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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.
Patriotic pattern
CAREER FILE Rick DiPietro AGE 27 GP 268 W-L 116-109 SO 14 GAA 2.78 SP .905 Rick DiPietro cites two extremely close-to-home inspirations for the patriotic theme of his nightly headwear. The New York Islander’s goalie-for-life often has said it was a no-brainer for him to salute the U.S. military on his goalie mask, since his father served in Vietnam and his team plays its home games in an arena known fully as Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. “I decided to go with that whole theme to honor all the men and women who served in the armed forces,” DiPietro said last season, when the Massachusetts-born goalie made the first All-Star Game appearance of his six-year NHL career. “I know my dad loves it.” DiPietro, 27, claims to have received numerous letters from veterans thanking him for the shout-out, which was brought…
Ferocious figures
CAREER FILE Vesa Toskala AGE 31 GP 181 W-L 98-53 SO 11 GAA 2.49 SP .910 Almost a decade ago, Vesa Toskala was flipping through a tattoo book when one particular design caught his eye. The image was of a demonic skeleton head, featuring lots of teeth and an evil stare. “That’s where the idea came from. I took it right from the book,” said Toskala of his mask, which features that same intimidating skull. Toskala wore the mask for much of his career as a San Jose Shark, with teal, white and silver being the prominent colors. For a Sharks goalie, wearing headgear featuring lots of fangs and chompers was a perfect fit. But Toskala’s world changed on the day of the entry draft in June, 2007, when he was traded to the Maple Leafs. In Toronto, Andrew Raycroft already possessed…
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…
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MASK
It would appear the father of the goalie mask was in fact a woman. The first hockey netminder interested in saving face looks to have been Elizabeth Graham. Long before Jacques Plante was even a twinkle in his mother’s eye, newspapers reported how in 1927, Graham, the goaltender for the Queen’s University women’s team in Kingston, Ont., shocked spectators at a game by taking up her position between the posts wearing a fencing mask. Apparently, Graham became a masked marvel at the insistence of her father, who’d coughed up a pretty penny for her dental work and didn’t want to see his efforts destroyed by her taking a bite out of an errant rubber biscuit. This was the first documented evidence of a goaltender donning facial protection at any level of elite hockey. Three…
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