Post 933

Posted Friday, 4 June 2004, 20:09 HST @172

Sports: Playoff Hockey Gets Hairy: ““I’m pretty sure we started that because the Canadiens won the four Cups before that and [Canadiens President Sam Pollock] had a rule that [prohibited] their players from wearing beards,” former Islanders assistant general manager Jim Devellano said. “We didn’t care if they wore a beard or wore their hair down to their [rear ends]. So we had a bunch of guys with beards.”
So do the Tampa Bay Lightning. Of the 25 players on their roster, 18 are sporting beards of one kind or another. Most say they began growing them when the playoffs started and will shave them once the playoffs finish, which could be tonight with the Lightning down 3-2 to the Calgary Flames in the best-of-seven series. ”