The Bench Jockeys

It’s Spring and it’s warming up (even in Boston) and that’s the logical time to grow a nice itchy beard,… more specifically, a “Playoff Beard.”  Denis Potvin and the members of the New York Isles – who owned the Stanley Cup from 1980 to 1983 – take credit for the development of the playoff beard.  But when Gretzky’s Oilers wrestled the Cup away from the Islanders stronghold, the beard took a hiatus until the Devils made it a mainstay in hockey post-season culture.  So from Vancouver to DC…. hockey fans,…. this is the week that shaving becomes optional (for up to 7weeks), employers consider revising their standards for staff appearance and men sleep alone as hockey fans grow their facial hair in support of their clubs.

There are many rules for the playoff beard but Rule #1 is: The devotee stops shaving when his team enters the playoffs and does not shave until his team is eliminated or wins the Stanley Cup.  Grooming is acceptable only between playoff rounds, however, any cultivation is frowned upon by the purists.  And there are no style points awarded for goatees; it’s a full beard or it does not count.  Some growers invoke the Canucks’ Roberto Luongo exception – where one may trim the beard after a loss in an effort to change the team’s luck – but that’s just garbage.

So put away those razors boys and girls and grow one for the team.  The Bench Jockeys tale of the tape suggests that Canucks or Red Wings will be there in the West and that Caps and Penguins will be sporting the ZZ Top look in the East.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 15th, 2011 at 21:14 and is filed under Professional Sports, The Quick Hook. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.