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Kate Willoughby

USA Today Bestselling Author

  • USA Today Bestselling Author

06.07.2013 Hockey, Los Angeles Kings

A Hairy Hockey Tradition

Why do NHL players all look inexplicably scruffy during the Playoffs?


One might think they’re so pressed for time that they can’t shave. Plausible, but untrue.

Believe it or not, this is a tradition that started in the 1980s by the New York Islanders. During the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it’s customary for the players to not shave until they’re either eliminated or they win the Cup. (Some believe it’s all right to trim it after a loss in an attempt to change the luck.)

Here’s one of my favorite players, Dustin Penner, #25, of the LA Kings, with his beard. Bushy, ain’t he! (Photo by Lucy Nicholson Reuters)

Dustin is well known for his luxurious Playoff beards. There’s even someone who tweets as @PennersBeard. 

Penner has earned two Stanley Cup rings, once with the Anaheim Ducks, the other with the Kings last year.
Here’s what he looks like (somewhat) clean-shaven. What a hunk. 

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Kate Willoughby

USA Today Bestselling Author Kate Willoughby happily writes her contemporary hockey romances in Southern California. She is married and has two sons and a Chihuahua. When she’s not writing, she’s watching hockey. When it’s not hockey season, she whines a lot.

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