Best Flyers Playoff Beards of the 2010 Run

It's that time of the year!! The weather is getting nicer by the day, baseball is entering its third week of the season, and yes, the Stanley Cup Playoffs start tonight!!! My Flyers don't start until tomorrow night, but I figured that I would pay homage to last year's amazing Finals run that the Flyers made.  As discussed with my buddy, Fett, it was the best playoffs that we have ever seen.  Between smacking around the Devils in round one, the Boston comeback in round two, clinching the Eastern Conference at home (we were at that game), and taking the Blackhawks to six games in the finals, the only thing that can beat last year would be actually winning the Cup.  I'll have a blog later these playoffs about the actual games, but for now...

The Top 5 Best Flyers Playoff Beards of the 2010 Finals Run:

#5 - Ville Leino

Ville Leino was an unbelievable surprise for the Flyers and all the fans in 2010.  After being traded to the Flyers by the Red Wings, Leino did not get much playing time at first.  But when he was placed on a line with Danny Briere and Scotty Hartnell, Leino's year took off like a bat out of hell.  This picture (courtesy of beardsandboners a chick's blog who gets off on beards) shows exactly why we Flyers fans love Leino.  He looks like he wants to rip someones head off.  The beard is solid all the way through, getting darker and more angry looking as the Flyers made it through the Finals.

#4 - Mike Richards

As the Captain of the Flyers, you need to not only lead by example on the ice, but in the beard category also.  Mikey Rich's beard in the picture above (courtesy of Yahoo Sports) is from the press conference after the Flyers clinched the Eastern Conference.  The beard got better and better, and if he would have just kept the mouzzy, it would have been a phenomenal porn stache.  Unlike some captains who cannot grow facial hair (Looking at you Towes and Crosby), Mikey Rich did good by his beard last year.  Now, it's time to grow it again!

#3 - Claude Giroux

Claude Giroux's beard was one of the most surprising beard of the 2010 run.  Knowing he has red hair, and knowing he is rather young, it was a toss up as to whether or not his beard would be good.  It turned out being great!  He kind of looks like a lumberjack from the northwest part of the country, hacking wood and eating deer and rabbits on a daily basis.(picture courtesy of Broad Street Hockey)  He was already becoming one of my favorite Fleyrs of all time (Top 5 to come later), but last year's playoffs sealed it.  The ability to grow that beard kind of helped, too.

#2 - Kimmo Timonen

The stalwart on the defensive line for the Flyers, Kimmo Timonen, has been one of the best pick ups in the Paul Holmgren era.  This is the furthest that Kimmo has gotten with the Flyers, and his beard show it.  What I call the most surprising beard of the playoffs, Kimmo had a full on mean beard.  Put that bruised eye above it, and you have a man who has been through hell, AKA, the Stanley Cup Playoffs. (picture courtesy of TheHockeyJunkies)

#1 - Scott Hartnell

How could there be a beard that beats this work of art?  Scotty Hartnell had a tough year last season (personally and professionally) but he permanently won the hearts of Flyers fans everywhere with the growth of his hair and that beard.  That thing had to be at least three inches thick.  Hartnell not only grew the beard for the playoffs(which every player should) but when it was time to cut his hair, he donated it to locks of love.  Class move by one of the most "hated" players in the sport. (picture courtesy of BeardsforKids)

Well, there you have it.  Those, in my opinion, were the best five beards from last year's playoff run.  Did I look past someone?  Let me know.  I started my playoff beard for the 2011 playoffs on Monday, so in the words of a great man...And here....we...go! 'Til next time, I'll be kicking back, sipping beers, you should too!