Grabbing a beard? NHL has it covered

Toronto centre Nazem Kadri may have got off lightly for grabbing Joe Thornton’s beard in Thursday’s shootout win over San Jose.

For one, he survived a tilt with a much bigger man with only some facial swelling. But he also escaped further punishment for getting his hand tangled in Thornton’s mountain-man beard, pulling out a chunk of hair in the process.

Asked whether the rule book covered beard-pulling, the NHL pointed to Rule 75.2 (ii) which says:

“Any player who is guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct including, but not limited to hair-pulling, biting, grabbing hold of a face mask, etc. If warranted, and specifically when injury results, the referee may apply Rule 21 — Match Penalties.”

Both combatants received only fighting majors.

Kadri, who was giving up at least four inches and 30 pounds to the 38-year-old Thornton, appeared to be trying to grab a handful of his sweater but got beard instead — unintentionally, he said later.

“I mean, he’s a big boy.” he said of the six-foot-four Shark. “I couldn’t reach all the way across his shoulder. I felt like I just grabbed him in the middle of his jersey and just came down with a handful of his hair.

“I thought I was a hockey player not a barber,” he added with a chuckle.

The Sharks showed a sense of humour about the affair.

“Now you tell us,” the team said while retweeting a post from OMG-facts saying “Alexander the Great encouraged his army to shave so rivals wouldn’t grab their beards during battle.”

Thornton, who didn’t speak after the game, has been in beard brouhahas before.

In the 2015-16 playoffs, he and St. Louis centre David Backes each grabbed the other’s beard during an altercation.