Success in playoffs means thicker beards for Coyotes

The Phoenix Coyotes have gone farther in the playoffs than ever before, and they have the playoff beards to prove it.
 
Defenseman Keith Yandle spent most of an interview scratching his facial hair and when asked about how he was enjoying the hockey rite of spring, he wasn't shy.
 
"It's awful. I spend all day picking things out of it. Food, loose objects, everything," Yandle said. "I love it because it's a sign we're still around fighting for the Stanley Cup. But it's not one of my favorite things."
 
Some of the Coyotes -- such as defenseman David Schlemko -- are rocking Finals-length beards in the second round. Others, like Rostislav Klesla, are using it as camouflage to cover facial cuts and stitches they have acquired during the postseason. And then there is captain Shane Doan, who has waited 16 years for the chance to grow a beard beyond the first round, only to discover it's being less than cooperative. His scraggly playoff beard isn't taking to his baby face.

"It's embarrassing," Doan admitted. "But I'm happy to still have one."

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