Yesterday, Anthony Duclair posted a photo to his Instagram story showing him getting a haircut before the Islanders’ training camp in a few weeks. The caption consisted of a single tear emoji.
It was nothing unusual. On July 1, Duclair posted a photo of himself as a child in a suit, clean-shaven and with short hair, and captioned it “Game 1” with a laughing emoji.
The controversy
The hockey world has been thrown into turmoil as a group of hockey fans condemned team president and general manager Lou Lamoriello’s rule of mandatory haircuts and clean-shaven faces, one of the rules he has followed from his days with the New Jersey Devils to Toronto and Long Island.
There are two reasons for this. First, many players grow facial hair quickly. Say hello to Kyle Palmieri. The first thing he has to do every morning is shave and think about the team. Second, there is the idea that everyone should look uniform, neat and businesslike. This limits individuality and would hypothetically bring the team closer together.
I went to Chaminade High School in Mineola and they had the exact same rules. No beards and short hair so everyone looked neat. For a private Catholic school, that makes sense. You can keep students under control and in order while maintaining high standards of well-groomed appearance. As a kid, that seemed a little silly to me, but it also forced me to think about whether my hair was well-groomed. I wasn’t allowed to grow a beard then and I still don’t have much more than a few tufts of hair on my chin, so that part never came into play.
Why does this rule exist?
What does all this mean? It means that Lamoriello’s rule encourages discipline. Regardless of everything, every player must conform to the same standards – the same hairstyle, the same beardlessness, the same lack of jewelry. Everyone is united behind the identity of a team. Therein lies Lamoriello’s true thinking. Unity and team building come from everyone’s discipline, even down to their appearance and demeanor.
Some people think it’s stupid and unnecessary for an NHL team to maintain the same standard. For others, it’s not a big deal and never has been. The players themselves don’t really seem to care, and if they did, they could hypothetically file a complaint with the NHLPA or outright refuse to sign a new contract with the Islanders.
Yet pretty much any player who played for Lamoreillo, past or present, will tell you that this is no big deal to them. It’s just a quirk that adds to the Hockey Hall of Famer’s reputation. Nearly half of the Islanders roster signed with Lamoriello for over half a decade.
The New York Yankees had similar rules dating back to the days when George Steinbrenner, a close friend of Lamoriello, managed the team. However, the Yankees allow mustaches, giving players some leeway for their personality.
Unfortunately, none of this ever came to light. Now, after Duclair posted about his haircut, a heated debate has erupted online about whether one of Lou’s rules should be scrapped.
So the debate is simple: Keep Lamoriello’s rules on haircuts and beards, which claim to create team unity through discipline, regardless of all other factors.
Why should the rule be abolished?
Others argue for the rule to be abolished, arguing that it takes away players’ freedom and affects the marketability of the team and its players. Placing all players in one box seems cruel and outdated, some say.
There’s no doubt that on the surface, the Islanders are as boring as can be. Not many personalities get a lot of attention on a national level, but the players like that. Perhaps someone like Mat Barzal could be better marketed with a little more freedom in his style, but for someone as soft-spoken as Brock Nelson, it seems hard to imagine that these kinds of rules would bother him one way or the other.
Hockey and its players often like to take a back seat, put their personalities aside and work together to create a team identity, build a culture and, ultimately, win the Stanley Cup.
Conclusions
The NHL’s ongoing battle for national relevance continues. The league desperately needs personalities and excitement, but Lamoriello’s rule seems to have the opposite effect. His rules, however, did not seem to hinder the development of Toronto Maple Leafs personalities such as Auston Matthews.
Ultimately, this age-old question boils down to whether Lamoriello’s reign is worth it. It can neither be quantified nor easily answered.
All the reporter knows is that, as far as anyone knows, this rule does not bother the players. It promotes discipline and team unity. However, it clearly limits individualism and part of the personality of the individual, and that is precisely where the debate lies.
Team identity is being tested by the growing individualism of trimming beards and growing hair beyond the collar. How important will all of this be when the puck drops against Utah HC at UBS Arena on October 10?
I guess not at all. It’s August 22nd. Have fun. After all, the Islanders’ first preseason game is now exactly one month away.
