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Greatest Masks of All-Time
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
A toast to the town
CAREER FILE Henrik Lundqvist AGE 26 GP 195 W-L 104-58 SO 17 GAA 2.27 SP .917 New York, New York – not only so big they named it twice, but also so big that both Rangers’ goaltenders have used the big apple as design inspiration for their masks. Henrik Lundqvist, so economical in goal, has a busy design that’s marked by a stylized Statue of Liberty on its left side, and script lettering, ‘NY – Heart of the USA,’ on its back. The goaltender, who won the 2006 Olympic gold medal for Sweden, also has the Tre Kroner and depictions of the American and Swedish flags on the back of his mask. A diagonal ‘Rangers’ dominates the right side of the mask with a large ‘30’ at the bottom of the mask. “My helmet symbolizes what I represent,” Lundqvist said.…
Artistic freedom
CAREER FILE Evgeni Nabokov AGE 33 GP 430 W-L 208-150 SO 40 GAA 2.37 SP .911 Evgeni Nabokov didn’t really know what images he wanted on his goalie mask, but he knew what he didn’t want to see there. “I didn’t want something like everybody else had, a shark or the logo or something like that,” San Jose’s top goalie said. “I wanted something different, but I don’t have much imagination in my head.” So he asked designer Todd Miska to come up with a few sketches. Nabokov knew the winning entry as soon as he saw it, a mask dominated by two skeletal figures on a teal background. Yes, two sharks have a secondary role, but the motif is more Grateful Dead or Day of the Dead than anything hockey-related. For Nabokov, though, it wasn’t about themes or symbols. He…
Classic Masks
Tony De Luca always wanted a vintage Ken Dryden mask, the classic with the red, white and blue Canadiens colors forming a target. De Luca wasn’t a goalie and had no history with the position. He was just a fan who liked to collect sports memorabilia and wanted the mask. But there was just one problem: No one was making it. So De Luca made his own Dryden mask. Today, 10 years later, he’s making 150 different vintage masks and paint schemes for collectors all over the world through his company, Masks From The Past. “One guy in Minnesota has bought about 50 of them,” De Luca said. “Another guy in Ontario buys a new one every month. “Lots of people grew up with them and everybody wanted to have one in their home,…
A friend in Ned
CAREER FILE Peter Budaj AGE 26 GP 126 W-L 61-36 SO 5 GAA 2.70 SP .903 Ned Flanders carrying a Slovakian flag. Does that not qualify as the most unique picture on a goalie mask in the NHL? Colorado Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj has such an image because he is Slovakian and because he loves The Simpsons. But there’s more to it than that. Budaj is one of the NHL’s more outspoken Christian players. He frequently invokes God in his post-game words to the media and to children as part of his community relations. But Budaj is not a stuffed-shirt preacher. He can actually have a salty tongue at times in the dressing room and likes to kid around with teammates. And teammates like to kid him, too. Former Avalanche equipment man Terry Geer hung the nickname ‘Ned Flanders’ on Budaj, in…
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