In the past, the term was occasionally used to describe when a playerstruck out three times in a baseball game, and the termgolden sombrero was more commonly used when a player struck out four times in a game.
In recent years, hat trick has been more often used to describe when a player hits threehome runs in a game.
For example, on 29 August 2015,Toronto Blue Jays fans celebratedEdwin Encarnación's third home run of the game by throwing hats onto the field, similar to the tradition in ice hockey.[7]
A hat-trick[8][9] occurs inassociation football when a player scores threegoals (not necessarily consecutive) in a single game,[10] whereas scoring two goals (in a single match) is called abrace.[11][12] In common with other official record-keeping rules, all goals scored during the regulation 90 minutes, plus extra time if required, are counted but goals in apenalty shootout are excluded from the tally.[13] The fastest recorded time to score a hat-trick is 70 seconds, a record set by Alex Torr in aSunday league game in 2013.[14] The previous record of 90 seconds was held byTommy Ross playing forRoss County againstNairn County on 28 November 1964.[15] The record of the youngest player ever to score a hat-trick[16] was set byNtinos Pontikas in 1996,[17][18] whilePelé in 1958 became the youngest to achieve a hat-trick in theFIFA World Cup.[19][20]
After just 18 months and 17 days, the book on the greatest hat-trick of the 21st century was already closed.
Football has also extended the term, with aperfect hat-trick being when a player scores one right-footed goal, one left-footed goal and one headed goal within one match.[29][30][31]
In Germany and Austria, the term(German:lupenreiner) Hattrick (flawless hat-trick) refers to when a player scores three goals in a row in one half without the half-time break or a goal scored by another player interrupting the performance.[32][33]
The term hat-trick is only occasionally used ingridiron football, usually for rhetorical flourish insports writing. Usually an offensive player scoring threetouchdowns in a single game is awarded a hat-trick.
Additionally, the term is applied to a defensive player, often anedge rusher, who in a singlescrimmage play performs asack which causes the quarterback tofumble, and then recovers that fumble.[41]
In both codes ofrugby football (rugby union andrugby league) a hat-trick is when a player scores three or moretries in a game. In rugby union, a related concept is that of a "full house" (scoring a try,conversion,penalty goal, anddrop goal) in a single game. When a player scores two tries, this is often referred to as abrace. As with association football, it is common to award the match ball to a player who scores a hat-trick.
Infield hockey,ice hockey, andbandy, a hat trick occurs when a player scores three goals in a single game. A hat trick in ice hockey, as it is known in its current form, culminates with fans throwing hats onto the ice from the stands. The tradition is said to have begun among fans in theNational Hockey League around the 1950s,[43]with several conflicting legends from the Canadian cities ofToronto,Montreal, andGuelph of various hatmakers offering a free hat to players who scored a hat trick.[44][45][46][47]
In 1946, the Biltmore Hat Company in Guelph sponsored the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters, a junior affiliate team of the NHL's New York Rangers. When a Mad Hatters player recorded a Hat Trick, hats were thrown on the ice and the player received a new Biltmore fedora after the game to honor his accomplishment.[46]
Wayne Gretzky holds the NHL record for the most hat tricks in a career with 50.Harry Hyland scored the league's first hat trick, in the league's first game on 18 December 1917, in which Hyland'sMontreal Wanderers defeated theToronto Arenas 10–9.[48]
In ice hockey, anatural hat trick occurs when a player scores three consecutive goals, uninterrupted by any other player scoring for either team.[49] The NHL record for the fastest natural hat trick is 21 seconds, set byBill Mosienko in 1952 for the Chicago Blackhawks.[50]
AGordie Howe hat trick is atongue-in-cheek play on the feat. It is achieved by scoring a goal, getting an assist, and getting into a fight, all in the same game. NamesakeGordie Howe himself only recorded two in his NHL career.Rick Tocchet accomplished the feat 18 times in his career, the most in NHL history.[51]
In October 1995,Florida Panthers captainScott Mellanby scored arat trick, the term coined by teammateJohn Vanbiesbrouck. Prior to the game, Mellanby killed arat in the Panthers' locker room with hishockey stick, and proceeded to score a pair of goals later that night.[52] When Mellanby scored a hat trick in a later game, some Florida fans threw plastic rats onto the ice, a tradition that continued for all Panthers' goals throughout the1996 playoffs. Due to the resulting game delays caused by the necessary clean-up of the plastic rats, the league eventually banned the activity and modified Rule 63 to impose aminor penalty against the home team for a violation.[53] The more traditional practice of fans throwing hats onto the ice following genuine hat tricks remains exempt from this penalty.[53]
Inlacrosse, like other sports with goal scoring, hat tricks occur when a player scores three goals in one game. Fans rarely throw hats onto the playing surface to acknowledge them due to their frequent occurrences in a game. When a player scores six goals in one game, it is referred to as asock trick[58].
In motor racing, three successive race wins, winning the same event three times in a row, or securingpole position, fastest lap and race victory in one event may all be referred to as a hat-trick.
^Extended Oxford English Dictionary 1999 Edition : "It came into use after HH Stephenson took three wickets in three balls for the all-England eleven against the twenty-two of Hallam at the Hyde Park ground, Sheffield in 1858. A collection was held for Stephenson (as was customary for outstanding feats by professionals) and he was presented with a cap or hat bought with the proceeds."
^"hat-trick".Oxford Learner's Dictionaries. Retrieved27 July 2023.
^A report of a match between Grays and Romford inMessner, Reinhold (23 June 1865).The Chelmsford Chronicle. Executive Excellence Pub.OCLC866859233.OCLC17645885,702688846,42349342.Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved27 March 2017.Mr Biddell...with his second ball bowled the Romford leviathan Mr Beauchamp and afterwards effected the hat-trick by getting three wickets in the over.
^Kicks from the penalty mark (aka penalty shootout) do not form part of the match.IFAB (July 2009)."Laws of the Game 2009/2010"(PDF). Zürich:FIFA. p. 130. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 10 July 2009. Retrieved9 April 2010.
^National Lacrosse League."Box Lacrosse 101". Retrieved25 February 2024.WHAT IS A SOCK TRICK? … A sock trick is when a player scores six goals in a game. The legend goes that the Colorado Mammoth started the sock trick in 2004 when Gary Gait scored six goals in a game and the fans started throwing their socks on the turf.
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