It’s a tradition that has grown over time.

The New York Islanders are credited with starting the tradition of growing playoff beards in the 1980s.

They did it for superstitious reasons and to build team unity. They pledged not to shave until they were eliminated from their playoff run.

In the early 1980s, the Islanders were able to grow such lush beards because they never got eliminated, winning four straight Stanley Cups beginning in 1980.

With the NHL playoffs beginning Tuesday night, NHL players will carry this tradition forward, hoping they can match the Islanders for hockey success and facial hair.

However, the tradition is optional and many players opt out.

In a Leaf National community forum, fans were asked who has the best chance of growing the fullest beard on the Toronto squad.

Topping the poll so far is Nazem Kadri.

Fans were also asked who would make the saddest attempt at growing a beard.

The leader so far is Jake Gardiner.

The beard-growing tradition has become something more than just a frivolous competition.

The National Hockey League Players’ Association has partnered with the Heart and Stroke Foundation to raise money for a good cause on its Beard-A-Thon website.

Former NHL player Brett MacLean is serving as a spokesperson for the NHLPA Beard-A-Thon this year.

After playing with the Phoenix Coyotes and Winnipeg Jets, his NHL career was cut short due to a cardiac arrest he suffered when his heart stopped while playing pick-up hockey last summer in Owen Sound.

However, he had to retire.

This is the third year of the NHLPA’s initiative, which will see the proceeds going towards the Heart and Stroke Foundations’ life-saving research and programs.

In the U.S., it’s also become a way for people to pledge money for other good causes and there is a Beard-A-Thon website you can link through to participate.

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Meanwhile, on social media sites, fans around North America are joining in.

They have had their last shave and once their team begins play, they are hiding their razors until their teams are eliminated.

One woman on Twitter got in on the fun of it, wearing the St. Louis Blues colours and a T-shirt emblazoned with the words: “Real Women Love Playoff Beards!”

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