Viral Hockey Hair Vid Earns Big Donation For Charity
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- It's the cultural sensation sweeping the nation.
The annual Minnesota All Hockey Hair Team was revealed this weekend, a moment that has become as much a part of Minnesota's hockey tradition as the state tournament itself.
And not only was the flow fabulous as always, but this year, it's going to benefit a really good cause.
The videos have premiered on YouTube each of the last five years following the state hockey tournament, created by the user "PulltabProductions."
So who is this mystery man behind the viral videos?
"He's got a sense of humor," said longtime local hockey man Larry Hendrickson. "He's creative."
Hendrickson spilled the beans and told WCCO the mystery man's identity on Monday, but asked us not to tell you. It's part of the Pulltab charm.
"This is a cute story," Hendrickson said.
Let's just say that as low-budget as these videos look, he's quite familiar with big-budget video productions.
And has some decent salad himself.
This year, the video debuted a new sponsor, after equipment maker Warrior Hockey contacted our mystery man with a proposition.
"They said we'd really like [to be a part of] this," Hendrickson said. "Because it gets a lot of hits."
Warrior saw a marketing opportunity. Mr. Pulltabs saw a chance to get some money for Hendrickson's charity.
So they agreed if it got 100,000 hits, Warrior would donate $15,000 to the Hendrickson Foundation, which supports hockey programs for disabled athletes.
As of Monday afternoon, just two days after it was posted, it already had more than 900,000.
"It baffles me that anyone would waste their time [watching] that," Hendrickson said through a huge belly laugh.
But it does mean that there's a good cause benefiting from all this great hair.
"If people have a disability," Hendrickson said, "this program would make their life better. Our goal is to grow the game."
Grow it long. Blow-dry it. Tease it out. And let that fabulous flow fly.
