Brent Burns sports new look as Avalanche open camp

The NHL has lost its most iconic hockey beard.

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns, 41, arrived at training camp without his trademark unkempt whiskers, instead sporting a close-cropped beard during media availability Wednesday.

His gap-toothed smile was also gone, replaced by a sterling white bridge.

"He looks like some rookie I don't even recognize," his agent, Ron Salcer, told ESPN on Wednesday.

Salcer added that Burns started growing out his beard about a dozen years ago while playing with the San Jose Sharks, where star center Joe Thornton also sported some of the NHL's most memorable facial hair.

Burns and Thornton incorporated their beards into a memorable photo shoot for ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue in 2017.

Burns' face foliage took on a celebrity of its own over the next decade, getting featured in playoff beard rankings and on T-shirts. The Sharks even gave away a Chia Pet shaped like Burns' head that sprouted a green "beard." Burns leaned into it too, donning a Chewbacca mask during the 2016 NHL All-Star skills competition.

"The playoff beard-turned-lifestyle beard has definitely played a role in making him so recognizable," defenseman Brenden Dillon, Burns' former teammate, told ESPN in 2023. "When you think about Brent Burns, I think you could ask a lot of Americans who maybe aren't the biggest hockey fans and he'd be one of the most recognizable faces in the game."

Burns is in his second season with the Avalanche, after stints with the Sharks, Minnesota Wild and Carolina Hurricanes. He has the longest active consecutive games-played streak in the NHL with 1,007 straight, second all time to Phil Kessel (1,064). Burns also is still chasing his first Stanley Cup championship.

As Avalanche camp opened Wednesday, Burns was asked if he considered retirement after last season.

"I never even thought about it," he said. "It was a great group. Have a chance to win. A lot of great positives."

Among defensemen, Burns is the NHL's active leader in points (945) and games (1,579).