PITTSBURGH — When it comes to sheer size, there is no debate.
Ryan Ellis might be the smallest player remaining in the post-season, but he more than makes up for it with a ginger-coloured beard that, seven weeks into the playoffs, is reaching ZZ Top-like length.
“It’s for sure the best on the team,” Nashville Predators teammate Mattias Ekholm said. “It’s thick and it’s long, it’s really good. I don’t know the rules, but he cheated. He’s been growing it for a long time.”
Three years, in fact. Ellis had been trimming it down to a somewhat manageable length during the regular season.