It’s playoff time and for players in the NHL that also means the razor is put away for a while.
We started ranking the best playoff beards in round one and now we’re back for round two. A lot of people (Like Nick Foligno) feel as though it’s cheating to start early, but we are not going to punish anyone for choosing the live the beard life all season long.
So going in, we had a couple legendary beards. We know that as the playoffs go on, more players will emerge as contenders. On the flip side, some people fell off of the list because their teams were eliminated. When a team is eliminated from the playoffs, all players from that team will be eliminated from the rankings. We should also mention that injured players will not be eligible, but if they come back in the first round they can return in the next iteration.
Here is everyone that was eliminated in the first round:
ELMINATED: (10. Radko Gudas: Total: 18/30, 8. Jakob Voracek: Total: 20/30, 7. David Savard: Total: 20/30, 6. Jake Muzzin: Total: 21/30)
Now, to the rankings themselves. Scores will be made up of three different scores out of 10: Thickness, Length and Messiness. Thickness and Length are the obvious categories, but messiness is something specifically for playoff beards. A playoff beard is meant to be unkempt. Manicuring the beard at all takes away from the tradition, which is what makes beards like Laine and Burns’ so special.
So, without further ado, your 2018 Second-Round NHL Beard Power Rankings:
Victor Hedman: Total: 17/30
Thickness: 5
Length: 6
Messiness: 6
Big man, big beard.
Braden Holtby: Total: 18/30
Thickness: 8
Length: 5
Messiness: 5
Braden Holtby is back to the starting position and his beard is climbing. If the Caps can get past the second round, he could make some moves.
Deryk Engelland: Total: 19/30
Thickness: 7
Length: 6
Messiness: 6
The Vegas Golden Knights make history once again, making the Beard Power Rankings in their first season.
Dustin Byfuglien: Total: 19/30
Thickness: 7
Length: 6
Messiness: 6
Dustin Byfuglien and the above players have all benefitted greatly from some teams being eliminated from the Playoffs.
Joe Morrow: Total: 21/30
Thickness: 8
Length: 7
Messiness: 6
The Winnipeg Jets are dominating the Beard Power Rankings. Things will really get shaken up if they advance.
Phil Kessel: Total: 21/30
Thickness: 8
Length: 6
Messiness: 7
While he doesn’t have quite the same thickness that Gudas has, Kessel is in a pretty similar boat to his first-round competitor. If the Penguins can make a repeat appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, Phil the Thrill has a shot at number one.
Mathieu Perreault: Total: 22/30
Thickness: 7
Length: 7
Messiness: 8
The Winnipeg Jets have some serious beards. Perreault should also get some bonus points for his flow, but there are no bonus points in this made up ranking system.
Patrik Laine: Total: 22/30
Thickness: 5
Length: 7
Messiness: 10
Once again, the most controversial pick. Clearly there are a lot of people that don’t like the look of Laine’s beard, and it doesn’t have great coverage (Mainly neck), but it’s the kind of greasy beard that goes down in playoff history. Even if you don’t like the look, you can’t deny that it’s iconic.
Ryan Ellis: Total: 23/30
Thickness: 7
Length : 8
Messiness 8
The early leaders actually have a slight disadvantage because it’s difficult to see change in their beards so early. Still, nobody has caught up to Ellis just yet. It remains to be seen if he’ll be able to catch #1.
Brent Burns: Total: 26/30
Thickness: 7
Length: 9
Messiness: 10
The only person that can give him a run for his money in the first round is his teammate Joe Thornton, but he is injured at the moment.
