April 1, 2014
The time has come… the time when all eyes are focused on the playoffs. Who will hoist the Robertson Cup? Who will be the next playoff hero? But most importantly, who will have the greatest playoff flow, maybe even combined with the greatest playoff beard?
It is April and that can only mean one thing, we are officially in the ‘Superbowl’ of Flow timetable. In the month of March, players all across the NAHL prepared their flows for this moment in time. Whether they have been growing it all season, or just took the month of March to produce a mane that would be the main event when selecting the Flows of the Month.
Since March was the preamble to the Super Bowl of Flow, the North American Hockey League (NAHL) announced its Gongshow Flow of the Month winners for March 2014, and because the NAHL and Gongshow was in the giving mood, there are multiple winners this month.
The winners are Wenatchee Wild defenseman Matt Nuttle and Minot Minotauros forward Jake Johnson.
There were also some runner-up candidates that needed to be recognized. Brookings teammates Russ Jordan and Nick DeCenzo and Lone Star Brahmas forward Liam Stirzinger.
Nuttle just simply went all out with his flow. Since Wenatchee made the playoffs, this will be a true candidate for Flow of the Year. We aren’t sure if that red tinted hair is real or not, but what we can be sure about is the dedication to game that Nuttle is showing here. Combine that with the shaved side and underchin black beard Nuttle is rocking and he is a spitting image for the bad guy in the early 1980’s movie, the Road Warrior.
On the ice, Nuttle has been a defensive sensation for the Wild this season. His 31 points from the blueline leads all Wild defensemen and ranks in the Top 12 for all NAHL defensemen.
Johnson continues the tradition of Minot players with incredible and memorable flow. This is the third time this season a Minot player has won the award, but far the most in the NAHL. Johnson’s flow is what we like to call the ‘Midwest Nest.’ As a native of Wisconsin, Johnson has to make sure that his flow is suitable to all conditions and this hairstyle does that. Like Nuttle, his nest of hair takes us back to the 1980’s, when metal bands were big and reminds of legends like Ronnie James Dio or Quiet Riot’s Kevin Dubrow.
Johnson is an alum of the NA3HL, playing last season for the Silver Cup and USA Hockey Tier III Junior National Champion North Iowa Bulls. He took that experience and parlayed it into a solid season for the Minotauros. Johnson played in 57 of Minot’s 60 games this season and had 15 points.
For the third season in a row, Gongshow was the exclusive sponsor of the Flow of the Month promotion exclusively on the NAHL and Gongshow Twitter sites @NAHLHockey and @GONGSHOWGEAR.
Gongshow Gear Inc. (Gongshow) is the Official Lifestyle Hockey Apparel of the NAHL. Gongshow is also the sponsor of the NAHL TV platform on the NAHL website at NAHL.com. Gongshow is recognized as the hockey good industry's premier manufacturer of innovative, high quality, fashionable and trend setting clothing apparel for hockey athletes of all ages and abilities.
