Should Anthony Duclair Have Had to Cut His Hair Just to Play for the Islanders?

Pictures of Anthony Duclair's cut dreadlocks sparked an uncomfortable conversation, one to which there are no easy answers. But this issue won't go away, says Ken Campbell.

Some people who learned that Anthony Duclair cut his hair and shave his beard to play for the New York Islanders might think, "I'd skate around buck naked and wear a Carmen Miranda fruit turban for a chance to play in the NHL and earn $3.5 million a year."

And they're being sincere. Some people might think, "It's only hair. What's the big deal?" 

Well if it's only hair, then why do some people have such a problem when people have it on their heads and faces?

There are no easy answers here. We know Duclair signed a contract with the New York Islanders willingly and seemed to have no problem complying to Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello's short-hair-and-no-facial-hair edict when he signed. He didn't seem to have a problem with it when we spoke to him for an upcoming issue of The Hockey News magazine – he mentioned he's had his beard for basically as long as he could grow facial hair – so why should anyone else?

Well, because it gets into some pretty murky territory, some of it pretty uncomfortable. Should a person have to change his identity because an employer tells him to or whether other colleagues do it? If one person doesn't have an issue with it, does that mean nobody else should?

Duclair signed with the Islanders of his own free will. He was not drafted by the organization, nor was he traded there without his consent. But what if he had?

Is Lamoriello's policy outdated and out of touch? Absolutely. Is it unnecessary? A lot of people would think so. In fact, it might even contravene the Crown Act in New York State, which prohibits employers from imposing "race-neutral" grooming policies on their employees.

It also brings into question the culture of hockey and the power those in authority have to continue to perpetuate it. There are no easy answers here, and this issue certainly isn't going to go away.

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