WASHINGTON — If you've been keeping up with the Capitals lately, you may have noticed that there are some new facial styles on some of the players. While missing teeth, bloody scratches and facial hair are common for hockey players, the new mustaches worn by players like Oshie are more than just a new fashion statement.
The style, worn also by the likes of Alex Ovechkin, Tom Wilson and Evgeny Kuznetsov is part of Movember, is part of a challenge designed to spread awareness for men's health. Participants start the month of November with a clean-shaven face and spend the remainder of the month committed to growing a 'stache. Supporters -- called Mo Bros and Mo Sistas --get friends and family to help donate to their efforts along the way.
It's not the first time #77 has grown out the stache. He participated with his teammates every season since he joined the Capitals in 2015.
The challenge was created by the Movember Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created by Australian friends Travis Garone and Luke Slattery in 2003. The two friends wanted to promote men's health efforts that they felt were underrepresented, such as prostate and testicular cancer and mental health and suicide prevention.
November is also Hockey Fights Cancer month, where the NHL provides each team in the league with a $10,000 charitable grant that is then donated to a cancer organization of the team's choice. The 31 teams each have their own designated Hockey Fights Cancer Night, where teams wear lavender jerseys and lavender stick tape during warmups to represent all cancer types.
Last year, Monumental Sports and the Caps raised $131,003 for four cancer-related charities from their Hockey Fights Cancers efforts: Flashes of Hope, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic and Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
Those in favor of the new 'staches and wishing to donate to the effort can make donations directly on the Caps website.
