Who’s Got Best Sharks’ Movember Mustache?

Many players in the San Jose Sharks locker room have grown out their mustaches in honor of “Movember.”

For those who don’t know, Movember is an organization targeted to improve men’s health globally, especially to combat illnesses that disproportionately affect men like mental health issues and testicular and prostate cancer.

San Jose Sharks forward Jonah Gadjovich has his own page on the Movember website, in hopes of personally raising $2,000 for the cause.

For many men, including plenty of Sharks, Movember is a time to grow out their ‘staches to raise awareness for the cause. In San Jose’s locker room, there is some impressive (and some not as impressive) facial hair to talk about.

“I don’t necessarily look good when I do it,” laughed captain Logan Couture. “But it brings awareness, so it’s good to do.”

As of now, there are at least seven Sharks sporting mustaches in honor of Movember: Couture, Gadjovich, Erik Karlsson, Mario Ferraro, Matt Nieto, Noah Gregor, and Nick Cicek. “Timo [Meier] may be, but you gotta get up close to tell,” joked Couture.

“I remember, I think it was my rookie year, I just ended up keeping it for a full year,” Nieto noted about his frequent participation in Movember. “But that’s not going to be the case anymore… It gets annoying to manage.”

The Long Beach native is hoping to have more growth before the month ends. “Mine’s a work in progress. These guys already had their ‘staches by November 1st. I started from scratch in November. I still got a couple weeks so I think it’ll get a little thicker.”

Ferraro, however, is newer to the tradition. “It’s the first time I really participated in one of these so I think it could use some cleanup, but it’s got some good length,” said the youngster.

As for best ‘stache in the locker room, there are a couple of different candidates according to the team.

Mike McKenna of the Daily Faceoff actually ranked Mario Ferraro’s mustache as the best in the league. His main argument being “from the mustache itself, to the missing teeth, to the hair: it’s almost surreal. A direct nod to the Derek Sanderson era of the NHL.”

The 24-year-old was “proud of that rating.” But he also joked: “I look like Super Mario now.”

As for Ferraro’s vote, he opted for another one of the team’s younger players. “I hate to do this but that’s got to go to my roomie [Noah Gregor]. Usually I’m giving it to him, but he’s got a good muzzy. It’s got some good color; good length.”

“I would give it to Gadj,” voted Couture. “He looks good with the hair too.” The captain was also certain to not praise Ferraro’s mustache, saying “I told him he looked like ‘Boogie Nights’ but he didn’t know the movie. Too young.”

Nieto never voted on a favorite, but did shout out Couture, Karlsson, and Gregor as having some quality facial hair.

Cicek, who was just called up from the San Jose Barracuda last week, said Patrick Holway is his vote for clubhouse leader across the hallway.

“I think the cause is just great and [growing mustaches] is kind of a fun way to give back to a good cause,” Nieto said.

The San Jose Sharks certainly are certainly doing their part when it comes to raising awareness for Movember. As Ferraro put it: “We got some good muzzies right now. I’d rank us up there in the league for [having] pretty good muzzies for sure. The boys are putting some good effort into it, so it’s great.”