Ranking The Top 5 Greatest Visor Tilts In The NHL
If you know anything about me, then you’ll know that the “look good, feel good, play good” mantra is the most important words that I live my life by. You want to talk about great hockey players? Don’t come at me with some bullshit made up numbers like Corsi. I don’t even want to hear about stats either. Oh what’s that? Sidney Crosby has 3 Stanley Cups, 2 Conn Smythe Trophies, 2 Art Ross Trophies, 2 Hart Trophies, 2 Rocket Richard Trophies, 2 Olympic Gold Medals, a World Cup Gold Medal and also a World Junior Gold Medal? Good for him but guess what? That dork still rocks the ear caps in his helmet so he’s the worst damn hockey player on the planet for all I’m concerned.
The most important part of hockey is looking the part. Style, steeze, whatever you want to call it. If you don’t look like the silkiest son of a bitch out there on the ice then you might as well go out there with your skateguards on and tie a couple of bricks to your hands. So with that being the case, I figured it would be a good time to rank one of the most underrated moves in hockey style–the visor tilt. The visor tilt was originally born out of necessity by players who would prefer to not wear a visor at all but the new-aged NHL forces them to wear one. But after a while, you realize that some of these guys are just absolute beauticians and they take the visor tilt all the way up to a visor wheelie. Here are the top 5.
5. Sean Monahan
Sean Monahan has one of the better looks in the NHL, especially when the Flames are rocking their throwback unis. He’s got the flow, he’s got the tilt, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s a handsome cat. His visor tilt is bordering on elite status right already. The only reason why I don’t have him higher on this list is because he wears the Bauer Re-akt. There’s nothing wrong with the Re-akt and it’s a good looking bucket. But the visor tilt always looks so much cleaner on a Bauer 4500, and we’ll touch on that more later in the list.
4. Carl Hagelin
I feel like Carl Swagelin was one of the first guys I’ve noticed with a super aggressive tilt game. What’s crazy about Hagelin is that I love the shit out of him despite the fact that he’s played for the Rangers, Penguins and Capitals. You’d figure that as a Flyers fan I’d have no other choice but to hate this beautiful prick’s guts. But I’ve never been able to hate the guy because his look is just so crisp out there. The cascading blonde hair bouncing away in the wind as he rips down the ice. A lot of people don’t realize this but his speed actually plays a huge factor in his look. He’s so fast out there that everything just flows behind with him like a work of art. But with all that being said, I do have to admit that it seems as if his visor wheelie has been coming down a bit over the years. Don’t get me wrong–the man still tilts with the best of them. But just look at where that visor was a few years ago in New York. Thing was basically wrapped around the top of his skull.
We’ll see how this season goes for Swags. If he rips that wheelie back up a little, he can have a top 3 tilt.
3. Niklas Kronwall
Okay so a little bittersweet moment here. Much to the delight of everyone who doesn’t want to end up getting plastered through the boards, Niklas Kronwall decided to hang up the skates this summer. So we’ll be saying goodbye to one of the best visor tilts the game has ever seen. The way that Kronwall would line dudes up and just destroy their lives was obviously in direct correlation to his visor tilt. He had all eyes on nothing but chaos and destruction without his visor getting in the way. So it’ll be sad to see Kronwall go, especially since there aren’t a ton of guys out there who rock this look. But the good news is that Detroit will be just fine because with Kronwall gone, Tyler Bertuzzi is still there to carry the torch.
Sick bastard alert.
2. Leo Komarov
He’s ugly as all hell. One of the most hideous dudes to look at in the NHL. But by god if he doesn’t have one of the most vicious visor wheelies these eyes have ever seen, and that’s really all that matters. Uncle Leo is the prime example of how having just a little bit of style out there can completely make your career. Let’s be real–he’s not a great hockey player as far as NHL talent goes. But he’s been able to stick around for years now because he’s able to piss people off and he’s also got enough style that GMs out there think to themselves “well he looks the part so let’s just give him another contract and see where this goes”. Without the visor tilt he’s probably playing in the KHL right now. But with the visor tilt? He’s still getting paid $3M per year for the next three seasons. What a legend.
1. Kevin Hayes
Kevin. Patrick. Hayes.
What a fuckin’ gem this guy is. I swear that Hayes has been slowing inching that visor tilt up week by week over the summer so far. Like I know this dude rocked a mean wheelie during his years with the Rangers. But over the last few weeks now that he’s been in Philly? It’s like he’s been trying to see just how far he can go before that visor ends up on the back of his head. Just look at that photo right there. The visor is completely covering the Bauer logo on that lid. And speaking of the lid, this right here is the main difference between Hayes’ tilt and Monahan’s. You see that Bauer 4500? That helmet is reserved for beauties only. You’re not rocking the 4500 in 2019 unless style is the most important part of your game. You don’t give a shit about concussions. You don’t give a shit about comfort. All you want to do is look like the prettiest son of a bitch out there and Hayes is now leading the way. Nothing makes me more confident in this guy having a career year in Philly.
Honourable Mention:
– Jesse Puljujarvi
– Ryan Getzlaf at the Olympics
– Barstool Jordie
Not quite as aggressive of a wheelie as some of these legends rock. But when you combine the Bauer 4500 with the white ear loops and the visor tilt? That’s a look that screams, “did that guy ever play in the show?”.