Stanley Cup Final: Important facts about Joe Thornton's beard

PITTSBURGH — Leave it to Joe Thornton to, somehow, turn a line about the animal pelt stuck to his face into some sort of zen koan.

“You know what, with beards, you just gotta start ‘em," the Sharks center said on Sunday at Media Day for the Stanley Cup Final. "And usually, they’ll get big.”

MORE: Best Game 7s | Stanley Cup Final TV scheduleThornton hasn't shaved since November, and thus looks insane. Sporting News can confirm that the beard even more glorious in person. There's even more ... coloration going on than we initially thought.

The look came out of nowhere; we all expect it from Brent Burns. Less so with Thornton — at some point in February, it seems that everyone simultaneously…