Ryan Stevenson savoured Hibs' Scottish Cup defeat and reckons they've taken on Derek McInnes' Hampden curse.
The former Aberdeen boss led his side to Hampden year after year but too often came up agonisingly short in the pursuit of silverware.
Jack Ross' Hibees ventured to the national stadium three times this term - and lost all three.
A painful 1-0 disappointment against St Johnstone ended their season on a sour note, raising some anger among fans despite a third placed finish in the Premiership.
And former Hearts and Saints star Stevenson suspects they could have taken the Hampden hoodoo that haunted McInnes.
He wrote in the Daily Record: "The fact (St Johnstone) have Europe next makes it amazing. And the fact that it was against Hibs was even better.
"Can you question their mentality in big games after a third Hampden defeat in a year? I’m the wrong guy to ask because I’m always going to say, ‘yes’.
"I know Jack Ross and he’s a great young manager. Hibs have shown great levels of consistency over the season in finishing third and you can’t take that away from them.
"They’ve been brilliant this year in the league.
"It’s a bit like the Aberdeen situation under Derek McInnes. They kept getting to cup semis and finals and kept losing.
"They need to get that monkey off their back because it becomes a bit of a stigma, which it is now.
"They’ll be majorly disappointed but if you’d asked any Hibs fans at the start of season about a third-place finish, they’d have taken it."
