It has to be one of the best traditions in all of sports. It isn’t a trophy or a ring, it’s a simple gesture, a show of respect that exemplifies why hockey, despite the many jokes about fighting and goonery, is one of the greatest sports around. What am I talking about? It’s the post playoff series handshake.

No other professional sport takes the time to do it. Sure some football players run to the middle of the field and exchange pleasantries with guys they know, but no other sport makes an effort to go through a line and shake each others hands - congratulating each other on a well-played series. Losing teams will actually wait for the winning team to celebrate…even in the finals to shake each others hand. It isn’t a huge kumbaya moment, all rivalries aren’t forgotten and feuds forgiven, but it is a show of respect between teams. A chance for grown men to show that sportsmanship, in one of the toughest sports, is still alive.

It’s a small act, but one that should be celebrated and covered as often as the fights and slap shots.

{This is also posted at Nosebleed Radio}