NHL Handshake Tradition - A Benchmark of Sportsmanship

There are moments when we are called to rise above our selfish individual self and pay respects to something bigger than ourselves ... to a team level, to an organization level, to a community level, even to a humanity level.

There are such times when we lay down our spear and recognize and embrace the bigger picture of which we are a part. In the sports world, it happens during a national anthem. It happens at times after a football game when some players from both teams take a knee and pray together. And in one of the oldest traditions: the NHL handshake.

This latter ceremony takes place after each hockey playoff series once one team has secured the the final win. Both teams line up on the ice and shake hands with every other player on the other team. After the May 14 Boston Bruin / Montreal Canadian final 7th game, sore loser Bruin Milan Lucic chose to bitch it out with a couple Canadians during the supposed-to-be class act of the handshake.

Today, a commentator panned the tradition, saying it was "the worst" because it forced players to pretend emotions when they were actually upset and frustrated. The commentator even questioned ending the "worst" tradition.

I say we keep it, for a very good reason. As a benchmark for sportsmanship. And a call out for it.

The way you handle such situations as the post-series handshake reflects about your level of sportsmanship and how you hold the sport higher than yourself and even your team. Or not.

Just because some select egotistical players can not rise to this noble level doesn't mean we have to discard something that outs them as self-absorbed asses. Let's not placate the immature. Let's not cater to their level, but continue one of the few traditions that points to that higher place and separates the boys from the men.

Jim Ellis is a King fan anyway, and can be found at LegacyProductions.org.