As the ironic ‘80s look that Wicker Park hipsters pioneered goes mainstream, it is time to seriously consider what some great hockey names from the 1980s and early 1990s had in common: Bryan Trottier, Wendel Clark, Dave Babych, Mike Gartner, and even Wayne Gretzky for a brief period with the Edmonton Oilers, along with Blackhawks legends Denis Savard, Dirk Graham, and Michel Goulet.

Everybody knows what it is but no one really wants to say. No matter how great it is to laugh at and make fun of Burt Reynolds and Tom Selleck for their luxurious upper lip growth, no one really wants to admit openly what the Blackhawks need. To be great requires sacrifice. As the ultimate team sport, hockey players know all about sacrifice, but few are willing to go to the extreme. Many will take a stick to the head, get bloody defending their teammates, and throw their bodies in front of a slapshot, yet few are willing to sport the true symbol of a puckman’s dedication: The Hockey Mustache.

George Parros of the Anaheim Ducks is doing a fine job offering up his upper lip for the good of his team. Not only does it protect his face in fights, but it also helped him hoist the Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007. Parros is the only active player to appear on countless “Top Ten Hockey Mustaches of All Time” lists.

Though the Hockey Mustache does sometimes possess special powers (Parros’ ability to fight, Denis Savard’s Spin-o-rama), it must not be confused with the Power Stache (Bismarck, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Hussein, et cetera) but does it have the juice to lead the Blackhawks to victory?

Let’s take a brief look into Blackhawks mustache history.

The 1980s started out with a good strong mustache on the face of team captain Terry Ruskowski. Under his leadership, the Blackhawks dominated the Norris Division in 1982-83 and went deep in the playoffs only to get swept in the Campbell Conference Finals. His tenure at captain ended following that disappointing playoff exit. However, a new era would emerge.

Throughout the ‘80s, Savard was arguably the best player on the Blackhawks. He had three 40-plus-goal seasons and led them in countless categories. The Hawks made the playoffs every year that Savard was on the team, including his second stint on the team in the mid-‘90s. Savard’s exciting style of play can only be attributed to the slice of manliness that flourished below his nose.

1989 was the year that brought it all together. The culmination of two leadership mustaches and the spirit of another set the foundations of a team that would rise to greatness in the early ‘90s. Mike Keenan arrived on the bench as head coach making Graham and Savard co-captains. Savard’s mustache had retracted back into his face at this point, and some still speculate as to whether this played a crucial role in his trade to Montréal the following season, but Graham’s was present to confidently lead the Hawks to the playoffs numerous times. (Note: Savard failed to grow one as the Hawks’ head coach, only to be replaced by Joel Quenneville’s.)

1989 also saw the addition of Goulet’s mustache to the lineup. By the power of threes, Keenan, Graham, and Goulet oversaw the Blackhawks’ 1992 trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. The disappointing defeat signaled the end of the Hockey Mustache in Chicago.

Keenan was relieved of his coaching duties after the ‘92 sweep, Goulet retired in ‘94, followed by Graham in ‘95. Since then, the Hawks have been missing that much-needed mustache. They have had plenty of mullets and a bounty of hockey hair (most notably Roenick and Amonte), but no ‘stache. Without it, the Hawks became one of the most forgotten teams in hockey. In 2004, ESPN named them the worst franchise in all of sports.

On November 22, 2008, a wave of inspiration overcame the Blackhawks when the Toronto Maple Leafs retired Clark’s mustache. The Hawks came back from a three-goal deficit to beat the Leafs 5-4 in overtime at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre. The following week, Parros proved that mustache inspiration is one thing, mustache possession is another entity all together. His mustache got the best of them when the Hawks lost to the Ducks in Anaheim 1-0, marking the beginning of the end of what was otherwise a successful road trip.

Dustin Byfuglien tried to become Graham’s proper successor of the number 33 when he grew a thin mustache on his upper lip in the middle of January. His goal against the Nashville Predators has become legendary. The strength of the missile that cruised past goaltender Dan Ellis should have been a wake up to the rest on the team: “Grow one, and you, too, can have the power.”

Unfortunately for the Hawks, a mustacheless Byfuglien appeared on the ice just before the All-Star break. The Hawks lost their last two before the midseason festivities in Montréal began. On January 21, he missed a couple of good opportunities at home against the Blues. It is just speculation, but had the mustache been there, the puck would have found the back of the net.

Good news for the Hawks: They have an up-and-comer who knows the power of the mustache. Blackhawks prospect Kyle Beach grew a mustache at their training camp last fall. He took it back with him to the Western Hockey League’s Everett Silvertips, inspiring the rest of the team to grow one. They went on to take 8 out of 12 points on a six-game road trip.

The Blackhawks’ history is filled with a rich assortment of hockey mustaches. The youth on the current roster must remember this important proverb:

“The mustache is precursor to the playoff beard.”

Check out the Chicago Blackhawks' Beard-A-Thon!