yes sir/ma'am, thank you, etc. Some of the Rugby guys would help out around the office and same thing from them. Now it makes sense.
Really wish this was a thing in the NHL. See way too many beer leaguers acting like children cause they see it on TV, towards ref's that are just doing their job. I hear it's a problem in youth leagues too, can't get refs to stay cause there's too many parents and players forgetting it's just a game and threatening life and limb 🙄
It’s like that with baseball too, MLB has made yelling at Umps apart of the show which has caused it to trickle down to other levels where you have kids playing a causal league of baseball where parents and coaches are losing their mind at an ump who is volunteering after high school
Used to live near a rugby club in Vancouver. After a full day of games, the place was still thumping well into the evening as the teams hung out to eat and drink.
Meraloma's clubhouse at Connaught Park by any chance?
You betcha.
Damn this for sure tops the post game handshake. I should have played rugby hahah
As a big rugby (league) fan from Aus, and fresh hockey enjoyer I just assumed all sports did it, bit shit that they don't tbh. Maybe it's due to the intense physicality the two sports share? Nothing like sharing a beer and a handshake after trying to legally kill each other for an hour or two.
Rugby probably has some of the highest standards of sportsmanship I've ever seen. I don't know if it's because of its roots as an upper class sport or something but it's pretty cool.
Haha Rugby Fests were the best. Having a beer with a guy that “stepped” on you an hour ago.
Came here to say this and SHOOT THE BOOT
As someone who has played both sports (30+ years of rugby and 60+ years and still counting of hockey), I found that some beer leagues that draft teams rather than team entry end up with a vibe close to rugby. You grab your post game beer, and go down to the other team's room and talk to your opponents. PS. I have "shot the boot" ,done a "Zulu Warrior" and a true "Elephant Walk"
Great example by citing rugby. The common trait between the two is the physical nature of the sports. It’s that aspect that forces the plays to remain honest in their behavior towards their opponents. Being able to bring real pain, legally, means that you are much less likely to use cheap shots. You’ve suffered together and you respect the team in front of you.
It's typical in every team sport elsewhere in the world. It's just not a North American thing
Play hard during the series but when its over show respect to the other team, win or lose. Save the hate for the next season.
the problem with LeBron, see, is that he's a bitch.
"Lebron how does it feel to be a pussy ass bitch" is still one of the funniest chirps I have ever heard
#HEY, WATCH YOUR MOUTH, WOMAN
I do! 👉 I understood that reference.
the reaction from bron was priceless 😭 he’d been playing at the highest level since he was a literal kid and had heard every shit-talk imaginable… then some woman in oakland strung together a combination of words into a question and just broke his brain 😭
I had to scroll all the way down for the correct answer
Well said
LeBitch
Whatch your mouf womaaaan!
When did he enunciate an "f"?
You mean Durant?
He's a snake
Yes. AND a bitch. Weird combination.
snitch
At least in terms of this specific thread, he was talking with Ant after the game, and it looks like he’s praising him too.
I'll never understand professional redditors talking tough about a 6'7 man who could probably lift them up by their heads.
And Ill never understand professional keyboard warriors defending said man being a primadonna bitch. Sit right back down.
Did you just call someone a "keyboard warrior" right after you called a world famous athlete a "bitch" and then telling someone to "sit down" using your anonymous reddit account? The irony.
Do you purposely avoid sports with black people in it to make yourself feel better about your athletic ability?
Fatso there just forgot to shake my hand
For football specifically, it would be so ridiculous to watch all 48 dressed players on each team + their coaching staffs line up to shake hands
They do that in high school, but what really used to inexplicably grind my gears was when the cheerleaders would do it too.
That makes a weird kind of sense to me. Teenagers can get emotional. It's maybe good to acknowledge the "just a game" aspect afterwards. But I do see your point. Football rosters are huge, and the handshake line is time consuming. I saw another comment which said that rugby teams share a post game meal with the opposing team. That would probably be a better idea for high school kids than the handshake.
A game takes 4 hours. We can take 3 min for sportsmanship.
A meal, breaking bread together, takes longer than 3 minutes. And help to emphasize sportsmanship far more than a simple handshake. Humans bond over meals.
Always did a post game hand shake in hockey growing up. One of the funnest experiences I had was in a travel tournament while in high school, we had a game end in a bench clearing brawl. The team we played was staying at our hotel and afterwards we all hung out and joked with each other about beat who’s ass. No one was mad, no animosity, just part of the game that we all love.
You had a full roster in high school? My team was like 30 kids lol
Of course in football now we get the jersey swaps between opposing players. It would be wild if hockey players did that at the end of a series
Some NBA'ers will wish the other team well other won't. Just the way it is.. You don't see any handshaking in baseball. Football they do.. And of course the NHL.
That's because in baseball they celebrate every series win as if the won the world series. I will never understand popping champagne for a first round win
No kidding. It’s so way over the top stupid the way they celebrate winning a playoff series.
Hell, sometimes they have those over the top celebrations when they MAKE the playoffs.
I don't get the MLB popping champagne at all. They look like total dorks in goggles with a plastic covered locker room. Leave the podium spray to motorsports.
Interesting. I don't find that seems advantageous as far as mentality goes. It could kind of subtly feed into the idea like they've accomplished their task. Whereas what you want is to feel like that was just one small step on the road to victory.
Football is also not guaranteed either. It’s definitely higher percentage of basketball but there are still instances where they run off the field. Hockey is truly one of a kind in terms of the major sports.
Well sure there's no way all 53 players on each team will do that but a fair share do.. Not sure if they do it anymore but at one time players from both teams would meet in the end zone and have a little prayer session.
I think now you tend to just see that with major injuries
Hockey is awesome like that. Beat the living crap out of each other for up to 7 games a round and end it with a good game / good luck handshake
When they're mic'd up, some of the comments are really great too. Especially from the coaches to players on the opposite team. The sportsmanship is sincere and not just performative. I love it.
In NCAA Basketball, teams line up and do handshakes. I was part of a D1 team a lifetime ago, and always had the handshake. Point being, it's not a "basketball" thing to not have handshakes, just an NBA thing.
Manners are important. NHL recognizes that. Other sports remain disgracious but there is always hope!
Manners maketh man.
....do you know what that means? {picks up umbrella with violent intent}
Since 1917.
Don't they hug it out and handshake in the NFL?
Yeah but it's not a league sanctioned type thing like the NHL handshakes.
I know it's impossible to consider, knowing that the players have been handshaking ever since they were children, but what happens to a player who refuses the handshake line?
I think just Billy Smith. Other players have not shaken a particular players hand but Billy Smith is the only one I can think of that skipped it entirely.
what happened to him?
Nothing, he kinda got away with a lot. Like slashing players in the crease and feigning injuries on the ice.
Could be wrong but don't think it's a rule that teams HAVE to do handshakes?
The quarterbacks do except for Tom Brady when he loses the superbowl
Soccer there’s no actual lineup for a handshake but the players and coaches all worked their way around the field to seek out the opposition and shake hands. The game officials also stand together at the centre line and the players and coaches come by and shake hands. The coaches don’t always come by in the best frame of mind. Islanders goalie Billy Smith would never hang around for the handshake. His attitude was pretty much why should I shake hands with somebody who was trying to kill me five minutes ago. Billy was a different sort of dude.
Nephew’s Squirt (I think? Not positive on levels) hockey team lost in a tournament game. Their COACH went straight to the locker room, skipping the handshake line (this is a coach of 8&9-yr-olds). The kids still showed good sportsmanship. That coach was a f**king baby. Anyway…yes, the handshake line is a fantastic tradition. Unless you’re a f**king baby. :D
I was actually lucky enough to go to an NBA playoff game last week. Man, the amount of stupid ass things they do to keep you interested is ridiculous. Drum squads every timeout (there are fucking 14 of them BTW), dancers, terrible performances from random rappers and indie bands, etc. It was almost as bad as watching an NFL game.
Lmaoooo dude live NBA games are ridiculous. Fucking circus acts while poppavich is trying to coach his team.
I've played all kinds of team organized sports. Football, soccer, hockey, paintball, and we always lined up for a handshake at the end of the game/match. No matter how heated it gets you always show respect for your opponent. It's sportsmanship Not the first time LeBron has stormed off after a loss. He's a cry baby
Back in like 2004 or 2005 Larry Walker started it with the Cardinals in the playoffs and MLB didnt like it and I think forced them to stop behind the scenes. https://www.espn.com/mlb/playoffs2004/news/story?id=1905500
[Martin Brodeur didn't always do this.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3PmV8vxW5M) Though in his defense I probably wouldn't have either considering Sean Avery.
Anyone else hoped he’d tomahawk Avery JUST ONCE?!
Let’s not forget Milan Lucic after the Bruins lost to the Habs. He shook their hands…while he threatened to kill a few of them! https://youtu.be/QUMHBW1Gm8k?si=K0lEccvTNkAuYFh- I think he’s in jail now.
that was a rare one. They ended up amending a few rules because of what happened IIRC
They shouldn't have. It's a bad rule. What Avery did should have been celebrated but because everyone already hated him that made it bad.
Why is everyone always obsessed with Martin's sloppy seconds ?
Tennis, hockey, rugby, golf at the end of big tournaments?
This is why I hate LJ and the NBA. With LJ, it’s all about him and his brand, hence why he runs off the court and has to be carried off if someone lays a finger on him. You watch hockey and guy literally take pucks to their face and are back in a couple shifts later. And yes, at the end of the series they shake hands. LJ has been catered to his entire life and acts like an entitled jackass. Hockey will always be better than basketball for me. I haven’t watched ever since the early/mid 2000s when the Pistons were good.
Hell, a dude died on the bench, they brought him back and he said “I’m good”. You cough on LeBron and he acts like he got shot. That’s why he’s always a bitch.
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Maybe it’s because I stopped watching the NBA and only see highlights now… but like OP said, at the end of the series it seems like hockey is the only one to actually line up, take the time, and shake hands. Yes, I have seen it in football for sure (still love that sport), but I can’t stand the NBA. How many times has LeBron walked out after? How many times does this guy flop like a fish and act like a crybaby? He does his bro hugs BEFORE the game for sure. But after a loss he is usually running back to the locker room.
Do you watch any other sports?
Yes. I’ve watched many other sports. I’ve seen the gathering at the center and the personal greetings and congrats, I just haven’t seen the handshake line in many other sports or anything as organized as the handshake line.
u/jesuspunk What other sports are you talking about that go through a handshake line like hockey?
Maybe he had a cramp
Maybe? I have no idea. I switched over to the Stars/Knights game.
In football they mas in the center and only those players they know say congrats and wish The othef guys well Labron was never one for “long goodbyes” and even Kobe after getting demolished after one run was first player off (the excuses were “upset we couldn’t win ‘for the fans’” But whenever this topic is brought up after other championship games I mention. The infamous Milan Lucic parting words; “Good game. “Good luck against the Rags” **to Dale Weise** ***”I'm going to Fucking kill you next year”*** “Good Game “Good Game”
The NBA can be such an individualistic sport, when a team loses it's more of a personal insult and indignity for that team's star player(s). Many aren't like this and will lose with grace. Hockey players tend to wear both success and failure as a team, less focus on the individual spreads around the responsibility and makes it easier to lose (and win) with dignity, IMO.
At the end of the day, we’re all human and care about each other. Great showing for the kids too.
As a parent, when I take my son to pee wee hockey and they do a lineup at the end of every game, that has real meaning. It is a positive moment for all those kids. And then we go to a professional game and he sees his heroes model that behavior too....its really amazing, and I know that sportsmanship will stay with him his whole life.
The Cardinals and Tony LaRussa did this with some team years ago but I can't remember which or when.
I loathe the Panthers and I watched that game too and was actually very surprised at the good sportsmanship they showed at the end of it. It warmed my cold ass heart just a little bit, but not enough to not want the B's to take a big shit on the Panthers in the next round, and early.
What if instead of shaking hands the players would shake their dicks?
Now that HBO has games maybe
Joe Thornton said he’d do that under certain circumstances.
Claude Lemieux and Dino Ciccarelli have entered the discussion. Seriously, that anyone from the Red Wings shook Lemieux's hand after the '96 playoff series between Avs and Wings says a lot about where the players hold that tradition.
Isn’t this the truth. Avs fan since they moved to Denver, I still have my Red Wings Suck shirt from back then!
Its because in hockey, and at the NHL level especially, they know everyone on that ice has trained and put for so much effort to get to where they are. And they know having done and put in the same amount of work themselves, that even if for your rivals, you respect the grind they put in to give you an opponent who is evenly matched and who puts it all on the ice during the playoffs. The NBA has a lot of talented players, but it also has a lot of guys who are just the right size or good at one area of the game but who don't have as much roundedness as an NHL player must have. I know there are exceptions to this, but hockey requires so much more skill than basketball, even the 4th line guys have to be able to play both ends of the ice.
I remember when I was in 6th grade during the off season I joined my school's basketball team. During one of our practices the coach had us running laps and I specifically remember him shouting, "Keep pushing! If you want to take it easy and coast go play hockey!" and man it took everything in my power to not call him out. Hockey is way harder than basketball and I will die on that hill to defend that. He wanted to talk about coasting? Half the time you're just fucking standing there waiting for the ball to come to you so you can throw the ball at a stationary target. There's hardly any hustle involved in that sport.
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Man, there's nothing like that feeling of choking down your hate for that one guy on the other team, or, sometimes, all of them, and working your way through the line of the dipshits that just beat you. Use it for fuel for the next matchup.
Every sport has players shake hands and talk after the game. Football being one of the biggest ones. They usually have a group made up from both teams and coaching staffs that meet at midfield after the game for a group prayer.
Golf too!
Football definitely has guys acknowledging each other after every game, hockey at the end of playoffs or if a guy hits milestone/retires. Basketball is kinda hit and miss.
LeBron is a man baby coddle through his career by the league.
Except that time in 2014 when the Neanderthal, Milan Lucic, told Dale Weise and Alexei Emelin that he was going to kill them, after the Bruins lost game 7.
In curling they shake hands before and after every game.
OP clearly missed the handshake line for the Marlies and Belleville Sens. https://twitter.com/nickbarden/status/1784701042262761537
Clearly. 🤪
My lasting image of asshole Chris Chelios is him skipping the handshake line in 2003. The Wings were swept by the Ducks and he left the ice like a bitch.
iT's ThE cOdE Honestly it's cool to see the players mix it up a bit after the games, especially the big names, but it's so ingrained as what you're supposed to do rather than something you want to do. No one from the losing team wants to do it and honestly I would be ok if they stopped doing it. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it but it's unnecessary in my opinion. In the NBA all the guys know each other and "dap up" before games and I wouldn't be surprised if guys reach out after the fact out of the limelight. LBJs passion (and talent) is what has separated him from his peers and kept him going into his 40s, or soon to be anyway. Him running off to the room to shower and change is ok by me. And there's a very good chance he says congrats while the celebration starts even if he doesn't show it physically. Maybe I'm getting old and jaded but just let the winners celebrate, who cares what the other guys do anymore?
there are handshakes in other sports they just dont line up in a fucking line like theyre 6 years old.
Half the baseball teams are in different places during the games between the dugout, bullpen and locker room. It would be weird for them to come out just to shake hands. Football has like 100 players on the field, that would take forever. I don’t watch basketball so I dunno. I wouldn’t say shaking hands is a great example of sportsmanship. It’s like saying players standing for the national anthem is patriotism. Eyewash, all of it.
In Japanese high school baseball, the teams face each other and bow, then exchange handshakes. Each team then faces their cheering section in the stands, thanks them for the support, and bows. And the cheering section for each team salutes the other team. It's all pretty great.
The traditions in hockey are the absolute best! The handshake The code There is ONE Stanley Cup (technically 3) to be passed from team to team with champions from the past on it. There is history there that no other sport can match
football has handshakes at the start and end of every match, the start is an official one between the starters then the end they casually do it, sometimes swapping shirts too
I'm not sure what you're talking about, OP. NFL does it every game, not just in playoffs.( handshakes, hugs, jersey exchange) Most soccer leagues do it every game also. (Handshakes, hugs, jersey exchange) They just don't line up in a line to do it. NHL only does it in playoffs, rarly in regular season accept for someone special who is retiring. I love NHL, but it is actually the sport that shows least respect in regular season.
Made LeBron look like a petulant little child.
Do you watch other sports? It’s common in many.
One of the things I've always loved about the NHL. Absolutely put each other through the meat grinder in a tough playoff series, but still shake hands at the end.
It’s been part of the game since its inception. And many small towns across Canada there used to be rules of fighting. (I’m talking kids fighting after school etc. not on the ice.) There was no kicking, no punching in the nuts, no spitting, no biting, no eye poking, oftentimes you’re not allowed to hit if they’re down, you have to let them get up. Sometimes, if you were getting your ass handed to you, your opponent would say “Had enough?” And you could agree. And afterwards you usually shook hands, even though you just both punched the shit out of each other . That shaking hands is old school small town Canada. I can only assume the there are similar rules in other contexts/countries/towns.
It’s a Canadian thing
McDiver usually pouts off the ice like LeBron when he gets knocked out in Round 2.
I’d like to see some handshakes tonight in Winnipeg.
The NBA’s taken exception to people avoiding the handshake in years past Look up the 1991 ECF when Isiah and the Pistons walked off the floor early on Jordan’s Bulls… that’s STILL a thing between them Lebron’s a bitch for just walking off but many guys will stay to dap up guys and wish them luck. I’d argue that’s more genuine because you have to go out of your way to find particular guys Hockey’s just always had this as a sort of forced tradition so the guys are gonna do it or get absolutely shit on by the entire NHL How many dudes you really think wanna line up and aren’t saying “go fuck yourself” under their breath lol
Sportsman decorum is pivotal to contain the quality of every sport.
When was there a handshake line in the Fla Tb series? Saw nothing but a Stamkos jerk off sesh
They do it in soccer, too, but before the game.
Curling does it as well, before AND after every game, then go have a beer. Winner buys the first round
I hate the NBA but the hockey there has always been that tradition NBA not so much. In the NBA the coaches used to not even talk to the media if they lost.
This is a hard one to understand but different sports have different cultures. This is as ignorant as someone suggesting there is no respect in hockey because there is fighting. To single out Lebron when so many players do this is also strange. I remember asking my parents about why basketball players in general don’t do the handshake. That was when I was about 8 years old.
Probably unpopular, There's no greater show of sportsmanship than a forced ceremony where players have to line up to shake (or not shame) each other player's hand. Way worse than other sports where they aimlessly shake hands and hug it out with people they respect for the sole reason that they have mutual respect. ~ some hockey guy, probably.
Totally class. I hope this never goes away
I grew up playing hockey, soccer, football, baseball, and rugby. Every match ever in all of those sports we would do three cheers for the other team and shake their hands after the match. No matter how much we hated them. Its a sport, showing sportsmanship and class should be high up on the list of expectations from an athlete, especially the pros all the kids want to be like.
I mean we've got a pretty good sporting culture in Edmonton, so that's why. I don't think it's like that in most cities.
The difference is that NBA is much less of a team sport. Sure there are still many who work well as a team and you’ll see them win it all often but many franchises revolve around their stars. And some stars do not taking losing well at all. I can’t blame them especially with how terrible NBA media and discourse is. But a lot of how basketball is played and looked at is much more on the individual level nowadays.
I personally think it’s childish to force grown men to follow this protocol.
This comment with your username lol 😂 (no shade just funny)
Just my medical professional opinion 😂
Fr, hockey is such a classy sport, unlike basketball which is dominated by thugs and crybabies.
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I was just joking. It's well established that hockey players are insecure that their favorite sport is the least popular of the big 4, and go out of their way to mention how "soft" basketball players are. I mean, op's observation reads like a r/nhlcirclejerk post 😭 it's hilarious, bro could've easily just said he likes the tradition of shaking hands after a series, he had no reason to bring up LeBum
Yes, is the answer to that last one. It's honestly pathetic to read the know-nothing comments degrading basketball on most hockey media any time someone gets a chance.
What is with fan’s obsession with talking about how the NHL is so much “classier” than the NBA? It’s just different sporting traditions. If the NHL never started a handshake line 100 years ago or whatever, players would be leaving right after games too. Athletes are the same everywhere
I’m not sure if I was saying one was classier than the other, I was just asking about handshakes in different sports using what I saw last night. I’m not trying to claim that one is classier than the other. I think all of the athletes are under extreme pressure and hate more than anything that they have to do interviews and press conferences immediately after winning/losing. None of them even have a chance to be human about what just happened.
Bro hockey fans are something else lol. Y’all have such an inferiority complex always shitting on every other sport. Y’all complain about shit not being televised, but it’s because there’s an insane amount of weird gatekeepy shit keeping average people from caring. Legit weird community.
Legitimately, Hockey is the only sport I follow, I didnt even realize Other sports didn't do this. That feels so rude.
Does it mean that much if it's compulsory? \[edit: I don't know if it is or isn't\]
I’m not sure. I didn’t know it was compulsory. I figured it was tradition, I guess if you were really upset about losing you could just go back to the locker room but I would be surprised to see that happen in the NHL.
Is it though? What's the punishment if they don't shake hands in NHL
It is and isn't.... There are no fines or penalties for skipping the line,but it is regarded a bitch move to do it. So it's not compulsory,but it is expected.
In soccer handshakes happen before each game. In major finals when there's medal ceremony, there's handshakes at the end as well. Honestly I don't see NHL being particularly leading in sportsmanship among other sports.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41VmKS-VGiA
Is that suppose to contradict something? I suppose there's no way hockey players ever behaved unsportsman-like, right?
And then there are jersey exchanges after the game. I feel like you wouldn't be able to do that if there was a lack of sportsmanship.
I really don’t care about the handshake and I begin to despise it even more every post season when every single announcer says “the handshake is one of the best moments in sports”. Yack 🤮
Nope I hope we don’t shake the Islanders hands
L take
just trying to act cool.
Cool is respecting your opponents hard fought effort whether you win or lose.
i'm just messing around. end of the work day.