2006 Norris Trophy Finalists
The Chuck Norris Trophy finalist this year are impressive. Gone are the veteran playoff beards (and my picks) the likes of which included Scott Neidermayer (even though his playoff beard was amazing in round 1), Robert Esche, and Peter Forsberg...instead the torch has been passed to a new crop of facial hair....a new generation of playoff beards. Meet your 2006 Chuck Norris Trophy Finalists:
Mike Commodore
Truly the standout in this group. Rather than wait for the playoffs to begin, Mr. Commodore sports a regular season beard, then hones it to a calibre the likes of which we haven't seen since the days of Ray Borque, with a touch of Lanny MacDonald. Commodore also sports the optional playoff lid, to accompany his playoff beard....this man is Gillette's nemesis.
Doug Weight
Another guy who enjoys assecorizing. This time however the accessory is a black eye, sported by Doug Weight. The perfect addition to any playoff beard. Weight is one tough guy. Did anyone notice that he still lifted the Stanley Cup with a separated shoulder? I'll take a separated shoulder over a shaved playoff beard any day. Right Peca?
Raffi Torres
Raffi Torres grew on me throughout this entire series, not just through his physical play, which was outstanding, but his bright red beard. Leave it to my buddy Playoff Moustache to determine the most appropriate monicker for this Edmonton Oiler. Snow Job. What better way to describe Mr. Torres, than naming him after G.I. Joe's favorite red bearded artic trooper?
Erik Cole
Probably the biggest surprise of the playoffs, because no one expected to see him. Cole actually broke his neck months earlier during the regular season, and was all but written off for the season. Mr. Cole, not only returned to action, in remarkable form, but stepped onto the ice, with a playoff beard that would make a Just For Men commercial proud. The moral here folks, is that playoff beards can help speed the rehabilitation of injured vertabrae.
Fernando Pisani
Pisani scored a clutch goal in just about every game this series! What didn't this guy do for the Oilers this year? Shave. The Italian Stallion up North's playoff beard presents Kevin Lowe with more than enough reason to resign this guy in the off season...oh and he's a pretty good hockey player too.
Bret Hedican
Bret! Brother! Where did your face go? This has to be one of the strongest playoff beards I've seen this season. When a man's chin strap dissapears when it's buckled....that's a playoff beard. Hedican's beard is so thick, that he shuts off the television when it shows the Geico Cavemen commercial due to it's offensive nature.
Mark Recchi
Jim Rutherford is a genius. Like Doug Weight, Recchi was added at the trade deadline by the Carolina Hurricanes to increase their playoff beard depth. You can hardly say that these guys didn't contribute. Recchi's playoff beard was added to help replace the loss of Erik Cole's during the off season.
Sergei Samsonov
I think this pretty much says it all.
I haven't completely made up my mind, however, I do have a few favorites. I'm also undecided on whether the Norris Trophy should go to a player on the Cup winning team, which often happens in the case of the Conn Smythe (except when Giguere won it, great playoff beard, but that award belonged to Brodeur) Let me hear your thoughts my unshaven friends.
Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh
Comments
WOW...That is some funny shtuff. "Playoff beards can help speed the rehabilitation of injured vertabrae." Never have truer words been written and as usual, fantastic artwork.
The contest itself, however, is so very difficult to judge. If pushed to vote, I will have to go 1) Hedican 2) Samsonov and 3) Commodore (his accessory was a missing tooth, btw - always a nice touch).
I'd also like to use a little of your space here to announce the winner of the first annual Cory Stillman Award for "Best Murderous Gaze." Drum roll please...Ahem...And the winner is....
CORY FREAKIN' STILLMAN!!!!
Look here as he celebrates his award by preparing to kill one of his own children:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/photo?slug=getty-71116006cp103_edmonton_oile_1_29_56_am&prov=getty
Congrats Cory!!! (Run kid, run!!!)
Posted by: Playoff Moustache | June 21, 2006 10:17 AM
Stache look at Stillman's kid! He's got the same expression on his face!
Posted by: Captbosh | June 21, 2006 10:30 AM
Check this picture out:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/photo?slug=getty-71220329sd415_carolina_hurr_10_22_13_pm&prov=getty
Recchi's expression is like "Perhaps getting traded to this team wasn't such a good idea afterall."
Posted by: Captbosh | June 21, 2006 10:32 AM
Just goes to show you the murderous gaze apple doesn't fall far from the tree...
I think I'd have the exact same expression as Recchi if I saw Cole kissing Whitney like that. Especially with Whitney's new stache.
I'm not saying Recchi's gay or anything; far from it. His beard proved that and he is a former Penguin after all. BUT...To me that picture says, "Dang. I sort of wanted to be the first to do that. Now Cory Stillman's going to kill me."
Posted by: Playoff Moustache | June 21, 2006 12:13 PM
Damn! Sergei scary! ;-)
Posted by: Faye | June 21, 2006 06:35 PM
I gotta go with Pisani--his beard really did seem to be magical in how it improved his play--Recchi, and finally, the Real Canadian Hero with Raffi "Snow Job" Torres. He's in last mainly because of the chin mohawk he normally sports, which is an embarassment to beards everywhere. My own beard is highly offended.
With that, I think that Commodore deserves an honorable mention. His beard was the stuff of legend. However, it isn't technically a playoff beard so much as a normal beard run amok, since he swears off the razor at the start of the regular season. Normally I'd be disdainful, but it's for a good cause, so I'm willing to look the other way.
Posted by: jeff | June 21, 2006 07:14 PM