the playoff beard

Blogger's Note: I am pleased to welcome Toni Aleo, author of Taking Shots, today, as part of her Chick Lit Plus blog tour. In this fantastic guest post, she explains the playoff beard, and why guys are hot with them. (Read my review of Taking Shots.)

By Toni Aleo
Guest blogger

That’s Shea Weber. 

That’s the start of his gorgeous playoff beard.

I don’t know where my lusty needs for beards come from but I have them. My husband has never been able to grow a beard but he has his sexy mustache and I love it. I do. But when playoff season comes around and all my hot hockey players look like woodsy, mountain men, my heart goes into over drive.

Maybe that’s why the playoffs are the most exciting time ever to me. Maybe it’s the lusty needs in me to see a man skating around with his massive Sasquatch beard, knocking people around and scoring goals. I don’t know. But it’s hot. Before we go into the hotness that is the playoff beard, let’s discuss why my hot hockey boys grow them.

According to Wikipedia, the tradition started in the 1980s by the New York Islanders. Once in the playoff, the guys don’t shave until their team is eliminated. If they lose a game during their seven game series, some guys are known to trim it up just to see if it changes their luck. It is practiced throughout all the NHL, NCAA, and the minor leagues. It has also spread to the hockey leagues in Europe. Even fans are known to grow their beards out to give their team luck. Great things have come from this tradition, one being the Bread-A-Thon campaign. It has raised over one million dollars for NHL charities. No one knows if it is just superstition or if it really does help the guys win, all that is known, is that everyone grows a beard at the start of the playoffs.

Now that we have a history, we can discuss the different kinds of beards. Shea Weber is known for his Sasquatch beard. Opponents on the ice are generally scared crapless when Shea comes towards them with his massive beard and scary eyes. I am not scared and I usually run towards him. He is gorgeous without the beard, but with it, it’s pure magic. It makes me want to run up and rub my nose all throughout it!

Just like Shea, Joe Thornton, from the San Jose Sharks has a Sasquatch kinda beard. It’s fuzzy and big, and I, for one, dig it. Doesn’t it just make you want to run your fingers and nose through it? Or is that just me?

Todd Bertuzzi, Patrick Sharpe, and Henrick Zetterberg all do the cleaned up kind of beard. I don’t feel they really follow the tradition since they are known to cut and clean up their beards. I like my beard wild and scary but these guys do the beard justice. 

There is also the neck beard. Its weird and I don’t understand it, but Tyler Seaguin from the Boston Bruins is scrumptious with it!

Then you have the cutie patootie guys, the young bucks, that can’t grow themselves hot beards. So this happens. Jonathan Ericsson is a beautiful man, and I, for one, love that this happens instead of a big scary beard. 

Some of the guys don’t think that the playoff beard is enough. Kevin Klein decided her was going to do a Mohawk too. Funny thing is, he started a trend and now almost all the Nashville Predators have Mohawks.

While I love the playoff beard, sometimes they can go horribly wrong and this happens. This is when playoff beards are not hot and no matter how much you think it will help you win, please help us little people and shave that mess! 

So really, after reading this, you have to admit, you like guys with beards too. So why don’t you go to your couch, turn on your TV to NBC sports and check out some hot hockey guys with beards. 

Believe me, you won’t regret it. GO PREDS!

About the Author
My name is Toni Aleo!

I am a wife, mother, and hopeless romantic.

I have been told I have anger issues, but I think it’s cause of my intense love for hockey!

I am the biggest Shea Weber fan ever, and can be found during hockey season with my nose pressed against the Bridgestone Arena’s glass, watching my Nashville Predators play!

When my nose isn’t pressed against the glass, I enjoy going to my husband and son’s hockey games, my daughters dance competition, hanging with my best friends, taking pictures, and reading the latest romance novel.

I love things that sparkle, I love the color pink, and did I mention I love hockey?

I hope to hear from you on here, my Facebook, or my twitter! Thank you so much!

Connect with Toni
http://tonialeo.com/
Facebook: Facebook.com/tonialeo1
Twitter: tonilovesweber6

Taking Shots
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Shots-Assassins-ebook/dp/B005SMXVRE/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/taking-shots-toni-aleo/1108529138?ean=2940014092937
LULU: http://www.lulu.com/shop/toni-aleo/taking-shots/paperback/product-20058217.html

Trying to Score
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Trying-to-Score-Assassins-ebook/dp/B007T3OXYU/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1334167660&sr=8-13
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/trying-to-score-toni-aleo/1110064019?ean=2940014127202
LULU: http://www.lulu.com/shop/toni-aleo/trying-to-score/paperback/product-20051953.html 

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