The NHL has lost its most iconic hockey beard. Colorado Avalanche defenseman Brent Burns, 41, arrived at training camp without his trademark unkempt whiskers, instead sporting a close-cropped beard during media availability Wednesday. His gap-toothed smile was also gone, replaced by a sterling white bridge.

"He looks like some rookie I don't even recognize," his agent, Ron Salcer, told ESPN. Salcer added that Burns started growing out his beard about a dozen years ago while playing with the San Jose Sharks, where star center Joe Thornton also sported memorable facial hair. Burns and Thornton incorporated their beards into a memorable photo shoot for ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue in 2017.

Burns' face foliage took on a celebrity of its own over the next decade, getting featured in playoff beard rankings and on T-shirts. The Sharks even gave away a Chia Pet shaped like Burns' head that sprouted a green "beard." Burns leaned into it too, donning a Chewbacca mask during the 2016 NHL All-Star skills competition.

Burns is in his second season with the Avalanche, after stints with the Sharks, Minnesota Wild and Carolina Hurricanes. He has the longest active consecutive games-played streak in the NHL with 1,007 straight, second all time to Phil Kessel (1,064). Burns also is still chasing his first Stanley Cup championship.