Donate to the NCHC Movember Team

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - On the youth hockey rinks of Massena, N.Y. -- an upstate town nestled on the Canadian border -- Kevin Morris would often finish a shift and look up to see his paternal grandfather in the stands. But that only lasted till Morris was a freshman in high school.

Prostate cancer claimed his grandpa’s life. Morris’ great grandfather and great uncle died of it, too.

Miami’s senior winger with a bushy, dark-brown Fu Manchu and accompanying soul patch lives with that every day. Not just the losses, but the knowledge. His father Mark, who coaches the American Hockey League’s Manchester Monarchs, has to keep a watchful eye on his health given his family’s medical history. Kevin will, too.

Hence the facial-hair ensemble Morris totes to games, practices, classes and social gatherings these days in his latest Movember contribution.

“It’s a great excuse for you and your buddies to grow out some facial hair,” Morris said, “but it’s also important to me to aid in (the Movember) message.

“This is kind of a tribute.”

“This” is the annual November moustache-growing frenzy that started in Australia in 2003 and has spread across the globe in the name of men’s health -- specifically prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental wellness and physical inactivity. When the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) started play in 2013, its officials immediately took up the cause, and its players -- many of whom had already experienced the Movember craze during junior and high school play -- weren’t far behind.

It’s an initiative that blurs the borders between ref and player, official and fan. Those relationships can be tenuous, especially during a tense Friday or Saturday night contest.

“You only get so much interaction with the teams,” said linesman T.J. Likens, “so to be seen as a human and have a laugh or point out a ridiculous-looking mustache or have a player say something, it’s all a good way to build rapport and make connections too.”

Likens’ first forays into Movember came as a CCHA official. He brought the idea with him after college hockey’s realignment saw him shift to the NCHC, and more and more referees and linesmen have put the razor away every November since. This year, about half of the conference’s 43 officials sport a duster. More and more players are growing them, too.

The ‘staches and the banter that come with them are cause for celebration enough, but the NCHC’s Movember movement is starting to accumulate more tangible success. As of Tuesday, conference officials had raised more than $3,350 in donations through their Movember team webpage.

Awareness is imperative. But so are dollars. You can’t have one without the other, NCHC director of officiating Don Adam said.

“One of our goals in this conference is to do things differently than maybe it’s done in other conferences around the country,” Adam said. “We saw Movember as another opportunity to do something as a group and support a good cause.

“It’s kind of snowballed from there.”

Referee Joe Sullivan, who works as a golf pro in St. Louis during the day, is captaining this year’s Movember efforts. That includes the NCHC’s second annual Movember golf tournament, held the first week of the month at Sullivan’s Highlands Golf and Tennis Center in St. Louis’ Forest Park.

According to the Movember site, prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in United States men. Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in American men from the ages of 15-34. One in four U.S. adults will experience a mental health problem in a given year, and 53.8 percent of U.S. men meet the federal guidelines for physical inactivity.

But those are just stats. Most moustaches have a story.

One of Sullivan’s high school friends died at the age of 25 due to esophageal cancer. Likens has a friend and former fellow CCHA linesman whose father died of prostate cancer. Adam works as a police officer during the day and sees “addiction and mental health illness running rampant in society today,” he said.

That’s especially relevant in the hockey world, where efforts are ongoing to mitigate the head trauma that can cause severe mental health issues. Preventative care and early detection of disease are central talking points, too, Sullivan said.

And yet mustering up a moustache -- impressive or not -- offers a lighthearted way to address a serious array of issues. Just ask Morris, whose moustache has evolved from a straight-laced Chevron look in 2013 to a full beard and handlebars last year to this year’s Hulk Hogan-esque edition.

“I never used to be able to grow a beard,” Morris said. “That’s one reason why I take it so seriously now, because I’m proud I can actually do it. Some of the new guys will show up at practice with some fuzz and be all excited about it. I’m like, ‘Give it a couple years and then we’ll talk.’ I remember being at a similar stage.”

St. Cloud State winger Joey Benik took things a step further this year when he died his mustache a dark brown. The senior is something of a Movember pioneer, having won the NCHC’s inaugural fan vote in 2013.

“That’s something I’ll hold onto forever,” he joked.

Benik isn’t superstitious, but he was sporting the lip sweater when he tied the Huskies’ single-game scoring record with four goals and two assists earlier this month. He’s currently tied for 14th nationally with seven goals in 12 games.

“I don’t think there was any correlation with (the mustache),” Benik said. But if there was, “I’d have no problem with that.”

Adam currently sports a reddish-brown goatee. Likens’ pyramid-shaped flavor saver takes on a blonder hue. And Sullivan’s face furniture?

“Pretty miserable,” he said. “It gets a lot of laughs here at the golf course.”

And on collegiate ice rinks around the country.

“Hockey’s kind of all about razzing each other a little bit,” said Sullivan, who refereed his first game when he was 12 years old. “I think this provides a little bit of extra ammunition for everybody. It’s always in good nature, but we’re able to give it where given its due.”

-- #NCHCHockey --