Movember. That time of year when men sacrifice their freshly shaved mugs to raise awareness of men's health issues by growing "dusters". Originating in Melbourne, Australia, the Movember movement has grown in notariety and Movember groups have popped up around the world, making this a truly global effort.
As hockey players are used to growing out their facial hair as part of a playoff run, it seems only fitting that hockey players and, by extension, the hockey community would embrace the growing of moustaches. The Dallas Stars team has plugged in to the Movember movement from day one this year, led by team captain Mark Fistric. They have partnered with the Dallas Moustache group, the Dallas chapter that supports Movember USA:
Dallas Moustache is a local initiative that supports Movember USA, a registered non-profit organization that runs the men’s health project Movember. Movember comes to life every November to create the world’s largest movement for men’s health, bringing much-needed awareness and funding to cancers that affect men, specifically prostate and testicular cancer. Men grow and groom their moustaches for 30 days to raise awareness and funds to find a cure. The money raised in the U.S. will be split between the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
After the jump, a special Dallas Stars offer from Dallas Moustache and Eric Nystrom wants your business.
Dallas Moustache not only raises awareness for the Movember movement, but they also offer weekly fundraising events that people can attend to help support the cause. Some events of interest (check out their website for more fun happy hours and dinners you can attend to help raise money!) are:
November 1 - Kickoff party at Three Sheets
November 18 - Fu Man Chew Benefit Dinner
November 21 - Dallas Stars Night
The Dallas Stars evening gives people the chance to come out to a Stars game with 40% of the ticket costs going to the Movember charities. Exciting hockey game plus a chance to give back - they've made it so easy! To purchase tickets for this special night, go to: http://DallasStars.com/moustache and using special offer code: dallas.
Dallas Stars players will be promoting their participation in the Movember movement throughout the month of November. This is where I think Eric Nystrom may have a leg up on the rest of his teammates. Already Nystrom is working the Twitter lines to promote his fundraising efforts, and it's paying off - he's jumped out to an early lead on the rest of his teammates. He's put a special personalized touch to those that have donated to him so far via a YouTube video. (Note of caution: Nystrom does not have a shirt on in this video, so be warned in case you are watching this at work that some people may think this is not appropriate viewing in an office setting.)
He's also not above bribing for the cause:
@enystrom23 Im gonna figure out some prize opportunities for those who make donations to my movember page! Any amount helps!!!
That's going to be one tough act to follow for the rest of the Dallas Stars players. We'll have to see how Steve Ott, Stephane Robidas, Mark Fistric, Alex Goligoski, Jake Dowell, Krys Barch, and Andrew Raycroft step up their game to catch Nystrom in donations. To donate to the Dallas Stars team, go here: https://www.movember.com/us/donate/your-details/team_id/212844.
Dallas Stars fans can also get in on the action, and several of the Defending Big D staff members are going to be growing out their staches for the cause. Both Art Middleton and Brandon Worley shaved tonight, and offered up their before and after pictures to show us how their face has changed to get ready for the moustache growing (Brandon fancies himself a younger Razor Reaugh doppelganger):
Staff writer Art Middleton before and after Managing editor Brandon Worley before and after
To join the Dallas Stars Fans team, as both myself and Brandon Worley have already, go here: https://www.movember.com/us/register/details/team_id/225982. And yes, ladies, we can participate too by becoming a Mo Sista to join our fellow Mo Bros to raise money for this great cause.
Please note: the website is set up to restrict by geography, so if you're from somewhere else (sorry to our resident Canadian on staff Art) you'll have to search for and/or start a Dallas Stars fans site for your own country. Let's see how many countries we can get the Stars fans to represent this year!