It is time for teams to dump archaic hair, facial hair rules
When the New York Islanders signed forward Anthony Duclair to a four-year contract, it was one of the best free agent decisions made during the offseason. He provides a squad that has been sorely lacking in offensive inventiveness, quickness, and goal scoring ability. Given that he gets to play under Patrick Roy, his former juniors coach, he ought to fit right in.
The sole drawback to Duclair’s relocation? In order to comply with the guidelines established by Lou Lamoriello, general manager, he had to alter his appearance.
Duclair was specifically required to trim his dreadlocks and shave his beard. Duclair indicated that he complied with the regulations by sharing a photo of his hair on social media on Wednesday night.
In 2024, this should not be the case.
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During his numerous front office trips in New Jersey, Toronto, and now New York, Lamoriello has imposed a number of restrictions on his players and hasn’t given an inch to nearly all of them. During the regular season, hair cannot touch the jersey collar, and jewelry is not permitted. Facial hair is also prohibited.
In addition, he has an odd rule that prohibits players from donning large jersey numbers. With this one, though, he appears to be somewhat flexible, letting players like Jaromir Jagr and Alexander Mogilny maintain their high stats as a token of appreciation for their NHL accomplishments.
These regulations are nearly the same as those that the New York Yankees, under former owner George Steinbrenner, have imposed on their players since the mid-1970s, prohibiting them from growing facial hair or growing it down to their jersey collars.
The idea is for everyone to have a consistent, polished appearance—a clean-cut image, if you will. But control is actually the key. It’s an avenue for power-hungry CEOs, like Lamoriello, to micromanage each and every aspect of their organization and squad. The goal is to eliminate each player’s uniqueness from the roster.
Yes, when Duclair decided to join with the Islanders, he most likely knew the regulations. If it was too much trouble, he did not have to sign there. However, that lessens the ridiculousness of these antiquated and artificial limitations.
Perhaps there was a period when such a strategy was effective. Even so, there remains disagreement. That moment, if it ever was, is long gone. Although it’s still a team game, modern players still value the freedom to be authentic and unique individuals.
A team’s potential to win is not enhanced by this degree of micromanagement and power grabs; in fact, it may deter players from choosing to sign with them.
While Lamoriello was a force to be reckoned with during his time with the Devils from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, he has not truly seen consistent, long-term success in nearly twenty years, and certainly not championship-caliber success. That might be enough to get him to try and think twice about what he is doing.
It’s not as though the current formula works.
