Winter Classic

Time to break out the bubbly, throw some streamers, and play some outdoor hockey. The NHL's "Outdoor Classic" will be on New Years Day, and expect some nostalgia. Both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres will be wearing throwback jerseys.

But what about the goalies? Last time they played an outdoor game, the only significant detail involving goalies was Jose Theodore wearing a beanie above his mask. This year, Dany Sabourin, goalie for Pittsburgh will be wearing old-school brown equipment. He'll also wear this beauty. Look familiar? It's based on the recently discussed Michel Plasse mask.

The other Penguin goaltender, Ty Conklin, will also be wearing a retro Penguin mask, but no brown pads.

On the other side of the puck, the Sabres might display the beanie look, if practice means anything.

Team Spotlight: Pittsburgh Penguins

The Penguins logo isn't very intimidating. So if "Happy Feet" and "March of the Penguins" aren't action suspense thrillers to you, how could a mask for a team called the penguins be scary?
Lets start with Ken Wregget, what penguins are famous? There's Tux, the Linux penguin. Or how about those penguins that enjoy Coke-a-Cola so much? Ken's head must have been in a comic book, cause he thought of this penguin. And that, eventually turned into this. Which morphed into this a couple years later. Ken Wregget also wore, a less intimidating, more beautiful, ice sculpture penguin, in this mask.
If you travel back a few more years, you could see the beginning of masks as a piece of artwork in this mask, worn by Michel Dion.
For a short time, the penguins had blue uniforms (which will be worn in the upcoming "Winter Classic" against the Buffalo Sabres on New Years Day, 08 (More about this later)). When they wore blue, so did the men in the crease, including Michel Plasse, seen here rocking the "Warrior" mask.
Which brings us to the man whose name was made for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Marc-Andre Fleury. He has had odd ones (what is that, a drooling fish?), ones with cartoon penguins, and even a real penguin or two.
Note to whoever will be the next goalie for the Pittsburgh Penguins, BRING BACK THE BATMAN PENGUIN!


Here are a couple "Bonus Masks"
Tom Barrasso
Another Barrasso
Patrick Lalime

Whats this? Dahwks!

I bring you one of my favorite videos ever. It begins ordinary, J.S. Giguere talking about his cyborg mask. Then the good stuff happens. Ilya Bryzgalov, proceeds to tell us about his cartoon covered mask, broken English and all. This is somewhat old, but hope my one reader* likes it.



*One reader may not be true, there, in fact, may be none

Team Spotlight: Chicago Blackhawks

Going through picture of goalie masks, team by team, I realized that some are just not creative, lightning for Tampa Bay, stars for Dallas, and so on. The Chicago Blackhawks do have the majority of their helmets covered in Native Americans, but are really awesome looking.
First of all lets start in the beginning. Tony Esposito had a very strange looking mask, when he played in Chi-town. Of course he also wore the classic "Jason" style mask without any trace of the glasses mask.
Ed Belfour's, famous "Eddy the Eagle" mask was gone when this picture was taken of him as a rookie. And Micheal Leighton donned a robot like man, while Jocelyn Thibault went the traditional route.
Fast forward to the present, and the Blackhawks have two goalies, both with masks that have followed their careers. Nikolai Khabibulin has had his Bulin Wall/ Eagle paint job for a while, and it continues in the Windy City.

Now for the fun part. One of the most intimidating/funny looking/coolest mask I have ever seen is this. Today in an era of political correctness, I doubt that something like this could happen again. Just the idea of getting ready to shoot when you look up, and see this? Later Jeff Hacket did his own style, but with just the headdress. So that is what the Chicago Blackhawks have contributed to the goalie mask world.

In the Beginning...

Ah, time for a little background on the beloved goalie mask. To the left you see a very primitive rendition of this piece of equipment. Clint Benedict was struck in the face in a game between the Canadians and the Maroons on 1930. So Clint decided to try out a mask. Well, he found it obstructed his vision, so after 2 games, he stopped wearing it. The creation of the mask would have to wait a couple more years.
In 1959 a man by the name of Jacques Plante donned the second mask; a little more modern looking, but still a little strange, nonetheless. This was the beginning of the mask as we know it today. Plante continued to wear it even while being ridiculed, a modern-day Noah perhaps.
This is the early history of the mask. Artwork, cages, even a good design had yet to be added to the history of the goalie mask. So I thank you , Mr. Benedict, and you too Jacques, for making the game of hockey a little more colorful.

Dwayne Roloson's Former Mask's Backstory

Current Mask

Why?

Why are so many people fascinated with goalie masks? It can't be the safety reasons, or the structure of the helmet. It simply looks cool. Growing up, I loved masks like John Vanbiesbrouck, or Mike Richter. They looked invincible.
Not only that, but it has personal meaning for those who wear it. Such as a son's initials, or a favorite former player, or as simple as a jersey number. Combine that with the team color and logo, and you have the perfect amount of Team and Self. No other sport give that freedom, except maybe basketball shoes. You will never see a football player with a picture of Yoda on the back.
So this is my tribute, to the masks past and present. From the familiar to the unheard. This is Mask's of Glory. (Anyone know a better name?)