What is playoff beard?

The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin tonight for those who care and those who might want to start following some puck action.

Most of the games will be on the cable network Versus - I believe it's Ch. 81 on Comcast and Ch. 603 on Direct TV.

Playoff hockey > all other sports.

It's physical, it's nasty, it's gruesome, it's a grind.

Speaking of nasty and gruesome, let's talk beard. What is a playoff beard?

About the Playoff Beard

A playoff beard is the superstitious 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. It is believed that the tradition was started in the 1980s by the four-time Stanley Cup Champion New York Islanders.   In recent years, other sports and other players have claimed the playoff beard tradition, but it is ultimately a hockey tradition, and always will be. 

So unless a drastic turn of events happens, it looks like another year of the playoff beard. Fear the bread, I mean beard.

Blog makeover perhaps in the next few days...