Welcome to Star Wears, where our Short Shifts squad will highlight each participating NHL team’s unique and creative way to honor their player of the game after each victory, handing them a token of appreciation that usually lasts at least one season, and sometimes takes on a life of its own.
Team: New York Rangers
Item: The Broadway Hat
Origin Story: Legend has it that in 2011, following a preseason game in Gothenburg, Sweden, then-Rangers forward Brad Richards bought the hat – a dark fedora – off a patron of the same restaurant the team was after their victory over the Florida Panthers. The team took the hat all the way back to the United States and started using it as their Player of the Game token. It’s said the team gets a new hat every season, keeping some of the older ones that are in good shape to use as backups in case something happens to the current iteration.
City/Team connection (dubious or otherwise): It’s fitting that the hat goes to a great performance, as the name “Broadway Hat” is an obvious reference to New York City’s famous Broadway, the country’s benchmark for live theater, which attracts both performers and patrons from all around the world.
