50 Years of the Mask

Plante

"The face that changed hockey forever" Something every hockey fan has heard: 50 years ago on this day, November 1, 1959 was when the first a full face mask in a regular season NHL game debuted. Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadiens really did change the face of hockey forever, after a shot from Andy Bathgate, which struck him in the face, he had seven stitches from his mouth to his nose. Hockey didn't have back-up goaltenders like we are so used to by today's standards, so it took twenty minutes to get Plante fixed up. Plante had worn a mask in preseason games and in practice, Canadiens coach Toe Blake at the time didn't believe in masks; Blake's belief was the mask was going to deter the vision of his goaltender. When Plante was hit in the face and received the injury, he had won the fight against Coach Toe Blake,after he said he would refuse to play if he wasn't able to wear the mask going into the third period. He wanted to protect his injury, thus the mask would catch on like a disease to goalies.

The first ever goalie to wear a mask, in fact was not Plante, it was Clint Benedict. He briefly wore the mask in 1930 but discontinued wearing one because the coaches and players intimidated any would be mask wearers. As Toe Blake believed in the late fifties the mask would obstruct the vision of the goaltender.

Jacques Plante inspired millions of kids around a hockey mad Canada and even in the United States. Bernie Parent once said about masks, "A real man doesn't wear a mask" Plante had stood up to the assaults of shooters, as he was the first goalie to ever wear a full mask.


"It was hard at first being the only man with a face mask," he said, "but I'm glad I stuck with it ... if just for the kids."


Bathgate

Andy Bathgate known to today's generation of hockey fans, as the one who Jacques Plante took the shot from. Really, how many people reading this blog was alive, when Plante took that shot to the face? Maybe some of the readers were but I can assure you. 98% of my readers were not. According to the former great, Andy Bathgate, of the New York Rangers. The shot to the face was payback.

"He cut my ear and my face. He could have broken my neck," Bathgate said. "Next shift, I went down the left wing and I was trying to score around the net. I used the backhand and gave him a 'little bowtie' on the face.

"How do you get back at a goalie? They're a brick short anyway. I thought he looked better with the mask, to tell the truth. He comes out with these bars all over his face and we were all wondering, 'What on Earth?'

"He was out (getting stitched) so long, I had a lot of time to think about what I'd done. I had been thinking I needed to go out there and straighten something out. It I had wanted to hurt him, I could have really let one go. It was a shot with passion, to let him know that if he keeps doing that, other players are going to start to take runs at him.

"The rule was always you didn't try to hit a goalie who was handling the puck behind his net. If you wanted to, it wouldn't be hard, send a guy in from each side and he'd be a sitting duck."

To today's goalies not wearitng a mask is unthinkable with all the wild designs, the cages in junior hockey and then being able to wear a Cats Eye mask when they got to the more advanced leagues, more specifically the NHL.Chris Osgood wears more of a helmet looking mask, which he has a Cats Eye attached to. Osgood is the only goaltender in the NHL, who wears the helmet like mask. Former and retired teammate Dominak Hasek also wore the same type of helmet as Osgood did. In fact, The Dominator put that more as a following for Red Wings goaltenders.

Ozzie


As with the not wearing a mask is unthinkable to today's goalies quotes from a couple of today's goalies on not wearing a mask

"Let's put it this way, when I lose my mask in a game, even if the puck is at the other end, when the whistle blows, I'm pretty happy about it," New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur told NHL.com. "I don't know if I would have played goal (without a mask), let's put it that way."


"I can't imagine going out there without a mask," Islander goalie Martin Biron told NHL.com. "The game was different back then, but at the same time, getting pucks shot at you, it doesn't matter -- or a skate or a stick. As a goalie, you've got these scrums in front of the net … that would just be unbelievable."

Chico Resch, a former goaltender has to say this: "To me, those (mask-less goalies) were the most courageous athletes ever, more so than race car drivers or bull fighters because every night you had guys with those hooked sticks unleashing shots where they didn't know where it was going and neither did the goalies," Resch told NHL.com, pointing out that in many of the pictures of the mask-less goalies, the goalie has his eyes closed as he makes the save). "That's why Glenn Hall threw up every night. One mistake could cost you your career. The pressure was incredible."

Resch was the first goaltender to have the team logo and colors on his mask.

Here's a list of the scariest top 10 masks,h


the fans admire their designs, criticize them. Really, the goalie under that mask doesn't particularly care what is said about his mask. The design is off of his personality or the mask means something to him. A mask is not only for protection, but it shows how much a nerd a goalie is, the name Kari Lehtonen comes to mind with his Kill Bill mask.


Kill Bill mask


and his Final Fantasy Mask

Kari Lehtonen's newest mask has the Heath Ledger Joker on the side of it.

Masks also show the well educated background of goalies, of the city they're currently playing or some sort of tribute to it. Rick DiPietro of the New York Islanders, a United States born goaltender has one of the most patriotic masks. The helicopter flying in the distance is the one, which as father flew in the Viet Nam war.
Here is what DiPietro told Men's Fitness about his mask




"We play at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. My dad is a Vietnam vet, so wearing a stars-and-stripes mask seemed like the right fit. It's a tribute to all the veterans and all the men and women who are serving the country now."

Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers has a special mask as a tribute to the 50th Anniversary of the Mask his mask is by DaveArt In honor of Jacques Plante. The scene on the mask obviously represents the New York Rangers and also it is a tribute, to the fact that when Plante wore the mask, it had no ear protection nor did it have a back plate to protect the back of the head. Lundqvist wore the mask in today's game, definitely a mask he'll have in a case, a very special meaning mask. There's absolutely no doubt about that.(although it doesn't look like he wore his mask today.) :



A lot of goalies also have usually their nickname somewhere on their mask. Depending on the goalie, he may have has name on the front of his lower jaw, or on the back. As you see on Evgeni Nabokov of the San Jose Sharksm he has his nickname "Nabby" on the lower jaw.His mask is also scary with some monster, skelton things. His tribute to the Sharks as two Great Whites are jumping out of the water with their jaws wide open attacking his nickname.




Time to talk about the Anaheim Ducks goalies. As it is known, J.S. Giguere and Jonas Hiller are the main two goaltenders for the Anaheim Ducks. Jonas Hiller just recently got his new mask from a small company in Switzerland. Airxess Airxess was founded by Alec Voggel. Airxess has its' own celebration as they are celebrating their 15th anniversary. As mentioned before, this is the company Hiller received his newest mask from. Take a look at Hiller's mask, he has his name "Hiller" painted on the back as he does with the Ducks logo. The mask in pictures may look like two colors, but look at his mask closely, it's a mix of colors and the best of this mask is when he plays in games. The deflection from the light makes it look absolutely amazing. It is a lot less detailed than his two previous masks. However, this mask most likely means a lot to him as Airxess is located in his home country of Switzerland. Hiller's masks tend to have a lower chin drop than any other goalie in the NHL does another thing unique about his mask is the way it was made, while Hiller was back home in Switzerland, he went to the hospital in order to have a CT Scan which tributed to the making of his mask. The CT Scan helped get the contours of his head. The scan was used to perfectly fit to his head. And another thing unique is the way the ear holes are shaped if you look at his mask, you're going to realize that there's basically no ventilation. Also the shape of his mask is unique, every thing about his mask is unique. As with fans, this wasn't a too popular look when it came out. A lot of Ducks fans didn't like it but on the other hand, other fans did like it.

As with Giguere's mask, he has this robot duck thing and an all white duck which sits on the top of his head. It has an eerie and aggressive feeling to it. The backplate of his mask also has his nick name on it. "Jiggy" Jiggy did get his name from Will Smith's song "Gettin Jiggy Wit It" as they had played the song in the Honda Center, and every time they played it. He'd make these huge saves and thus came the name Jiggy. At first, he didn't like it but then warmed up to it. Obviously, this is a league wide nick name for him. Looking back at his mask, behind the Duck Cyborg, there is the Ducks D behind it, and lighting comes out of it which travels to the back of the mask. On his chin it's the Honda Center with the palm trees blowing in front of it. Which may tribute to the Santa Ana winds that Southern California is used too. This makes his mask look even more tantalizing the stormy night in front of the Home of the Anaheim Ducks for 17 years. Which ever you call it The Pond, the Honda Center, and most recently coined by all fans "The Ponda" mixing up Honda and the Pond together.



Here is also a video where Jiggy talks about his mask, a little older video, but you can also get the taste of former Duck Illya Bryzglov's mask as well.

Here's a tribute also do the other Ducks goalies. Justin Pogge, Marco Consineau, Timo Pielmeier, and J.P. Levasseur.

Justin Pogge's Team Canada mask. It's pretty simplistic but obviously, it shows the pride in his team. A mask he won the Gold Medal with.



Pogge's mask with the Maple Leafs and I believe also the Toronto Marlies.


www.totalpassports.com

Timo Pielmeier's current mask.The best which could be found of his current mask. Joffrey Lupul is congratulated him after the win.



J.P. Levasseur. I believe it's a growling bear, this is one of his older masks.



Marco Cousineau, his mask is a brick wall:



Look at Pro Choice's new back plate, it fastens with snaps. This looks to be Khbibulin's mask, with the nick name "Habby" written across the backplate. Got this pictures from The Goalie Guild



Here's another great tribute to the mask. Joe Pavlec makes mask-less save after his mask is knocked off, it hits his chin, but he saves it.He immediately throws his hand to where it hit, but his face after wards is unforgettable

Of course, as stated before the goalie's mask is unique, there's always a story behind the reason why the mask is painted a certain way. It shows the goalie's personality, tribute to the team, his city he plays for, etc.

Here's the Top Ten Masks by the NHL Network special "50 Years behind the Mask" from 10-1

10. Tony Eposito. Chicago Blackhawks



9. Mike Richter. New York Rangers



8. Ed "The Eagle" Belfour.Toronto Maple Leafs



7.Ken Dryden. According to Dryden as he was a guest on the show, it was more of the C for the Canadiens



6. Ken Favell Philadelphia Flyers



5. Bernie Parent. Philadelphia Flyers. A lower chin drop more protection.




4. Gary Simmons. California Golden Seals. The Seals didn't last very long, they were located in Oakland, California. (and no, the Sharks did not trasit from this team, SJ is an original team placed in San Jose. The Seals were arch rivals to the Los Angeles Kings before the Ducks and Sharks were even born)





3. Gilles Gratton. New York Rangers A tiger on his mask. Gratton was known to growl at opposing players, who came near his crease.



2. Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens, the first full faced mask worn in an NHL game


1. Gerry Cheevers.Boston Bruins. Cheevers was the first goalie to have a design on his mask, according to Ken Dryden this absolutely fitted. All Cheever's did was take a marker, and designed his mask.