"My first game, I went with my best friend," Gilmore explained. "(Savard) had a goal so he comes up on the Jumbotron, and my friend is like, 'I'm not gonna remember his name. He's Beardo,' and it stuck.
"I don't always call him that, but I did tell him the story and he seemed amused by it."
In fact, Savard seemed to be in his natural habitat as he helped hand out pints to Blue Jackets fans to celebrate not only the launch of the beer but the unofficial kickoff of Movember.
Each November, the Movember movement helps raise awareness and funds for men's health, supporting such causes as prostate cancer and testicular cancer awareness as well as mental health and suicide prevention, in part through the creative use of mustaches.
Thanks in part to his famous facial hair, Savard is a more than willing face of the battle for the Blue Jackets. Two seasons ago, the defenseman shaved his bushy beard to go with a mustache for the month. Last year and this one, he's been involved with the North High Stick campaign, as a portion of the sales from the beer will go to Savard's Movember campaign, all part of November's league-wide Hockey Fights Cancer campaign that has raised more than $25 million since its inception.
"Every time I have a chance to help, however I can, it's great," he said. "It's a fun time tonight. It was a lot of fun last year, so as soon as they asked me, I said yeah, I want to get back in there and have a good time."
Fans could also chip into donation jars at Monday's event, and the ability to help financially will continue going forward as proceeds from North High Stick sales -- which will be made available at North High stands in Nationwide Arena as well -- will go to the cause. Fans can also visit
BlueJackets.com/Movember
for more.
Owner of his own flowing locks and facial hair, Gilmore said he'll donate during the month of November, while Savard will consider some new mustache and beard combos himself. Currently, his beard is trimmed shorter than it has been of late, but longer hair cascading down from the upper lip forms a horseshoe mustache on top of his usual scruff.
That was a design created by his barber, and Savard said you never know what might be on tap -- other than North High Stick -- come the actual month of November.
"We'll see what my barber thinks," he said. "He has better ideas than me."
