San Jose Sharks' Brent Burns explains why hockey hair is so important

Hockey players are traditional guys, that fact has been well established. Whether it’s about observing traditions on the ice, like hockey hugs, or abandoning their razors during the Stanley Cup playoffs, hockey players take their cues from the past.

In a way, it can be restrictive, trying to forge new paths while still trying to honor their history, but there’s one tradition that NHL players have embraced and made their own. Their hockey hair.

It’s a weird thing to be into, considering that the only time players really get to show of their flow is during warm ups, when they aren’t required to wear helmets, but it’s something that many in the league have embraced, most noteabley San Jose Sharks’ defenseman Brent Burns.

“Ever since I was a kid, playing with teammates, you always tried to do something crazy with your hair, to bring the team together,” he recalls. Burns spoke to For The Win as a part of a campaign for Great Clips, which is launching its Legendhairy NHL Greats campaign for the playoffs.

“As a kid, you’re watching your favorite player go to warmups with no helmet on and you see the flow going with the wind, it’s just kind of always been a really important thing with the NHL. I think that’s why it’s such a big thing to do it today.”

For Burns, whose known for his free-wheeling approach to his coif and beard, hair is as much a part of his game-day routine as anything else.

“Hair is just another part of the routine,” he said,”Away to push the body along even if the mind doesn’t want to go.”

Burns also gets a little extra help from his family to help tame his locks.

“My wife always braids my hair at home,” he says of his game day routine.  “She does a french braid for me and I put a little beard oil in. That getting  just gets the competitive juices going.”

Just like guys eat the same meals before a game, or tape their sticks a certain way, the hair’s also gotta be just right.

“If you do your same routine, even if you don’t feel good, it can bring you into a place where you do feel good and you put yourself in a place to succeed.”