Thursday, March 15, 2007 Older Editions

Bearded hockey team faces state final

By Brian Messenger

Things can get pretty hairy during hockey's Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Part superstition, part team-unity builder, many pros will try skating their way to a championship without shaving their faces.

The Andover High School hockey team that will play for a state championship on Sunday has taken a page out of that same playbook.

"A lot of us are pretty young and can't really grow much of one, but we try," said senior forward PJ Paonessa of the teams' three-week-old playoff beards.

On Sunday, the Andover boys will be competing on the same sheet of ice that their heroes call home, when they face-off against Hanover in the Division 2 state championship game at the TD Banknorth Garden. They are believed to be the first team in the Greater Lawrence region to reach the state final.

"It's going to be incredible. Ever since you've been a kid, you dreamed to skate on the same ice that the Bruins play on," said Paonessa. "I can't believe I'm going to be able to do that."

While the Boston Bruins haven't taken home a title since 1972, Andover can rightly believe 2006-07 is its year to win it all.

At 19-5-1 on the season, the squad has won 12 out of its last 13 games and five in a row en route to the state final, included tournament victories over Haverhill, Tewksbury, Masconomet and Lynnfield.

"It's a dream come true, but it's not just going to skate in the Garden, it's going to win a state championship," said senior co-captain and standout forward Tucker Mullin, who's racked up AHS single-season records for goals, assists and points this year. "A state championship is the No. 1 goal. I'd trade everything else for a state championship. I think we all would."

Beyond the dominant play of their top scoring line, anchored by Mullin, the team has played excellent as a unit too, allowing only three goals thus far in the tournament's four games. Along with that uniform play has come a uniform look to go with it.

"A lot of people say we really need to shave. And what we've been saying is we'll shave March 19, after the state championship game," said Mullin. "We've had a good feeling we were going to make it here. But it's going to be nice to shave."

For some of the young Warriors, growing a playoff beard has come harder than some of the team's wins this year.

"There's some spots where it doesn't grow, so it's goofy in some spots. It's fun," said Colin Brennan, also a senior co-captain. "Everyone's trying. But some of the underclassmen aren't doing too well."

"A lot of the freshmen don't have much going on," added Paonessa. "They've got a permanently shaved face."

Lynnfield's hockey team, which Andover beat 7-1 on March 10 to win the Division 2 North title, had all their players bleach their hair before a Cinderella-style run in the tournament, and other teams had shaved their heads for the postseason, said Paonessa.

"A lot of teams do something during playoff time," he said. "We've stuck with it. It's been working real well for us. No one's going to go shaving it now."

Mullin said the team got the idea from the NHL players, who by late spring often look like lumberjacks on skates.

"We all got it from the pro guys who grow it out," he said. "It's just fun to do, because you're not always in the playoffs. When you're deep in the playoffs, it's fun to see because you've got a real playoff beard."

Senior goalie Dan Abreu thinks the phenomenon of playoff beards is specific to the sport.

"It's pretty much just hockey," he said. "We've been watching hockey since we were little. You see the guys in the pros do the playoff beard and I just think it's something fun that we tried."

Manning a notoriously superstitious position on the ice, Abreu said at one time in his days as a goalie he would put on his pads in a particular order, but now, he's just concentrating on winning games.

"He's not really that superstitious of a kid," said Paonessa of his teammate. "He's been making some huge stops for us."

"It's seems like, over time, I've gotten less superstitious," Abreu said. "I'm not really thinking about superstition. I'm just thinking about the game. And the playoff beard, I just think of it [as] something that's fun to do and not something that brings us luck."

Abreu said this is the longest he's ever let his facial hair get, though the undisputed best team beard goes to that of injured defensemen Dan Godefroi, who all four athletes confirmed was NHL-caliber facial hair.

"He's been able to grow one since eighth grade," said Paonessa. "He's got a full one coming in."

Brennan said he typically shaves his face twice a week, but not during tournament time.

"I'm kind of glad I've got another week to grow it. But after Sunday it's going," he said. "So far so good. Hopefully it will work for one more win."

Beards or no beards, it's been a season to remember. A school-record 20th win on the season will bring the Andover players something no area hockey team has ever achieved.

"It's going to be unbelievable," said Brennan. "My last high school hockey game is going to be at the Garden in a state championship. I can't really ask for more than that."