Canadiens talk T-shirts, beards and opportunity
Players find personalized garb in lockers as race for the Stanley Cup gets underway
When the Canadiens showed up in Brossard for their morning skate Wednesday, they had new T-shirts hanging in their locker stalls.
On the front of the navy-blue shirts is the CH logo with “ALL IN” written underneath and the player’s number on the left shoulder. On the back is “Opportunity awaits.”
“We came in this morning and they were in our stalls, so it’s always nice to get a nice, fresh Tshirt,” defenceman Jordie Benn said. “This one’s kind of cool. It’s awesome.
“All the guys got the same shirts, but it depends where you’re from,” he added. “If you’re from Russia, it’s in Russian in the back. Other guys have different languages in this room, so it’s all different. A couple French ... but it all says ‘Opportunity awaits.’ ”
The opportunity for the Canadiens to win a 25th Stanley Cup — and their first since 1993 — began Wednesday night at the Bell Centre when they met the New York Rangers in Game 1 of their firstround playoff series.
A lot of the Canadiens players have already started growing playoff beards, but they will have to go a long way in the post-season to catch up to Benn’s bushy facial hair, which has its own Twitter account: @BeardofBenn.
“There’s a couple of guys in the room that could probably grow a pretty good beard,” Benn said. “Some of our younger guys, it’s going to be a little peach fuzz for a while. Obviously, I’ve cheated all year, but this is a lifestyle, not just something I’m going to do just randomly. So we’ll see what kind of beards come out.”
Michel Lamarche of La Presse Canadienne suggested to Benn that he could have gone the other way and shaved his beard for the playoffs.
“I could have, but I don’t think I look the greatest without a beard, so I’m going to keep it,” he said.
The last time Benn shaved his beard was after losing a Super Bowl bet two years ago to former Dallas Stars teammate Tyler Seguin. Benn picked the Seattle Seahawks to win and Seguin took the New England Patriots. Seguin was to shave his head if he lost the bet.
After Wednesday’s morning skate, Arpon Basu of NHL.com asked Benn about his beard: “Do you know what’s actually happening under there?”
“Oh yeah,” Benn responded. “I’m not like Burnsy and Jumbo (the San Jose Sharks’ wildly bearded pair of Brent Burns and Joe Thornton). They have no control over what’s going on there. I’ve got full control over what’s going on on my face.”
Opportunity awaits for some other Canadiens to grow bushy playoff beards. They’re all in.