Getting pumped up in hockey is a big deal. It involves more stops and starts than most sports, because once you’re done a shift, you might not get back on the ice for a couple minutes.
That’s why you’ll see a lot of NHL players using smelling salts.
Well, two SKA Saint Petersburg teammates seem to have found a bizarre alternative to that. Alexander Barabanov was sitting on the bench in a recent game and one of his teammates reaches over, grabs his mask and basically shakes hands with his visor.
We really have no idea what happened there. We can’t decide if that is a method to wake that player up or if it’s those two players’ special handshake.
Either way, it makes for one of our favourite hockey GIFs.
GIFs of peculiar behaviour on the bench are one of the most underrated parts of hockey. In the past we’ve seen people accidently spit on passers-by, chirp and much more. However, by far our favourites are still the always classic smelling salt GIF.
