REPORTING FROM ... THE VERIZON CENTER

Who has to sit behind this guy?

Of all the Caps fans waking up with playoff hangovers this morning, none are lamenting last night's loss as much as followers of defenseman Mike Green. The 2-0 loss to the Flyers last night not only knotted the series at 1–1, but also put a damper on a recent radio promotion that saw 45 of Greenie's groupies get on-the-spot mohawks in exchange for tickets to Game 1.

Green, who usually rocks a faux-hawk throughout the season, was first in the barber's chair.

"I did it in [Caps' AHL affiliate] Hershey too," Green says. "We did it as a team the first year and then we won the championship, so I did it again."

Maryland resident Shawn Kozlov (pictured above), 43, was one of the, err, lucky fans who lined up before midnight Thursday to get shorn. After waiting until 10 a.m. for his buzzing—then having his sister-in-law pump a full bottle of Got2B Voluminous Hairspray onto his teased locks—Kozlov netted the Lord of the Mohawks title from his similarly coiffed peers in Green's fan section 118.

"I rode the Metro all the way into town," says Kozlov. "The only difficult part was I had to walk sideways from the parking lot to the train because it was too windy."

Maybe that inconvenience was what the rest of the Caps were thinking of when they refused to make the 'hawk a teamwide mandate.

"I apologize to Mike but I'm about eight years too old for a Mohawk," says F Matt Cooke.

Hart trophy candidate Alex Ovechkin got razzed for getting a $14 haircut the day he signed his $124 million dollar contract, but even he won't rock the 'hawk.

Team owner Ted Leonsis also begged out, even after Green netted two goals in the Caps' game 1 comeback.

"No way. Not my style," he says. "I think I'd rather just do the beard."

Still, the rest of the Caps are rocking shaggy mops in addition to the normal playoff beards. Swedish center Nicklas Backstrom hasn't trimmed his mullet since arriving in the U.S. before the season. And center Brooks Laich won't pare his curly red mop (two months and counting) until the Caps are ousted or win it all.

"It doesn't look good and it's hot and it's tough to deal with everyday but it's good luck and you don't want to mess with a streak," Laich. "At playoff time you grow the beard, you grow the hair and you look mean and ugly. That's what the playoffs are about."

Well then, Green's Travis Bickle salute has served its purpose.

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