HANDSHAKE

The handshake has its origin in medieval times.

Back then, when knights approached each other they would show their right hands as proof that they were unarmed. (Chris Chelios told me about this. He witnessed it during his childhood)

At the conclusion of every series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs the respective teams form a line and one by one shake hands with the gladiators in different regalia as a show of sportsmanship and respect. It is truly one of the great traditions in all of sport and captures the raw emotions of success and failure.

The respect part has become a tad murky in the last decade or so.

Maybe you remember Dino Ciccarelli's famous, "I can't believe I shook his frikkin' hand" quote referring to the backstabbing, cheap shot artist, Claude Lemieux when interviewed after a Red Wings-Avalanche series.

That same 'disrespect' arose again yesterday when the Devils bowed out to Sean Avery and the New York Hockey Rangers. Hall of Fame bound goalie, and mild mannered class-act, Martin Brodeur elected to skip ice-troll twit Avery during the handshakes. In case you've never heard of YouTube or don't have eyeballs, Avery was all over Brodeur during the series. He made a nuisance and embarrassment of himself both verbally and in the form of the most bizarre distraction dance I've ever seen.

So, good on you Brodeur. And I bet you wished you'd had a foreign object in that hand too.

The no handshake decision seems to be a goalie thing.

Remember The Eagle skipping them at times during his competitive and successful tenure in the Stars pipes?

And the backbone of the Islanders dynasty back in the late 70s early 80s, goalie "Battlin'" Billy Smith never ever shook hands at the end of a series.

Will there be a handshake exchange tonight? Maybe. If so I suspect they'll all press flesh, although Morrow and Beauchemin (And a couple others) may squeeze just a little harder.