Hockey Hair: An Analysis

For a sport whose competitors are stereotyped as being masculine and tough, hockey players give a surprising amount of thought and preparation to their physical appearance. Their hairstyles often receive a large amount of attention. The reason for this is simple: their hair is virtually the only part of their bodies that can be seen outside of their hockey equipment.

For years, hockey players did not wear helmets. This allowed their hair to become somewhat of a focal point. Few people who have seen Guy LaFleur fly down the wing or Doug Wilson's perfectly coiffed 'fro-mullet can deny this. The hair even spawned such famous nicknames as “The Golden Jet” and his son, "The Golden Brett".

Football, basketball and baseball players have some outlets to demonstrate some personal flavour. Barring pitchers in the Major Leagues, many athletes have used tattoos as a way to demonstrate their individuality, without compromising the concept of “the uniform”.

In the NHL, a league that is almost devoid of controversy when compared to its 3 prominent American cousins (NFL, NBA, MLB), players are much less outspoken and tend to have fewer disciplinary issues than their non-hockey contemporaries. This is evidenced by the stink raised when Ray Emery dedicated part of his helmet to boxing sideshow Mike Tyson. In the other leagues, this would hardly cause an observer to bat an eye – in the more conservative NHL, it caused a minor schism.

Since it is much more difficult for NHL-ers to stand-out from the crowd than other athletes, they have maintained their hair as a point of interest - the only part of their bodies visible outside of their equipment. While some players take this opportunity to simply be different, this focus on the hair naturally causes other players to respond by growing long locks that can be admired with or without a helmet on. This, my friends, is the true story of Hockey Hair.

Many of those who aren’t properly integrated into the culture of hockey may confuse Hockey Hair with a Mullet. It is a simple cultural misunderstanding that I choose to blame on the 1980’s. At a time when the average sports fan (outside of Canada and select American cities) was becoming aware of the league’s existence, there was one figure who stood above the rest, in terms of name-recognition: Wayne Gretzky. And at the helm of his Los Angeles Kings team was a charismatic young coach who led the team deep into the 1993 Playoffs. Regardless of whether that team won the Cup or not, Barry Melrose and Wayne Gretzky had a hand in permanently marrying the terms “Hockey Hair” and “Mullet”.

While Barry Melrose was erroneously credited with sporting “Hockey Hair,” and in doing so, confused the many of non-traditional hockey fans, Wayne did, in fact, wear his in the true “Hockey Hair” style. There are, however, many differences between true Hockey Hair and the common Mullet.

As many of you know, the Mullet has often been described as “business in the front and party in the back”. It goes by many names: Kentucky Waterfall, Neck Blanket, Mississippi Mudflap, or, my personal favorite, the Ape Drape. It is a hair-do that has been trimmed short from the front until about mid-skull, where it becomes longer and less groomed. In instances where the back is cut, it is still longer than the front half of the hair. Classic examples of the mullet include the aforementioned Melrose, young Jaromir Jagr, and Joe Dirt.

True Hockey Hair, on the other hand, is longer, more flowing hair that protrudes from the sides and back of a hockey helmet. Also known as "flow", it is generally the same length all-around. The back and sides may be shorter than the top, but in most cases the hair is of a similar length all over. Classic examples of desirable hockey hair include José Theodore and Antoine Vermette. Shane Doan does well for himself and while Sidney Crosby can't grow a playoff beard, he has pretty good flow. Thomas Vanek provides an example of more average hockey hair.

The astute among you are undoubtedly thinking: “But Justin, Barry Melrose and Al Iafrate sported classic Mullets – don’t try to tell me those were Hockey Hair.” And my answer to that is: Touché. I won’t try to tell you those were hockey hair. Those were good, old fashioned Mullets. I am not trying to claim that Mullets don’t exist in hockey; it just isn’t their natural environment.

The natural environment of the Mullet is 1985. Or European soccer leagues. And hopefully that is one trend that won’t come back to our neck of the woods.