by Kevin Collins
Well, the NHL has been in full swing now for a little over a month and yet there seems to be a lack of hockey posts here at PCP…I wonder why?…Anyway, I decided to write about something that everyone has at least a little interest in…the goalies’ masks. How many times have you seen a shot on TV of the goaltender and you see his mask for a split second and yell at the TV to go back because you didn’t quite get a good look. Well, you can sleep easy now America, because I have compiled a list of my favorite masks throughout the National Hockey League.
Alex Auld: Ottawa Senators
This mask is incredibly unique. If you can’t tell, his helmet is painted to look like Auld is wearing the actual helmet that the “Ottawa Senator” wears in the logo, complete with red-fuzzy-thing on top. Brilliant!
Curtis McElhinney: Calgary Flames
Gotta love this mask. The skulls are intense, and the fire effect on them is fantastic. I love it when guys can incorporate the name of the team into their masks. This is a kick ass mask.
Brian Boucher: San Jose Sharks
In my humble opinion, Boucher’s masks over the years have been weak. This one, however, is pretty cool – especially considering there is not much you can do to make teal and black look good. Brian succeeded.
Curtis Joseph: Toronto Maple Leafs
CuJo’s masks have been the same throughout his career, but with different colors to reflect the different teams. You gotta love that CuJo puts such an intense looking CuJo on his helmet. Its bad ass. And now that he’s with the Maple Leafs again, the blue and white color scheme is back – making it his coolest mask.
Dwayne Roloson: Edmonton Oilers
I don’t have a lot to say about this one, but its really cool. The gears are a nice throwback to the old alternate logo around 2004. Great Mask.
Jean-Sébastien Giguère: Anaheim Ducks
Much like the Sharks color scheme, its really difficult to make a Duck look like a bad ass. Well Giguère succeeds with his half duck half cyborg helmet. Gotta appreaciate a professional athlete that enjoys him some Sci-Fi.
Roberto Luongo: Vancouver Canucks
There is one and only one reason I like this mask. It is because Luongo is the captain of the Canucks. As you know, goalies are not permitted by NHL rule to wear the “C” on their uniform or have any on ice duties as a captain. This being said, notice the “C” on the bottom of his mask. Take that Gary Bettman!
Chris Osgood: Detroit Redwings
Classic, plain and simple. Now that Dominic Hasek is gone, Chris is the only goaltender in the NHL wearing the old style helmet. Osgood was wearing this mask 57 years ago when he made his NHL debut.
Stephen Valequette: New York Rangers
I usually hate masks that have designs which have nothing to do with the city or team itself. However, this one is the exception. Spidey stays with the color scheme so its acceptable. Plus you have to enjoy Lady Liberty herself donning the Rangers jersey
Ty Conklin: Detroit Red Wings
This one may be my favorite. Just a sweet design and color scheme. The kicker though is the octopus on the top of the mask. I love references to the team and city, and the octopus is the best one in the NHL.
Martin Biron (circa 2006): Philadelphia Flyers
I had to include this mask in the bunch because it is one of my all time favorites, and not just because its a Flyer. The Philly skyline on one side and Rocky and the Art Museum on the other…its gorgous. Sport and Art at their finest.
Those are my favorite current masks in the NHL. If you know of one I missed, post a link in the comments section. Next week I’m going to be putting up a list of the ugliest masks in hockey. That’ll be a lot of fun, so stick around.
Cool post. My favorite is Curtis McElhinney of the Flames.
Nice article. you shouldn’t forget some of the originals like Gerry Cheevers of the Bruins placing stiches on the mask where the puck struck.
[...] I promised in my last post about the coolest goalies’ masks, here is the follow up entry: The Worst. I feel like I first have to say why I think certain masks [...]