Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry is throwing his support behind the hometown team in the ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs by ditching his razor.
Curry is working on his "playoff beard" in a show of support for the Jacksonville Icemen, who clinched a spot in the post-season.
The playoff beard begins. Join us. #OneCityOneJacksonville Let’s go @JaxIcemen pic.twitter.com/0ZV8rwyu5z
— Lenny Curry (@lennycurry) April 8, 2019
The mayor, a vocal sports fan, told WJCT News partner News4Jax, "If all of our teams in town can get a run, maybe I'll have to live with a beard year-round."
Curry also released a playoff beard fact sheet with guidelines on how to follow the long-standing hockey tradition that was started back in the 1980s along with the #GrowingSupport hashtag.
Congrats to the @JaxIcemen for making the Playoffs! 👏👏👏 The team and the Mayor kicked off the #GrowingSupport campaign, asking fans to grow their beards and support the team during their run, especially during the home playoff game on April 18 in #DTJax. #GrowingSupport pic.twitter.com/tLmzCY9bh7
— #DTJax (@DTJax) April 8, 2019
Among the tips:
- The playoff beard is never shaved, groomed or trimmed.
- Triming and grooming is acceptable ONLY after a loss.
- An itchy beard is never an excuse to shave it.
The full set of guideslines and a history of the beard-growing hockey tradition is available here.
WJCT Sports Analyst Cole Pepper reports the Icemen will face the top seed Florida Everblades in the first round. The series is scheduled to begin on April 11 in Estero on the Everblades' home ice.
The series schedule:
Game 1: Thursday, April 11, Jacksonville at Florida, 7:30 p.m. (Hertz Arena)
Game 2: Saturday, April 13, Jacksonville at Florida, 7:00 p.m. (Hertz Arena)
Game 3: Thursday, April 18, Florida at Jacksonville, 7:00 p.m. (VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena)
Game 4: Friday, April 19, Florida at Jacksonville, 7:00 p.m. (VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena)
Game 5: Saturday, April 20, Florida at Jacksonville, 7:00 p.m. (VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena) **
Game 6: Monday, April 22, Jacksonville at Florida, 7:30 p.m. (Hertz Arena) **
Game 7: Wednesday, April 24, Jacksonville at Florida, 7:30 p.m. (Hertz Arena) **
**If Necessary
The winner of the series will advance to face the winner of the Orlando SolarBears vs. South Carolina Stingrays series, according to Pepper.
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
