Ryan Hartman’s first career hat trick got me thinking about Blackhawks hat tricks last night. In over 90 years, the Chicago Blackhawks have had many hat tricks and you certainly cannot remember all of them. Some are historical, some are memorable and some are just fun to think about. Like these.
The First Hat Trick
It all started with a Blackhawks player, seriously. There are a few different accounts but this is the story that the Hockey Hall of Fame recognizes as the origin of the term, hat trick.
During the 1945-1946 season, Blackhawks forward Alex Kaleta entered a Toronto shop to buy a new hat but didn’t have enough money. The store owner, Sammy Taft, reached an agreement with Kaleta that if he scored 3 goals he would give him a free hat. On January 26, 1946 he scored four goals against the Toronto Maple Leafs and the term “hat trick” was born.
