Who has/had the best hockey goaltender mask of all time?
Hated Gerry Cheevers as a player, but he had an interesting one (with the “stitches”)
Brian Hayward’s with the Sharks is a classic. And Byron Dafoe’s knight’s helmut mask he wore with the Kings was kinda cool.
Currently, I like Curtis Joseph’s Cujo mask. But there’s a lot of crappy ones out there right now. I think the Ducks’ goalies sport pretty lame ones (there hasn’t been a decent Ducks’ mask since Guy Hebert left).
Are there any classic-to-be masks in the NHL right now?
Love Richters (NY skyline, Statue of Liberty).
Chechmanik has a pretty cool one.
Johan Hedberg’s minor-league Manitoba Moose helmet, the one he’s still wearing with Pittsburgh, looks cute with those moose antlers.
But goalie helmets just ain’t the same since they abandoned the form-fitting full-face-mask type. There just isn’t enough room to paint stuff on the birdcage masks.
I think Terry Sawchuk had a mask in the 60s with stitches painted all over it.
Cheevers “stitches” corresponded to spots on the mask where it had been struck with a puck. His way of pointing out that masks were needed. Hockey purists didn’t like them, but the stitches made a good arguement.
Ob Trivia Question:
Who was the last goalie in the NHL to play without a mask?
Being a Bruins fan, I always liked Cheevers’ mask. But the way Ken Dryden would stand in the goal at the other end of the ice, stick upright, hands on the end of the stick, was so cool.