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BORRELLI: BANDITS' NEW LOOK IS A CUT ABOVE

Buffalo players sporting Mohawk haircuts in run to Champion's Cup

05/15/2008

Written by Tom Borrelli, The Buffalo News

Things have gotten hairy for the Buffalo Bandits.

With each victory, more and more guys are sprouting Mohawk haircuts.

And since the Bandits will take a four-game winning streak into Saturday night's National Lacrosse League Champion's Cup final against the Portland LumberJax at HSBC Arena, a lot of hair has been hitting the floor.

"I think it's something they wanted to do," said coach and General Manager Darris Kilgour, who is one of about 15 on the team sporting the look. "So it gave them a reason to get a Mohawk, which a lot of guys don't have the guts to do on their own. . . . Hey, anything can help."

NLL career scoring leader John Tavares finally got his after netting two goals and 10 assists in last Saturday night's 19-12 victory over the New York Titans in the East Division final.

"It's pretty popular at school," said the 39-year-old mathematics teacher at Philip Pocock Catholic Secondary School in Mississauga, Ont. "I think it helps in the teacher-student relationship. They kind of feel like I'm one of them now."

But not everybody in his family feels the same way.

"My whole family was there after the game and my mother-in-law looked at me kind of funny," Tavares said with a mischievous smile. "She's in education as well so I don't think she was very impressed. But I'm the same guy. It hasn't changed me."

Why the sudden rush for the clippers?

"It's showing that you're buying into the team concept and doing whatever it takes for the guy beside you," said goalie Ken Montour. "It definitely takes the edge off a little bit because we kind of laugh when guys get theirs done. We're brothers all winter long, so we should look like brothers."

Nobody is willing to say definitively who started the trend or who is the primary barber. Fingers have been pointed toward Andrew Lazore, Brandon Francis and Brandon Swamp.

Defenseman Billy Dee Smith was one of the first to be trimmed, following the regular-season finale April 26. Since then, he's played his best ball of the season.

And success breeds, well . . .

"I told [captain] Richie [Kilgour] that if we beat New York he could give me a Mohawk," said forward Kevin Dostie. "It's all part of the team thing. There are only two or three guys that don't have them. I've pretty much kept a hat on all week so it's been pretty good for me."

Defenseman Kyle Schmelzle has noticed a few more eyeballs directed his way since his turn in the chair.

"I walked through the mall the other day and I saw that everybody was making eye contact with me, looking right at my head," he said. "It was kind of weird. My girlfriend and her mom don't like it but it feels kind of cool. It's growing on me a bit."

NLL Transition Player of the Year Mark Steenhuis is known for three things: His end-to-end jailbreaks that often produce transition goals, his bright orange shoes and his curly blond locks.

What will it take for him to join the club?

"Last week we were talking about getting a pool [of money] up but we haven't quite organized it yet," he said. "If we could get it over 50 percent maybe we could get it rockin'. Then I might have to hop on the Mohawk train sooner or later. I told the boys maybe if we win [Saturday] it could come off. They're on me a little bit, but I always defer it to other topics."

Regardless of whether the Bandits capture their fourth championship, Tavares figures his Mohawk will have a short life.

"I'm probably going to grow it back out because you have to maintain this and that's a lot of work," he said.

But don't expect the coach to look different any time soon.

"I couldn't grow a beard so I might as well go with the haircut," Darris Kilgour said. "I do coach in the summertime up on the St. Regis Reservation, which is Mohawks, so most of them wear Mohawks all year long. So I'll probably end up keeping it."

Hey, whatever works.