CHICAGO – “The longer, the better,” proud beard-grower Steven Stamkos said Wednesday, his words sprouting from a thicket of dirty-blond whiskers. “It’s such a long-lasting tradition, you see the fans coming behind it… and I don’t think guys are going to be willing to change anytime soon.”
The Tampa Bay Lightning captain read Mark Lazarus’s comments Tuesday, and he understands hockey players aren’t the most recognizable pro athletes in the United States, but he believes NHL interest is gaining—yes, even with playoff beards obscuring the stars’ faces.
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NBC’s record-breaking ratings for Games 2 and 3 of this Stanley Cup final back up Stamkos’ point.
Yet Lazarus, the chairman of NBC Sports, urged the players to pick up a Bic.
“The players won’t like this, but I wish they all would stop growing beards in the post-season,” Lazarus told the Chicago Tribune Tuesday. “Let’s get their faces out there. Let’s talk about how young and attractive they are.”
OK, so the playoff beard—a tradition sprouted in the early 1980s by the New York Islanders dynasty—doesn’t frame, say, Teuvo Teravainen’s face the way it does Jason Garrison’s.
“The worst has gotta be Teuvo. He’s got the Bieber ’stache going,” quipped Chicago goalie Scott Darling, a sweaty, red “Lumberjack” hanging Gandolf-like from his chin.
“I said to Teuvo: ‘By the time you can actually grow one, it’s going to be illegal.’ ”
Shave the beard, and you slice off the camaraderie, chop out folklore.
“From a business standpoint, you could argue it one way, but we’re not too concerned about the dollars and cents of our facial hair,” Darling says.
“Even the [casual] hockey fan knows about the hockey playoffs, and it’s something that’s accompanied it. It shouldn’t be up to anyone but the players to decide if they have a beard or not.”