Okay, flame away, or maybe even agree. Why does a red-blooded Canadian guy like me get tired of playoff beards now? Here is why. EVERYONE has them. It started with the Islanders and correct me if I am wrong but Butch Goring, among others, is often credited for starting this process of not shaving until he was bounced out.
Even in the 1990s there were players that did it, but not everyone did it and it was still sort of a bit of a novelty. Look at the Red Wings even, Fedorov didn't do it, neither did Shanahan. I don't even know if Yzerman was able to grow a good one. Never saw Lidstrom with one. Avalance? Never saw it with Sakic either. Claude Lemieux for all of his long runs didn't have it either.
So in a way it was a novelty. But now? Practically the whole team does it and to some of the players it looks awful. Not everyone can pull off the look. I know there was a reporter a while back who said that he hated playoff beards because that is the image we see when a team wins a Cup. A captain with a big bushy beard, or in Crosby's case someone who can't grow a proper one (Malkin too). He got a lot of pushback against that but he partly has a point.
Look at the images of Beliveau, Armstrong, Orr, Esposito, Bossy, Potvin, Trottier, Gretzky, Messier, Mario, etc. They've all been through battles on the ice and yet they still look the same as they always have. I am not saying the league needs to do anything, of course not, nor do I think they need a New York Yankees or Disney World employees policy implemented (no beards) because that is a personal thing for a team, but have they jumped the shark? Has the novelty worn off?
Even in the 1990s there were players that did it, but not everyone did it and it was still sort of a bit of a novelty. Look at the Red Wings even, Fedorov didn't do it, neither did Shanahan. I don't even know if Yzerman was able to grow a good one. Never saw Lidstrom with one. Avalance? Never saw it with Sakic either. Claude Lemieux for all of his long runs didn't have it either.
So in a way it was a novelty. But now? Practically the whole team does it and to some of the players it looks awful. Not everyone can pull off the look. I know there was a reporter a while back who said that he hated playoff beards because that is the image we see when a team wins a Cup. A captain with a big bushy beard, or in Crosby's case someone who can't grow a proper one (Malkin too). He got a lot of pushback against that but he partly has a point.
Look at the images of Beliveau, Armstrong, Orr, Esposito, Bossy, Potvin, Trottier, Gretzky, Messier, Mario, etc. They've all been through battles on the ice and yet they still look the same as they always have. I am not saying the league needs to do anything, of course not, nor do I think they need a New York Yankees or Disney World employees policy implemented (no beards) because that is a personal thing for a team, but have they jumped the shark? Has the novelty worn off?
