Just curious,nothing more. Is there something about facial hair that Orthodox feel is important ?
...Or is it just tradition?
Yeah; priests aren't supposed to be clean shaven. If you see an clean shaven Orthodox priest, he's some sort of radical. There may be a canon on it too. I'll look.
It is strictly a carryover from Judaism, based on OT requirement not to trim facial hair. Some Orthodox priests who appear to wear "stylishly" trimmed beard are actually on "thin ice." Such habits are considered vain.
The roots of this tradition it is to be found in Lev 19:27, and in Num 6:5-6 (so-called Nazarene vow). In both instances, complete devotion to God includes not trimming your hair or beard. See also Judges 16:17-19.
As a nota bene, St. Paul's directions about short hair for men (1 Cor 11:14)are not directed at clergy (he himself wore his hair long in the Hebrew tradition), but at laymen.
Remember that some practices were required by Jewish clergy only, such as ceremonial hand washing, which the laity imitated, but was not required to follow. The clergy are also required to wear long hair and untrimmed beards as per VI Ecumenical Council referring to those "who adorn and arrange their hair to the detriment of those who see them, that is by cunningly devised intertwinings, and by this means put a bait in the way of unstable souls." [Canon 96]
Stylish hair and trimmed beards or clean-shaven faces were not part of the Hebrew lifestyle. Short hair was distinctly a pagan practice that somehow found its way into the west and, in contradiction to the VI EC becomes one of the "arguments" of Cardinal Humbert against Patriarch Michael in Constantinople,
As an aside, the First Ecumenical Council also prohibits kneeling on Sundays. Ecumenical Councils are binding to both Churches. Whether it's beard, hair or kneeling.