{"id":301,"date":"2026-05-16T13:05:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T13:05:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=301"},"modified":"2026-05-16T13:05:03","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T13:05:03","slug":"inside-the-nhls-post-series-handshake-one-of-hockeys-most-enduring-traditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=301","title":{"rendered":"Inside the NHL\u2019s post-series handshake, one of hockey\u2019s most enduring traditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you win, there\u2019s no better place to be.<\/p>\n

If you lose, not so much.<\/p>\n

The handshake line in hockey can be equally fulfilling or frustrating. Two teams battle their hearts out in a Stanley Cup playoff series, decide a winner, then line up and shake hands when it\u2019s over. It\u2019s quite the tradition.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s something unique to our sport and separates what we do,\u201d Carolina Hurricanes forward Taylor Hall said this week.<\/p>\n

Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice believes it should be a players-only thing and once tried to convince Canes coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour of the same. Vegas Golden Knights coach John Tortorella skipped the players portion of the handshake line this week after a playoff series win over the Anaheim Ducks. To each their own.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it like to be in those lines?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little awkward, but it depends on what side you\u2019re on, obviously, and it depends on how the series ended,\u201d Hall said. \u201cYou have to be a good sport about it. You don\u2019t want to gloat if you win and have a big smile on your face while you\u2019re dapping \u2018em up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had small, respectful conversations with those where you\u2019ve just battled it out. I remember a guy with Florida last year who said, \u2018Good battles all series\u2019 because he and I went at it pretty good. That\u2019s stuck with me, so if I\u2019m on the winning side, if there was someone I played against shift to shift all series, I try to convey it to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Panthers knocked the Hurricanes out of the playoffs last year in the Eastern Conference Final, then went on to win the Stanley Cup. A year later, Canes are looking to atone for that knockout in the conference final after blowing past the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers, winning eight consecutive games in the two series.<\/p>\n

Hall was a part of seminal moments in Game 3 of each series: his big hit on Sens defenseman Jake Sanderson, then another on Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim. Sanderson suffered a series-ending concussion, the Sens said. Sanheim was shaken up but continued to play after what he said was a \u201cpretty dirty play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hall was given two-minute minor penalties for each hit and quickly cast into the villain\u2019s role, the source of boos and animosity in Ottawa and then Philly.<\/p>\n

Hall said he did not speak with Sanheim in the handshake line Saturday after the Canes\u2019 3-2 overtime win in Game 4. The two did shake hands, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor sure,\u201d Hall said. \u201cIt was a good series. It was quick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some handshake lines can be quick \u2014 and painful \u2014 especially if there is family involved. Jordan Staal was with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009 when the Pens swept the Canes in the Eastern Conference Final. That meant an emotional handshake with the Canes\u2019 Eric Staal, Jordan\u2019s oldest brother.<\/p>\n

In the 2008 playoffs, the Pens had defeated the New York Rangers and defenseman Marc Staal, another older brother.<\/p>\n

The flipside came in 2023, when Eric and Marc Staal were teammates on the Panthers team that swept the Canes in the conference final.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy joke there is that it took both of them to take me down,\u201d Jordan Staal said, grinning. \u201cI was fortunate to be on the right side of all the handshakes with the bros until that last one.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose series are always fun but hard at the same time. Obviously, playing against my brothers on the same team at our age and in the East Conference final, you couldn\u2019t have written it up any better. Obviously, I would have liked to have been on the other side of that one, but it was a pretty cool one.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Few players on the Canes get on the other team\u2019s nerves more than Andrei Svechnikov. The power forward can deliver the boom and will let you know about it, too. He plays on the edge and No. 37 seemingly is a part of every scrum if he\u2019s on the ice.<\/p>\n

Svechnikov said no opposing player has shied away from shaking his hand after a playoff series. \u201cYou have to respect the other boys for playing hard hockey, and hitting you everywhere and all that,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m fine with all that stuff. It\u2019s just hockey, you know.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, personally, it\u2019s fine. It\u2019s like it\u2019s ended, you forget about what\u2019s happened. You have the handshake and move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Svechnikov noted that in Russia\u2019s KHL, there\u2019s a handshake line after every game in the regular season, then when a playoff series ends. \u201cThat\u2019s a little too much,\u201d he said. \u201cI like our way more.\u201d<\/p>\n

After beating the Flyers in Game 4, the handshakes began with Flyers fans, notorious for their boos, cheering for a team that gamely fought its way in the playoffs and won a round before running into the Hurricanes.<\/p>\n

Brind\u2019Amour paused a few seconds while shaking hands with Flyers coach Rick Tocchet, a former Flyers teammate, and pointed to the fans. A short video clip of it went viral on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cI played with \u2018Toc\u2019 and have a lot of respect for him and obviously played in that organization for a long time and have a lot of respect for the people there,\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said Tuesday. \u201cYou could hear the crowd was appreciative of their effort. That\u2019s all I said to him, \u2018You should be proud of that, because you\u2019re getting the team back in the right direction.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI was happy for him and those people, because it\u2019s a great hockey town.\u201d<\/p>\n

After taking a few days off the ice, the Canes returned to practice Tuesday at Lenovo Center. The next opponent will be either the Montreal Canadiens or Buffalo Sabres, still locked up in their second-round series.<\/p>\n

The Canes had a long break after the Ottawa series before playing the Flyers. They don\u2019t mind another one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everyone in this room has given everything they have since the start of these playoffs,\u201d Staal said after practice.<\/p>\n

Staal won the 2009 Stanley Cup with the Pens. The Canes captain knows what it takes to get it done, lift the Cup.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one handshake line, the ultimate one, every player wants to be in as the winner. What was that like for Staal?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a blur with all the stuff that goes on at that time,\u201d he said, smiling. \u201cIt\u2019s the same scenario, though, in showing respect and appreciating the battle and having that respect for the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 5:30 AM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carolina Hurricanes reflect on handshake lines after sweep, respecting opponents, handling boos, injuries, emotional farewells after Stanley Cup Playoff series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nInside the NHL\u2019s post-series handshake, one of hockey\u2019s most enduring traditions - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=301\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inside the NHL\u2019s post-series handshake, one of hockey\u2019s most enduring traditions - 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