Lamoriello policy cuts against the grain

It was a social media post clearly meant to cause a stir. If Anthony Duclair presumably knew what he was getting into when he signed a four-year deal worth $14 million (U.S.) with the New York Islanders last month — if he knew about Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello’s well-publicized policy against non-playoff beards and long hair, among other forms of self-expression — Duclair certainly didn’t seem to mind thrusting Lamoriello’s policy into the spotlight.

- DAVE FESCHUK

Anthony Duclair's look while with the Tampa Bay Lightning is no more. The forward had to cut his locks after signing with Lou Lamoriello's New York Islanders.

There has been plenty of reaction in the days since Duclair posted a photo of his freshly shorn braids along with an emoji with a smiling face and a single tear. Opinions were varied. Emotions occasionally ran high. It’s safe to say the idea of Duclair taking a blade to his scalp left many folks shaking their heads at the senselessness of it all.

Senselessness, of course, is a staple in sports. Teams have been imposing arbitrary rules on athletes for eons. But you can arguably trace the genesis of this particular rule to 1976, when George Steinbrenner, the late New York Yankees owner, famously instituted a ban on long hair among the players on his famed ball club, threatening to trade anyone who didn’t comply.

“I have nothing against long hair per se,” Steinbrenner said in 1976, a few years after he bought the Yankees. “But I’m trying to instil a certain sense of order and discipline in the ball club, because discipline is important as an athlete … I want to develop pride in the players as Yankees. If we can get them to feel that way and think that way, fine. If we can’t, we’ll get rid of them.”