At the start of the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane stunned the hockey world while becoming a hero in the world of hockey hair, rejecting the traditional playoff beard for a Stanley Cup mullet.
His rationale last season:
"I have to keep [the beard] as much away as I possibly can because it was pretty embarrassing last year. I've got the playoff mullet going now, so I hope to try and keep that for a bit. Short on top, kind of like a regular hair cut, and then the long hair in the back. Kinda bring back the '80's look, I guess. They were saying 'business in the front, party in the back.' Those were the comments I got about it."
Admittedly, we put way to much stock in the supernatural when it comes to hockey, but this much is clear: Hockey beard, and the Blackhawks lost in the conference finals. Hockey mullet, and the Blackhawks won their first Stanley Cup since 1961, with Patrick Kane scoring the game-winner.
So it's not so much a surprise that Kane is bringing the 'party in the back' back for the 2011 postseason, beginning at the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night; the surprise is that the rest of the NHL hasn't followed suit. Well, at least the players that don't already have them.
From the Chicago Tribute, here is Lieutenant Mullet:
"It's back," Kane said Monday as he stripped off his stocking cap prior to meeting with the media. "Hopefully I didn't cut it into this for a short stint."
Kane said he got the new 'do not long after the Wild defeated to Stars on Sunday night to give the Hawks a postseason berth.
"Right after the Minnesota game that was my first phone call, actually, to my barber and he made the trip downtown, opened up the shop and gave me a quick haircut," Kane said.
Getting your barber to open up on a Sunday night so you can have a fresh playoff mullet the next morning? Wow … to the victor go the spoils, eh?
Plus, we imagine Kane found this 'do quite helpful in keeping hair out of his face during cell phone photos at Chicago-area bars at 2 a.m. That way, he can keep his favorite Yankees hat from getting pub funk.
So the Canucks will again have to face the Indian that haunts their Cup dreams, the ominous tones of "Chelsea Dagger" in Chicago and, now, the Mullet. The Blackhawks are one cardboard cutout of Dustin Byfuglien away from breaking their opponents' minds.