For me, this is the most wonderful time of the year. Stanley cup playoff hockey, nothing is better than this! I wanted to watch one of the most exciting young teams so I tuned in to the Pittsburgh Penguins facing off against the New York Rangers. I expected to see quick hard hitting offense and almost no play in the neutral zone but what I didn’t expect to see was the AWFUL facial hair of one Jaromir Jagr! Good lord! It looked like a baby squirrel died while traveling out of Jagr’s nose and just collapsed on his chin!

There are some pretty shabby looking playoff beards out there, but it’s still a bit early and we’ll have to wait and see who grows into the best playoff beard of 2008. (I smell another blog closer to the finals!)

But fear not, there are some really awesome and funny facial hair displays out there in the sports world right now! May I present a preliminary roster for the “Hairy Hall of Fame.”

• Nick Swisher-Perhaps this new Chicago White Sox center fielder uses his facial hair as a defense mechanism. Maybe he wanted to scare his new teammates into thinking he was crazy so he wouldn’t have to talk with them. That’s the only explanation I can come up with for his bleached blonde goatee.
• Brian Skinner-This Phoenix Suns center must be a really big Anthrax fan because he seems to be paying homage with his own version of the “Scott Ian” goatee.
• Kevin Youkilis-Who doesn’t love the spongy brownish-red facial hair of Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis? His goatee is something befitting of a Greek God…or something like that. Wouldn’t you agree?
• Todd Jones- Bow chika wowow. When this Tiger gets let out of the bullpen, he’ll go wild on the competition! You can’t tame his facial hair!
• Sal Fasano-He sported the Fu Manchu look with the Toronto Blue Jays and carries his tradition on with the Atlanta Braves.

Got any more suggestions? I would love to get your submissions and finalize the inductees of the “Hairy Hall of Fame”. I would like to reserve one spot for a “Historic Hairy Hall of Famer”. Perhaps one of these fine gentlemen might make the final ballot.

• Lanny Mcdonald- “With great mustache comes great responsibility.” This Calgary Flames player embodied that responsibility when he hoisted the cup in 1989 with his trade mark bushy facial hair. Even during the regular season, he sported a bright red bushy mustache 24/7!
• Rollie Fingers- This Oakland A’s ace carefully crafted his mustache just like he crafted his game. There are some serious handle bars on this mustache!

Please leave a comment below to suggest a current “Hairy Hall of Famer” or a historic one! Voting will follow shortly!