University of Minnesota Athletics
Simply Unique
3/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
You have probably noticed the hair flowing out the bottom of the helmet, and you would probably like some explanation as to why they grow the "mullet." Yet, after an entire season of asking nearly every player and even venturing for a coach's input, we were left with some humorous responses, but mainly just the excuse that - it's tradition and you can't mess with that.
"Hockey hair is a must," Johnny Pohl proclaimed. "When my best friend and I were in seventh and eighth grade, we would watch the Gophers on TV and we thought they had the best hair. If you play for the Gophers you have to have hockey hair. There has to be at least four or five guys on the team with hockey hair."
"I had a mullet when I was younger. It's just tradition," Erik Wendell commented. "It's not a big thing. I don't think it's really a phase like some boys go through like shaving your number in the side of your head or growing your hair in a mullet. It's just tradition."
"I personally don't look good in a mullet," Adam Hauser said. "But hey, if you do, then I'm all for it. You have to get a stylish mullet, like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 2."
"The bigger the better," senior Nick Anthony said. "You've got to have the `wings' coming out of your helmet."
"Hockey hair would just be considered long, wet hair," Matt Koalska said. "It's nice but it kind of gets in your face during games, or your helmet readjusts or falls off because of it."
"Mullets are not hockey hair," Grant Potulny declared. "Hockey hair is something that happens every year during the season. Most of the guys on the team decided to just let it grow this year. When I played [USHL] in Lincoln, some of the guys used to perm theirs."
The hair is apparently on its last legs according to Coach Motzko, who stated, "Your hair flows out of your helmet, and you make sure it does. They have started to go more `high and tight' though. So, you have to go back to programs from ten years ago, and then it was really the hockey hair. We've only got a couple clowns that have that now."
Someone should probably inform the sophomore class, who recently followed that USHL tradition by perming their hair, of this dying fad. Now that locker room smell! Have you ever had the urge after a two-mile run to stick your sweaty socks and shoes in someone's face? It's not something you really think about, but as an outsider that is the only way to describe the hockey smell - sweaty, dirty socks and shoes. But ten times worse!
"It's definitely a very bad smell," Koalska said. "Obviously the worst smell is in the gloves, which kind of sticks with you and you have to scrub real hard in order to get rid of it."
"You can't keep everything smelling good all the time," Hauser said. "If you put 25 guys in a room after working hard and sweating for two to three hours, it's not going to be smelling too good."
"I don't notice it," Anthony said. "Other people that come into the locker room think it smells bad. I guess it becomes part of your nose."
"If you yourself smell, you don't notice it," Potulny stated.
"Anytime you are in the locker room and you weren't out there sweating and creating part of the smell, you'd about pass out," Wendell stated. "They do a good job of taking care of our locker room, which is one of those things you really appreciate. It's just comes with the territory. Like when you're out in the country and it starts to smell like cows and farm. You just have to deal with it."
"It smells different after a win and a loss," Pohl said. "After a loss you don't even want to be there, but after a win you never want to leave, but neither of them smell very good. I love it though. If I could live in there and put a cot in there, I would."
"I love the smell of it," Taffe said. "I've grown up with it my whole life. I can't smell anything but hockey. And that's not a bad thing."
"I miss it! When you're away in the summer, you can't wait to get in the rink and smell it," Coach Motzko stated. "It's one of the best smells in the world. If they could bottle it and I could bring it home with me, it'd be great!"
The hair is tradition. The smell is obviously something that grows on you. Both are truly unique to hockey.
Written by Men's Athletics Media Relations Student Assistant Tarcy Thompson
It could be argued that the most unique aspects of hockey lie in the requirement of all-around athleticism or that fans have to bundle up to shield themselves from the cold. However, two other aspects that, while they may not revolve around the game itself, certainly set hockey on its own plateau. One brings the phrase "party up front, business in back" to mind, and the other prompts the purchase of air-fresheners. Those aspects are none other than the long, shaggy hair and that locker room smell.
You have probably noticed the hair flowing out the bottom of the helmet, and you would probably like some explanation as to why they grow the "mullet." Yet, after an entire season of asking nearly every player and even venturing for a coach's input, we were left with some humorous responses, but mainly just the excuse that - it's tradition and you can't mess with that.
"Hockey hair is a must," Johnny Pohl proclaimed. "When my best friend and I were in seventh and eighth grade, we would watch the Gophers on TV and we thought they had the best hair. If you play for the Gophers you have to have hockey hair. There has to be at least four or five guys on the team with hockey hair."
"I had a mullet when I was younger. It's just tradition," Erik Wendell commented. "It's not a big thing. I don't think it's really a phase like some boys go through like shaving your number in the side of your head or growing your hair in a mullet. It's just tradition."
"I personally don't look good in a mullet," Adam Hauser said. "But hey, if you do, then I'm all for it. You have to get a stylish mullet, like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 2."
"The bigger the better," senior Nick Anthony said. "You've got to have the `wings' coming out of your helmet."
"Hockey hair would just be considered long, wet hair," Matt Koalska said. "It's nice but it kind of gets in your face during games, or your helmet readjusts or falls off because of it."
"Mullets are not hockey hair," Grant Potulny declared. "Hockey hair is something that happens every year during the season. Most of the guys on the team decided to just let it grow this year. When I played [USHL] in Lincoln, some of the guys used to perm theirs."
The hair is apparently on its last legs according to Coach Motzko, who stated, "Your hair flows out of your helmet, and you make sure it does. They have started to go more `high and tight' though. So, you have to go back to programs from ten years ago, and then it was really the hockey hair. We've only got a couple clowns that have that now."
Someone should probably inform the sophomore class, who recently followed that USHL tradition by perming their hair, of this dying fad. Now that locker room smell! Have you ever had the urge after a two-mile run to stick your sweaty socks and shoes in someone's face? It's not something you really think about, but as an outsider that is the only way to describe the hockey smell - sweaty, dirty socks and shoes. But ten times worse!
"It's definitely a very bad smell," Koalska said. "Obviously the worst smell is in the gloves, which kind of sticks with you and you have to scrub real hard in order to get rid of it."
"You can't keep everything smelling good all the time," Hauser said. "If you put 25 guys in a room after working hard and sweating for two to three hours, it's not going to be smelling too good."
"I don't notice it," Anthony said. "Other people that come into the locker room think it smells bad. I guess it becomes part of your nose."
"If you yourself smell, you don't notice it," Potulny stated.
"Anytime you are in the locker room and you weren't out there sweating and creating part of the smell, you'd about pass out," Wendell stated. "They do a good job of taking care of our locker room, which is one of those things you really appreciate. It's just comes with the territory. Like when you're out in the country and it starts to smell like cows and farm. You just have to deal with it."
"It smells different after a win and a loss," Pohl said. "After a loss you don't even want to be there, but after a win you never want to leave, but neither of them smell very good. I love it though. If I could live in there and put a cot in there, I would."
"I love the smell of it," Taffe said. "I've grown up with it my whole life. I can't smell anything but hockey. And that's not a bad thing."
"I miss it! When you're away in the summer, you can't wait to get in the rink and smell it," Coach Motzko stated. "It's one of the best smells in the world. If they could bottle it and I could bring it home with me, it'd be great!"
The hair is tradition. The smell is obviously something that grows on you. Both are truly unique to hockey.
Written by Men's Athletics Media Relations Student Assistant Tarcy Thompson
