Playoff Beard Watch 2015: The Stanley Cup champion of beards
(Ed. Note: We're proud to welcome back two of our favorite bloggers, Chuck and Pants from What's Up, Ya Sieve?, to the Puck Daddy fold as they author our NHL Playoff Beard Watch, which tracks the best and worst follicle growth in the postseason.)
BeardWatch 2015 was one for the ages. Many threw their helmets into the race: veteran candidates reprising beard prowess of playoffs past, and some fresh faces covering up quite nicely. (Stamkos! Who knew?) The Hawks and Bolts had plenty of time to beard up and put forth their best efforts, but alas ... there can only be one.
This year’s winner wasn’t really even on our radar until the Western Conference finals. We named him a dark horse candidate and after his play in the Finals, there is no way we couldn’t add the prestigious Beard of the Year trophy to his shiny collection.
Note: We don’t actually have a Beard of the Year trophy, but we should. We’ll have to talk to Wysh about that. It could be like a gilded beard comb or something. Maybe it could fit inside the Cup. Maybe it should be champagne! Maybe we’ll just send the empty bottle.
And this year’s Beard of the Year is…
Duncan Keith
This beard impressed us in every way, from its superior fullness and dark ginger hue to its eleventy billion minutes of ice time. The growth was slow and steady, but when it the time was right, it exploded out of the gate with sights set on the Stanley Cup.
Stanley Cup winning goal scorer. Conn Smythe winner. And now, the 2015 Beard of the Year.
That’s our kind of Triple Crown.
Runner-Up: Brandon Saad
Don’t be Saad, BeardWatchers. He’s already campaigning for 2016. This mesmerising and almost-scary-but-you-kinda-wanna-touch-it beard has notched a place in our hearts. Now that the Hawks are a bonafide hockey dynasty, Brandon’s day will come.
Well, fellow pogonophiles. Our Beard Watch has ended.
Until next year….
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