![]() ![]() While this nearly breaks the meter on Peak-90’s scary animal artwork in sports, it worked pretty well, and was just one example of his masks that were something to the effect of what Kid Rock was to music at that time. Matching his custom Brians’ flaming pads perfectly was a fire breathing dragon on each side of his mask, airbrushed in beautiful detail. Trevor Kidd was not afraid to take a theme and run with it, as we see here, as he went all-out with the Flames motif. Bishop’s mask was definitely different, and playing on the Lightning made it tie together beautifully, which could not be said for his similarly decorated Kings lid. Famed mask artist David Gunnarsson made this mask unique by following the movie theme perfectly, and even made the mask glow in the dark, although I’m not really sure that’s a very useful application for that. Ben Bishop, Tampa Bay Lightningīen Bishop earns points for originality, even if his mask was clearly inspired by the infamous ‘Tron’ movie from a few years back. ![]() What started out as a little personality on a goalie mask turned blended with a hot streak and turned into a continent-wide sensation, if for only a few weeks. Helping his popularity was his nickname, ‘The Hamburglar’ being immortalized on his mask, and stirring up an 89-cent frenzy in Canada’s capital, even leading to a loving pelting of hamburgers from the fans. Remember the Hamburglar craze in early 2015? Andrew Hammond took the hockey world by storm with a hot streak that carried the Senators into the playoffs, before finally flaming out. I’m never a fan of portraits on a mask, but I’ll make the exception for well-done shots of The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and Vince McMahon. ![]() Further background on this particular mask was that Phoenix was hosting Wrestlemania that spring, and Labarbera, being the fan that he is, wanted a tribute for it. Furthermore, it’s a nod to Jason Labarbera, who has featured pro wrestling more than a few times on his masks, along with Metallica, among other things he finds cool. Ok, so this is a personal favorite of mine because it involved professional wrestling. The matte black with shining golden bars was a very different look, and I think was appreciated for that kind of originality at that time. Hiller himself had plenty of beauties himself, usually not on the beaten path of other masks of the time, but this one was a simplistic departure, to say the least. In 2012, the era of obscenely detailed masks was in full force, and you could say still is. Now, a plain black helmet wouldn’t have turned heads in say the late 80’s, but I enjoyed Hiller’s mask not so much for what it was, but when it was. Each mask has something cool about it, something that I liked, or something that I found profoundly unique. The only rules I had were one mask per team a goalie had played for, or one team per goalie if a goalie used a recurring design. I’ve scoured my memories, all of my old hockey cards, and of course, the internet for my favorites, and I’ve made a list of 100. This is my list, an imperfect list, and only the definitive list, according to me. So what I’d like to do for you, is share with you my favorite NHL masks. I still have that notebook, and although it’s a bit of a Zapruder Film into my neuroses, I think back on it fondly. I would spend hours, as many as I spent playing and watching the sport, drawing, making my own goalie mask designs in a sketch notebook. More specifically, goalies, and naturally, with their masks. Through my childhood, I found myself obsessed with hockey. ![]() For some, it’s the ultimate form of sport expression, the one remaining form of artistic freedom that a professional athlete can partake in. Lending mystery to the occupant, hockey goalies give fans an in-depth look into who they are through their masks, more so than the exposed face of a forward ever could. Throughout the years, nothing has captured the hockey fan’s intrigue quite like a goaltender’s mask. ![]()
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