Putting a new face on the playoffs

by Dirk Hoag on Sep 3, 2007 4:04 PM EDT

Playoff beards are one of the great hallmarks of NHL tradition - let's face it, sudden breakouts of facial hair on a wide variety of baseball or basketball players in the postseason would look silly and contrived. Somehow in hockey it just works, reinforcing the image of the NHL playoffs as a long, brutal struggle that is as much about survival as it is about competition. But in these times, is it enough for Scott Niedermayer to sport his salt & pepper cookie duster, or Mike Commodore his fire-engine red coif?

Check out these "winners" from the 2007 World Beard & Mustache Championships, and I think you'll agree that there's room in the NHL tradition for a little inventiveness and personal expression. Say, a beard sculpted into the likeness of the Stanley Cup or a long mustache in the shape of dual hockey sticks.

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I think playoff beards are cool. Fun tradition. I also think they need to go away. If the NHL wants to be a marketable force in professional sports, they need to stop enforcing stereotypes that hockey is for Canadian lumberjacks.

My full post on the topic from a few months ago

by Paul Nicholson on Sep 3, 2007 11:28 PM EDT reply actions

Then I guess fighting needs to go away too, eh? I don't think anyone sits down or goes to the concession stand during a melee on the ice.

When I saw my first playoff beard - I never equated players who wore them with "Canadian lumberjacks". I thought they were cool and the knowledgeable analyst spoke about traditions about the men who play this game.

Anything is marketable - if the story is told the right way.

by PB on Sep 4, 2007 1:08 AM EDT reply actions