Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions Based On Facial Hair

Wednesday night marked the beginning of the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs, a 16-team knock-down, drag-out battle in the quest to obtain what many regard as the greatest trophy in sports.  Teams will do almost anything for a chance to drink from the Cup, from not washing clothes, to repeating meals.

But over the course of the league’s 86-year history, there’s one superstition that has taken on a life of its own – and that’s the playoff beard.

From coaches, to players and even fans, the razors get put away as the warm weather approaches and the regular season comes to an end.  There are some unwritten rules when it comes to the playoff beard, however.  Shaving before the beginning is encouraged and at that point, it must be left alone until once a series ends, at which point you may clean it up.

Not everyone tries to look like the Brawny man, though.  Over the years some have held on to their shaving kits and instead tried other looks – mustaches, goatees and even mullets.

The potential of remarkable facial hair this spring is good, with some players having already started their beards weeks ago, when the march for the playoffs began.  For some teams, the action on the ice could be just as transfixing as the action on their faces, making us wonder why Barbasol hasn’t capitalized on this continuously growing sports fad.  So rather than give you our predictions on who will win – cough, San Jose, cough – like every other publication under the sun, we thought we’d do it a little different.

Rather than make rational, fact-based decisions on who will hoist the Cup this year, we wondered what the end result would be if based solely on facial hair – and here’s what we came up with for the first round.

 

Ed Miller is a contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @PhillyEdMiller or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.

Photo Credit: Getty

 

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