Joe Thornton shaves iconic “lifestyle beard” during season pause
Thornton’s daughter shaves his beard and Burns’ wife trims his hair ... we’re gonna have a whole new team, fellas.
We’ve all been getting the urge to cut our hair while in isolation, right? I gave myself bangs a few weeks ago, also trimming a few inches off the ends, and lately I’ve been wanting to buy bleach and go to town on my hair. Hair salons and barbershops being closed have lead people to either getting creative or getting bored enough to take some scissors to their own hair. Giving yourself bangs right now isn’t quite the cry for help that it used to signal.
But what about beards?
An eight-second Twitter video has revealed that for the second time, Joe Thornton has removed his iconic “lifestyle beard,” — a trend started in the 2015-16 season with teammate Brent Burns that has continued since.
*poof* pic.twitter.com/kQVdFwjnI2
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) May 2, 2020
The pair donned a bit of extra fur for ESPN: The Magazine’s “Body Issue” in July of 2017, letting the beards speak for themselves. During the 2017-18 season, Thornton also famously lost a chunk of his beard during a fight with forward Nazem Kadri, then playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
You know them for their playoff beards.
— ESPN (@espn) June 30, 2017
Now, Joe Thornton and Brent Burns are on ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue cover. pic.twitter.com/8XzJLlSsXf
You would think that posing nude on the cover of ESPN: The Magazine might earn some commitment to the bit, but a preseason party at the Thornton residence in October 2018 saw his teammates chipping away slowly at his facial hair with a trimmer.
from sorensen's story: pic.twitter.com/Px6KL1fGJF
— sie, at home, (@nowyousieme) October 2, 2018
He’s left it untouched since, but boredom in isolation gets us all eventually. This time it was his nine-year-old daughter Ayla who got the honors of revealing Jumbo Joe’s chin to the world again.
He regretted it pretty quickly last time, telling reporters the next day, “I regretted [shaving] as soon as it started hitting the floor.”
At least this time, he’ll be able to grow it out again in peace. If he wants to, that is.
And if you are thinking about giving yourself a trim, check out this video Brent Burns and his wife recently did with Scott Sellers of Great Clips, with some tips on how to do it at home: