Show Your Colors! A Rainbow of NHL Playoff Tradition

Imagine being a player on an NHL team where your team has home ice advantage. On the night of a big game, you look into the stands and see a majority of the sold out crowd cheering your team on while wearing one color.

Then, imagine being a member of the opposing team. There is so much of one color in the stands that you feel intimidated or distracted. Can your team still pull off a win in a visiting building while feeling almost blinded by the same color?

For about twenty years, hockey fans have showed their spirit and support by wearing one color to playoff games. These kinds of traditions have encouraged fan involvement and encouraged the players. However, fans can get touchy about their traditions being used by other sports teams. As the old saying goes, often imitated, but never duplicated.

Here is a look at some of the traditions that have been started, revived, and imitated over the years.

The White Out

The White Out was started in 1985 by fans of the Winnipeg Jets. The campaign began as a response to the Calgary Flames "Sea/C of Red" creation. The Jets were about to engage in a playoff series with the Flames, who was their most hated rival. On the first game of the Smythe Division Semi-Final series, white hats with the slogan "Hose the Flames" were selling like wildfire even as fans were already primarily decked out in white.

During the White Out, the Jets were able to capture two victories over Calgary. Unfortunately, the tradition soon became known as the White Curse due to the Jets' lack of playoff success. The White Out has been copied in other sports cities, including in Phoenix, Arizona; where the Jets relocated and became the Phoenix Coyotes. Even with the annoyance of the Coyotes picking up the tradition, the White Out stayed alive until 2002 with the Manitoba Fighting Moose in town.

The Sea/C of Red

The Sea/C of Red first began in 1986. Much like the Jets started a White Out to upstage the Calgary fans wearing red, the Flames began this tradition in response to an Edmonton Oilers playoff campaign. Oilers fans were catching "Hat Trick Fever" in their quest for a third Stanley Cup championship. In response, the Flames fans donned red for their home games.

The tradition died down for awhile, but came back in 2004 when the Flames debuted a new red jersey for the club's home jersey. That year, fans who did not have a red jersey wore red shirts to the playoff games and the Sea/C of Red was reborn.

The Orange Crush

The Orange Crush was started back in 2004 as a playoff promotion for the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers were struggling to come out on top against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference finals. On May 15, a Wachovia Center sell out crowd wore official Orange Crush t-shirts as Keith Primeau contributed a shorthanded goal to help the Flyers to victory by a score of 3-2. Unfortunately, for the Flyers, they were eliminated as the Lightning eventually won the Stanley Cup.

The Orange Crush made another return in 2006. This time, it seemed like the promotion would work. The Flyers beat the Sabres in game three of the opening round of the playoffs after Buffalo had trampled them 8-2 in a game writer Bill Fleischman referred to as "The Nightmare in Buffalo. However, once again, the Flyers' opposition eventually came out on top and Buffalo moved on to the next round.

Variations of these traditions have moved quickly across the sports world. Wearing a certain color has brought fans together and has empowered teams to do the best they can to advance to the next playoff round. Don't tamper with these traditions during the regular season though because as any Flyers, Flames, or former Jets fan will tell you, the array of color is only meant for anytime between April and June.