You call that a beard, eh?

Recently I have lost two things very dear to me, the first being my beard that was removed as a joke and in solidarity for a friends unintentional loss of facial hair, and the loss of my current favorite sports franchise. Pending a review by the National Hockey League’s board will likely approve the sale of the Atlanta Thrashers, and their relocation to Winnipeg, making a lot of Sunbelt hockey fans, myself included, very sad.

As Georgia is poised to lose an NHL franchise for the second time, one of the greatest continuing traditions in modern sport is underway in Vancouver as the Canucks and Boston Bruins are engaged in a best of seven series for the right to raise the Stanly Cup. As the two teams engage in the finals of a long, arduous playoff structure they are not only engaging in grinding body checks, blocking pucks off weird bounces, and otherwise abusing their bodies for our entertainment and their glory, they also throw away implements of shaving to the ice, and grow fantastic playoff beards.

Inspired by my own trek back to being bearded, my obsession with hockey, and most importantly many similar posts on JoffreTheGiant’s website, here is a collection of respectable hockey beards that, in my opinion, are some of the most impressive in all of professional sports.