Which NHL players had the best mustaches in league history? (2024)

Halloween is over, November is here and that means one thing.

Mustaches.

Yup, with no-shave November about to get in full swing, mustaches are going to be everywhere.

It’s no different in the NHL, and one of the more famous mustache-bearers in the game, Auston Matthews, is putting his to good use.

He is working with Movember, which raises money for men’s mental health, again this season and is pledging to shave off his mustache for a price. If he raises enough money for the organization, he promises that the mustache will be no more.

Some will be glad to see Matthews lose the facial hair while others will miss it. But before it’s gone, let’s look at some other players in NHL history who had some of the best mustaches.

Mike Brown

Mike Brown was one of the last guys in the modern-day NHL to continue to sport a mustache day in and day out.

The beauty of Brown’s facial hair was he changed it all the time. Handlebar, straight stache, curls on the end, the enforcer had a number of different looks. The enforcer played in 407 games, finishing his career with 36 points and 778 penalty minutes.

Wendel Clark

Auston Matthews isn’t the first Toronto Maple Leaf captain to have a sweet stache.

Wendel Clark, the only other No. 1 overall pick in Leafs’ history besides Matthews, came into the league with a bit of lip lettuce and kept it for most of his career.

He’s one of the most famous Maple Leaf players of all time. The mustache helped, but it was Clark’s physicality that he was known for most, putting up nearly 1,700 penalty minutes in 793 games.

Cal Clutterbuck

We’ve seen just about everything from Cal Clutterbuck over the years. Handlebars, goatee, full beard, clean shaven, curled mustache, the New York Islander is always keeping the fans guessing.

He’s a part of one of the best fourth lines in hockey. So far this season, he has two goals in seven games, although he is in a clean-shaven phase to start the 2021-22 season.

Paul MacLean

Can you even find a picture of Paul MacLean without his patented thick mustache? The former player and current assistant coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs has been rocking his mustache since his playing days in the 1980s.

It’s one of the best in the business and MacLean has kept committed to the look.

Dennis Maruk

Dennis Maruk sported some of the best handlebars that you’ll find back when he played in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Maruk and his whiskers is definitely what makes him memorable, but he was nearly a point-per-game player in his career with 878 points in 888 games. He even scored 60 goals in the 1981-82 season with the Washington Capitals.

Lanny McDonald

An absolute legend in the NHL, Lanny McDonald and his thick, red (now white) mustache will forever be remembered with the game of hockey.

McDonald played in 1,111 NHL games in his career, recording 500 goals with 506 assists. He was considered to be one of the best leaders in the league. He and his stache currently sit as the chairman of the board of Hockey Hall of Fame.

George Parros

With a thick, dark black mustache on the upper lip, George Parras was a force out on the ice during his career. He played in just 474 games, but accumulated over 1,000 penalty minutes in his role as an enforcer.

It’s kind of ironic that someone who played the style Parros did now finds himself as the head of the NHL’s Department of Player Safety, but he does it with a great mustache.

Eddie Shack

Eddie Shack and his golden lip lettuce won four Stanley Cups with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1960s.

Known as “The Entertainer,” Shack played in over 1,000 games in the NHL and had 1,437 penalty minutes to go along with it. It’s fitting that given Shack’s outgoing personality that he had the facial hair to go with it.

Dave Schultz

Another player never afraid to drop the mitts that also sported the appropriate facial hair to air, Dave Schultz is considered one of the NHL’s greatest enforcers of all time.

Schultz was a part of those feared “Broad Street Bullies” teams for the Philadelphia Flyers in the ‘70s. He holds the NHL record for most penalty minutes in a single season with 472. Nicknamed “The Hammer,” he finished his career with 2,294 PIMs in just 535 games.

Harold Snepsts

Harold Snepsts and his dark mustache that he sported during his NHL career is considered to be one of the bigger fan favorites in the Vancouver Canucks’ history.

The stay-at-home defender was never flashy (besides the mustache) but gained the support of fans for his hard-working style of play. He played in over 1,000 games in his NHL career.