NHL Ice Hockey Players Hum Solos for Improved Performance

For decades, music of the sports has been based on distorted rock guitar and triumphant national anthems accompanied by tears. However, as the importance of psychological maturity has become evermore critical for success, players have shifted their music priorities from the previous simple refrains to jazz and beyond. In recent years, National Hockey League players have even been heard humming some avant-garde tunes. The new phenomenon is believed to increase the players' awareness and concentration for longer periods, and enable a prolonged ability to understand the flow of the game.

Coaches and crew leaders are divided on the issue. Some feel distracted, as songs like 26-2 by John Coltrane confuse the leadership of numbers used in game tactics, but others see the benefits. "This comes from the United States, where they usually think they are better. Two players came from New York Rangers last fall, and shared the news. Here in Canada we are mainly used to patriotic songs, as it's hard enough to distinguish ourselves anyway. But Blue Music Group releases now prove that even Ice Hockey is indeed international, not national, as we previously thought," says Stephen Caillaux, chief psychologist for the Halifax team in Nova Scotia.

Players hum melodies and scattered lines from famous solos by musicians such as Chris Cheek, Ben Monder and Felipe Salles. When the team scores, the body movements may resemble a drum fill by Roberto Dani, or Canadian native Terry Clarke. "Terry is 65, but his drumming technique is physically up to the same level we go through in a game," says Andrey Shchelintchenko, a Russian defense player. "If this goes on at this speed, my national team will have a hard time winning the World Cup, because all we do at home is singing in minor, regardless of victory or defeat."

In a recent survey, NHL players favored accounts with Blue Music Group to Apple iTunes. "My music device was attached with duct tape in the helmet, but the referee gave me a 2-minute penalty for listening to Rashied Ali's solo while in the rink," said Petr Ksrtk, a Czech legend.