Hair's to You, Kerry Fraser

FanHouse's Christopher Botta reports from Flyers training camp.

VOORHEES, NJ - Kerry Fraser was a visitor at Philadelphia Flyers camp on Tuesday. This was not out of the ordinary, as Fraser lives near the Flyers' South Jersey practice facility and often gets in a skate or a workout there. What made Tuesday special for this reporter was the appearance of an iconic piece of hockey lore.

"I have it with me today," said Fraser. "Do you want me to go get it?"

Oh ... my ... God. Was the NHL's most recognizable referee kidding? Of course!

Moments later, Fraser presented a 64-ounce bottle of Paul Mitchell Sculpting Spray. I dropped to my knees in awe.

This Big Gulp-sized dispenser of follicular legend is where it all begins for Fraser. This is the bottle he keeps at his home base in New Jersey. Before he leaves on road trips, he pours the heavenly hairspray into airport-security approved 4-ounce bottles. Many of them, of that you can be sure.

"Helmet in a jug," Fraser called it.

The 57-year old referee, retiring after this season, knows he is more famous for his lustrous mane than his officiating in the NHL over 29 years. Asked if he ever gets requests to touch his hair, Fraser responded, "At least a dozen times a day. Everyone wants to take pictures with it, too." (Humbled in the presence of his own hair, even Fraser acknowledges "it," and not he, is the star of this show).

Fraser traces the, uh, roots of his generational hairstyle to Rendezvous '87, when an NHL all-star squad battled the Russian National team in Quebec City. Prior to the big series, he had "more of a Beatles haircut," he said. "I wanted to be taken seriously. As a referee, you have to sell the call. I wanted to look more mature, less boyish."

Having trouble controlling the new 'do, the hairspray was added a week later when regular-season play resumed. For his first game back, Fraser generously sprayed on the Paul Mitchell Freeze & Shine.

"Pat Price was with the Rangers then," said the ref. "When the anthem ended and the houselights at the Garden came on, Pricey did a double take. He said to me, 'Hey Kerry, what did you do, drive here in a convertible?' ''

The Sarnia, Ontario native reports that his three sons -- his hair apparents, of course -- inherited his gene for small foreheads. Fraser said there have been very few sightings of his locks in an unruly state.

"I was at a spa once in Mont Tremblant in Quebec," he recalled. "I came out of the steam room and I guess my hair was a mess. These young men came up to me looking shocked and one of them said, 'Mr. Fraser, I have never seen you looking like this!' I asked them to please not take any pictures."

Fraser switched from PM's Freeze & Shine to the Sculpting Spray in the mid-'90s. "You have to make adjustments sometimes," he said. "The Sculpting Spray really gets the job done."

The dynasty ended in 2006, when the Collective Bargaining Agreement with officials mandated helmets. Said Fraser, "They covered up the national treasure."

But the 64-ounce Holy Grail for hair spritzes on.

This weekend in his hometown of Sarnia, Fraser will be honored for his selection to the Ontario Minor Hockey Association all-time team. He was selected with fellow officials Bill McCreary and Ray Scapinello, players Wayne Gretzky, Doug Gilmour, Syl Apps, Bobby Orr, Rob Blake and Curtis Joseph, coach Roger Neilson and GM Jim Rutherford.