With only 2% of people in the world with red hair, it sometimes surprises me to see so many NHL players with the distinctive rusty red flow and beard to match. Anecdotally it doesn’t seem like other major sports have as many of these fair skinned bad asses. So what make red heads gravitate toward playing hockey? Well there’s this…
RED-HEADS AND LEFT-HANDEDNESS
Recessive traits often happen in pairs so it is not uncommon for people with the gene for red hair to also possess the trait for left-handedness. And being left handed can actually be an advantage in hockey. Believe it or not left handed players tend to have a slightly faster path to the NHL.
So it stands to reason that if you’re red headed there is a good chance you’re a leftie. And if you’re a leftie you would likely find right sided shots easier and potentially score more quickly as a youth. And once a kid gets the that hockey-high of scoring, it becomes easier to ride out the frustrating part of mastering the sport.
FIRE SIGNS AND RED HEADS
The layperson might assume that a player with fiery red locks would be a Fire Sign – Leo, Aries, or Sagittarius. Guess again. After analyzing the current stand-out red heads in the NHL we were surprised to see that NONE of them were Fire Signs.
Red heads who break into the NHL bring an understated and even-tempered energy to the sport. Earth, Water and Air signs bring a mix of hardworking thinkers who embody loyalty. In fact, they aren’t the ego driven players. More often red headed players are more about their teams than they are their own ego. They support, complement and don’t feel the need to showboat. They may get chirpy or moody on the ice, but off the ice, they are humble and gracious.
Bottomline…every team needs a red head or two to offset the aggro energy of fiery Leos, Aries and Sagittarius. We can leave the egos and blowups to the blondes and brunettes.
