Bring on the Beards!

Happy Day Before #&$% Gets Real, Everyone!  

ron

Every April, we wonder how we got here – if we got here – and panic. Prayers are said.  Shirts and jerseys are lined up to wear.  Post-traumatic stress resurfaces from last season.   And with all that comes something else, something glorious.

No, not the possibility of winning the Cup.  We’re talking about playoff beards!

oduya

2013 Beard of the Year Winner

Here’s a look around this year’s post-season hopefuls, starting with, well…

The Pens TV feature was offline yesterday because the Penguins’ servers are no match for James Neal’s Gingerbeard.

neal

Already GLORIOUS.  Let me tell you James, since you obviously read this blog for tips on fixing your PR problems, the beard is A+.  Glasses too.  Plaid suits, yaaassss. Now keep your promises, don’t be a dirtbag and I may just remove your #futureexboyfriend status.

red panda

MAF however, has permission to remove this creation and begin again.

flower

He looks like Kenneth Branaugh in Hamlet which is really just a gateway beard to Kenneth Branaugh in Wild Wild West.  And no one wants to be in Wild Wild West.

You know I love this disaster.  Crosby growing facial hair is like me singing karaoke – zero God-given talent, still goes on stage.  We both compensate with dance moves.

sid1

Thanks to modern medicine and some really tight workout shirts, we’re thrilled this gem of a beard will be appearing in our 2014 collection:

stammer

Flawless as he always is, Stammer’s beard fascinates because it’s so brown.  Mid-season he hardly appears to have eyebrows, such is his blondness, yet roll around the post-season and Simba starts working on his roar.

Since I mentioned Nealer, here’s Shawn Thornton for good measure.  This art installation began around April 4 and holds promise to become an impressive hedge maze.  Let’s everybody grow beards and nobody get suspended, yeah?

thornton

In news you knew was coming, Toews and Kane have been announced as ready to go for Chicago in Game 1 against St. Louis.

toews

That’s right, Wolverine and his trusty sidekick, The Meerkat, ride again.

wolverine

We’re pretty excited for the Avs to have a go in the playoffs, because we want to see if Gabe can grow a beard.  And we want Matt Duchene back… but mostly Gabe’s beard.  The Avs’ ad campaign asks #WhyNotUs?

Gabe Landeskog, Age 10

Gabe Landeskog, Age 10

Probably #BecauseofthatMohawk, honestly.  But this is a new, sophisticated year.  They’re even hosting “Burgundy and Blue Week” and as much as we love hockey, that’ll be disappointing if it doesn’t involve wine and cheese.

And remember, Max Talbot is on the Avs!   Think he’ll give us one of these, like the good old days?  Probably scare the crap out of his new baby son, but teaching can never start too early.

talbot

He can compare it to that of fellow former Penguin Mike Rupp.  I miss this elf costume.

rupp

Another excting playoff debut is Jamie Benn.  We know Tyler can phase to Teen Wolf at a moment’s notice (hey, isn’t it Tuesday?), but Jamie’s babyface has never been to the post-season.  We’ve seen an AHL goatee and Movember Mustache, so there’s a beard waiting to happen.  Still we fear the jowl-centric permashadow:

jamie

Will again become this:

jamie2

EGADS.  When we say “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” Jamie, we do not mean that part of your face!  You’ve been on a roll lately (sidenoteBattingPracticesigh) – either go all the way or just keep shaving while gazing intently into the camera.

jamie3

Does Dallas have a bandwagon? Because Imma need a ride.

TJ Oshie joined the Blues Beardathon campaign, so we’ll call his beard The American Dream.  The part of arch-nemesis will be played by Roman Polak.

oshie

Even if he could get 6 rounds like the Olympic shootout, TJs only chance at fuzz would still be to adopt a puppy at the end.

Joe Thornton has done the right thing – he’ll be starting fresh when the Sharks see the Kings on Thursday night.  This really gives new meaning to the term faceoff.  Let’s hope he and Brent Burns have planned A Race to Crazy.

April 9 April 12

April 9                                                                     April 12

The Kings are always regally bearded, but until Mike Richards can’t see past his nose to where Pierre Maguire is trying to groom him on a boardwalk, I find them boring.  Remember when Joaquin Phoenix went crazy, grew a beard and became a rapper (then it was all fake)?  That’s the kind of excitement I expect from LA beards.

 

Speaking of burly later-round possibilities, Henrik Zetterbeard is doing his best to get back into the Wings lineup.  He will practice today, and while he likely won’t be available for the first round, if the Wings get past Boston at least Chuck will have something to live for.

zett

The Habs have Brandon Prust.  If no one else grows a beard (or if they do), we won’t even notice.

prust

The last and final playoff match up is both my dream and nightmare: Rangers vs. Flyers.  Such drama.  I fantasize about them somehow both losing.  I invent elaborate food poisoning schemes.  I transport them off-world, I drop them into the bottom of the ocean in the end, I retract the ice and everyone falls into a pool of sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads.

Is that wrong?

loki2

Alas, I must endure.  I caught a hot second of Giroux flipping his hair while being awarded the Toyota Cup for most “Star of the Game” points the other night. Happy Gingers = Slight Weakness.  This beard though.

giroux

Even as an unhappy ginger, Scott Hartnell looked – dare I say it? – kind of nice while discussing his major penalty for spearing (subsequent $5k fine came later).

hartsy

Okay, enough of that.  :: shudder ::

As for the Rangers, Rick Nash looks nice with a beard.  It can dry his tears.

nash

(That wasn’t quite the last playoff matchup, but to the Blue Jackets, I say nothing except see you tomorrow.)

I can’t believe it’s this time of year again.  Are you guys doing okay?  My emotions are 50% excitement and 50% dread soaked in 100% Skittles-flavored vodka.  We’re thankful for beards help to lighten the mood because it’s about to go down.

real housewives wig

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
****

Leave a Reply

  1. Ah, the first WUYS playoff beard post of the season. You ladies always do us proud. So much fabulous here: Prust worshipping, Stammer as Simba and the Wolverine/meerkat Kazer combo. Genius! And then you had to go and wish food poisoning on my Rangers. How can you not want to see more of Lundqvist’s manscaped marvelousness and enjoy the trials & tribulations of Hagelin’s valiant but fruitless effort to grow anything but peach fuzz (see what I did there)?

  2. Anne Reply

    My wish for THAT series is a meteor strike. And my Blue Jackets are so young that a good number of them probably can’t even grow beards. 🙂

  3. Playoffs…..the most wonderful/awful/glorious/hateful time of the year. When you temporarily suspend friendships and warn your coworkers not to do/say/think anything wrong around you, because your rage cannot be contained. I can’t decide whether I love the regular season more for the consistency of hockey, or the playoffs, for the payoff of the Cup. Gah….the STRESS. It’s all good though – I’ve got my bourbon, ice cream, pasta and Fiona Apple. I’m GOOD TO GO.

  4. Kristi Reply

    The MAF/Branagh comparison made me laugh loudly at my desk. In an English department, this naturally led to a twenty minute discussion about Shakespeare interspersed with odd hockey questions.

  5. Kate Reply

    I’m petrified about the playoffs. I’m so stinking excited for the playoff beards.

    I’m especially excited to see how Jamie Benn handles the playoffs and the playoff beards. He’s my new hockey crush and it’s all WUYS’s fault 🙂

  6. We’ll have to see how well Ryan Johansen can grow his playoff beard

  7. I’m going to game 2 in Pittsburgh on Saturday, so I AM THE MOST EXCITED PERSON IN THE WORLD right now!!! Thanks to the Penguins’ Fan Appreciation Week, I won tickets & the seats are FABULOUS! If I can hold my phone steady enough to get any pictures, ya’ll WILL be tagged in them! We’re in the lower level behind where Bob will be for 2 periods, so I’m PRAYING that we see A LOT of our boys in Black & Vegas Gold! 😀 Let’s Go Pens!!!