The Playoff Beard

With hockey playoffs right around the corner and March Madness on it's way it is almost time for the greatest time of the year. Beard growing season.

I personally am a HUGE fan of the beard.I have rocked a beard for roughly 9 years. Any excuse I can come up with I try to grow the beard out as long as possible. The best reason to grow one though is for playoffs. When your team is in the playoffs you have to grow it out. No shaving allowed. Plus I help coach high school basketball and we are in playoffs so my beard is in full effect.

Here is the playoff beard explanation from Wikipedia for all of you who have no clue what I am talking about: "A playoff beard is the practice of a National Hockey League player not shaving his beard during the Stanley Cup playoffs. The player stops shaving when his team enters the playoffs and does not shave until his team is eliminated or wins the Stanley Cup. The tradition was started in the 1980s by the New York Islanders."

"The tradition is also practiced by nearly all North American hockey leagues, to include high school leagues and the NCAA hockey teams, as well as minor league affiliates.The tradition has also spread to hockey leagues in Europe and is practiced by many fans as well. According to some observers, one may trim the beard after a loss in an effort to change the team's luck; Jim Dowd and Roberto Luongo were such practitioners."

"It's not known whether the origins of the practice are purely superstitious. Hall of Famer Denis Potvin says that the Islanders of the 1980s would "play four games in five nights in the first round and it was just something that kind of happened." Other players have said the beard is both a reminder of team unity and a way to get you thinking about the playoffs from the moment you look in the mirror in the morning. The 2009 Red Wings used the slogan "The beard is back" for the final series of their 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs run. They played the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final that year (won by Pittsburgh) in which most of the players (and the owner of the team, Mario Lemieux) grew beards as well."

The playoff beard started in the NHL but has now grown to almost every other sport. Playoff beards have started to turn into everyday beards for some people. Brian Wilson of the SF Giants rocks his beard year round now and has gained national attention. Brett Keisel of the Pittsburgh Steelers also grows his out for the season. Both have made "Fear the beard" popular and even raised money for charities.

Here are some of the best playoff beards of all time.

#10 Jean Sebastian Giguere

















#9 Paul Mara












#8 Scott Hartnell










#7 Kris Draper













#6 Chris Mason

















#5 Lanny McDonald

















#4 Ken Daneyko












#3 Scott Niedermayer

















#2 Ken Morrow


















#1 Mike Commodore


















Will you be growing out your playoff beard? If so send pictures in. Best playoff beard win's a prize that will be determined at a later date.