By Garrett Aleckson —
In hockey, a hat trick happens when a player scores three goals in a single game. The natural form of a hat trick is when a player does it uninterrupted—without any other player scoring from either team.
The University of Wisconsin–Stout hockey team has had two hat tricks this season—something that has not happened in a very long time. The first hat trick for Stout occurred on Nov. 21, 2015. Tyler Cayemberg (Jr, East Troy, Wis.) scored a hat trick in a 5-2 win against Concordia University. The second hat trick of the season happened on Jan. 9, 2016. Joe Anderson (Fr, Side Lake, Minn.) scored a hat trick in a 5-3 win against Gustavus Adolphus.
Are there more or fewer hat tricks in recent seasons for the Blue Devils compared to older seasons? Are any trends present? How do the seasons stack up against one another?
Looking at statistics from 1996-2016, there are four other seasons in which the hockey team scored more than one hat trick. The last time the Stout hockey team scored multiple hat tricks in one was season was the 2008-2009 season. During that season, the team scored five hat tricks. The team scored two hat tricks in the 1996-1997 season, three hat tricks in the 1997-1998 season and two hat tricks in the 2001-2002 season.
There are 10 seasons in which the hockey team scored one hat trick. In comparison, there are five seasons where the Blue Devils did not score any hat tricks during their season. The last time Stout did not score a hat trick in a season was during the 2012-2013 season.
In total, Stout has scored 24 hat tricks in 20 seasons spanning from 1996 to 2016. That, of course, averages to a little over one hat trick per season. The seasons in which the Blue Devils did not score a hat trick were just as rare.
When the team averages one hat trick per season, that means that just one athlete on the team will score one. The rarity of scoring hat tricks is apparent. The athletes that are able to score a hat trick in their collegiate career are something special, and they should enjoy the occasion when it happens.
Happy hat tricking.