The greatest NHL playoff beards of all time

The late Bill Flett didn't have a playoff beard as much as he had an all-the-time beard, but it deserves mention thanks to its sheer magnificence. He won the Stanley Cup with the Flyers in 1974 before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

While we normally associate Lanny McDonald with his epic mustache, he grew a full beard for the 1989 Stanley Cup playoffs. He led the Flames to a 4-2 series win against the Montreal Canadiens to capture the Cup in the final NHL game of his career. 

Paul Mara played for six different NHL teams in his 12-season NHL career, making the playoffs five times. His playoff beard was always something to be admired, although he never won a Stanley Cup with any of the teams he played on. 

Jeff Carter's playoff transformation may be somewhat terrifying, but at the very least it has helped him play in three Cup finals and earn two Cup rings. 

Scott Hartnell enhanced the effect of his playoff beard with shoulder-length curly hair, but unfortunately did not get to lift the Stanley Cup with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010.

Four-time Stanley Cup Champion Scott Niedermayer is considered one of the greatest NHL defensemen of all time. His salt-and-pepper playoff beard always seemed to be perfectly in place. 

The hulking Boston Bruins captain captured the Cup in 2011 with a beard that looked like it had its own gravitational pull. It's entirely possible that the Vancouver Canucks defense got tangled up in it during their Stanley Cup Final series. 

The 2008 Detroit Red Wings as a group turned in a strong showing in the playoff beard department, but the MVP was definitely Conn Smythe winner Henrik Zetterberg. 

Shea Weber's playoff beard has a mythical quality about it. Although the defenseman, now with Montreal, has never made it past the second round of the playoffs, his beard always attains final round lengths. 

Although he would later go on to win the Cup with Anaheim while relatively clean-shaven in 2007, Jean-Sebastien Giguere had a serious playoff beard going on in the 2003 final, where his team lost to the New Jersey Devils. He did win the Conn Smythe trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the playoffs for that losing effort, though.

We're going to go ahead and count this beard even though Joe Thornton was working on it all regular season long, because come on, look at it. Joe Thornton is still chasing his first Stanley Cup, but there's always this year. 

Here's another beard we're going to count even though it technically started growing before the playoffs started. Brent Burns accentuated his playoff beard with a little man bun. 

Dan Boyle won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004, but back then his beard was more pepper than salt. He then treated us to a great playoff beard every year with the San Jose Sharks and later the New York Rangers. 

The New York Islanders are credited with turning the playoff beard into a tradition. Clark Gillies won four Cups with them in the early '80s and looked pretty darn good doing it. 

Maxime Talbot was a fan favourite during the 2009 Stanley Cup final, in which his Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings in seven games. His playoff beard was really working for him, but we hope he was careful about keeping it clean. 

Three-time Stanley Cup Champion Justin Williams is nicknamed "Mr. Game 7" thanks to his many effective appearances in playoff Game 7s. His playoff look incorporates a beard of decent length and volume, and in recent years he has added what can only be described as floofy hair to his style. Here's hoping the Washington Capitals go all the way so we can see how big it gets.

Duncan Keith has so far won three Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks, perfecting a Disheveled Canadian Hockey Bro aesthetic along the way. 

Mike Commodore won a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006, showing up to all the games in a Carrot Top disguise. In his post-NHL career he has delighted fans with his Twitter antics. 

Two-time Stanley Cup Champion Corey Crawford is what happens when you take a baby face and add two months' worth of playoff beard to it. 

Phil Kessel was unfairly maligned by the media in his previous NHL city of Toronto, but he quickly managed to become a beloved figure in Pittsburgh, winning a Stanley Cup in his first season with the team. His beard grew bushy enough that teammate Conor Sheary could have hidden in it if he wanted.