Welcome to Goalie Week. NHL Social is celebrating goaltending with NHL Goalie Week from Sept. 2-7, reveling in the uniqueness and artistry of puck-stoppers through the decades. Today, NHL.com has compiled a list of the most significant masks and mask art as part of Goalie Week.
Among the many things that make goalies unique are the masks they wear, not just as protection, but as art that can be customized to show off the personality of the person hidden beneath a still-evolving blend of metal, foams and fiberglass.
The history of the both the mask and the way it is decorated are a big part of the position, whether it’s a look that inspires a future NHL goalie to start, or that first painted mask providing a right-of-passage moment to higher levels.
Even in the NHL, goalies often remember their first.
“I never had a painted helmet until I turned pro (but) I remember my first helmet was a white Itech and I wore it for three or four years,” Detroit Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot once told NHL.com. “(It) was all rusty by the time I was done.”