Catalog of Best Goalie Masks in NHL History

[Killion]

... great bunch of photos!.... got a kick out of Carey Prices comments in the article that accompanied those photos. Figured we older guys were absolutely nuts!.... And ya, that'd be Greg Harrison in his basement workshop in Toronto from which he began making custom masks, where you'd go to get fitted, mold made of your face.....

.... Kurt Andersson's clear one piece "visor" was a North American designed & mfgd item, famous picture around somewhere of Johnny Bower wearing one, available for a short time off the shelf at select sporting goods stores. No idea who the maker was, but remember seeing them around, fogging up something awful....

.... and speaking of Johnny Bower... cigarette in hand... as ya, Johnny was a smoker... in between periods, over a few drinks.... "calmed the nerves" somewhat however, not good for the reflexes, stamina amongst other ills. But then, guy was playing well into his 40's & when it came to smoking really wasnt all that uncommon right into the 90's.

 

[DowntownBooster]

Dave Tataryn began his one-year stint with the Toronto Toros wearing a fiberglass mask but later switched to a cage mask.

 

[Albatros]

Peter Kolbe, his East German buddy used to wear a white one.

In East Germany these particular masks were manufactured in Crimmitschau by plastering the face of the goaltender and then layering the cast with polyester and fiberglass. The same products were also worn by athletes of some other sports like field hockey.

There were also some a bit different types, like one here worn by Wolfgang Peters of SC Empor Rostock in 1969:

Klaus-Peter Mägdefrau, BSG HO Lebensmittel Erfurt (1984):

A junior mask, the man in the picture is Stasi boss Erich Mielke who was the patron of East German ice hockey:

 

[FerrisRox]

How come one teammate is wearing a dark helmet and the other one is wearing a white one?

 

[DowntownBooster]

How come one teammate is wearing a dark helmet and the other one is wearing a white one?

I think they were a little less coordinated about the color of helmets in the early 70s compared to now. For the most part players on the same team would wear the same color but there was always the exception. I have located another example in a game between the Minnesota Fighting Saints and Toronto Toros in which there are 3 players of Minnesota wearing helmets with 2 of them wearing a dark helmet and 1 is wearing a white helmet. I'll try to post it tomorrow as I can't copy and paste from my hand held device. The picture features Fighting Saints goalie Mike Curran sprawling down on the ice.

EDIT: Here is the picture below that I was mentioning in regards to players on the same team wearing a different color of helmet. Notice the Minnesota player next to Wayne Dillon wearing a white helmet while his 2 teammates are wearing dark helmets.

 

[Double]

I think they were a little less coordinated about the color of helmets in the early 70s compared to now. For the most part players on the same team would wear the same color but there was always the exception. I have located another example in a game between the Minnesota Fighting Saints and Toronto Toros in which there are 3 players of Minnesota wearing helmets with 2 of them wearing a dark helmet and 1 is wearing a white helmet. I'll try to post it tomorrow as I can't copy and paste from my hand held device. The picture features Fighting Saints goalie Mike Curran sprawling down on the ice.

EDIT: Here is the picture below that I was mentioning in regards to players on the same team wearing a different color of helmet. Notice the Minnesota player next to Wayne Dillon wearing a white helmet while his 2 teammates are wearing dark helmets.

GREAT pic! The guy with the white helmet checking Wayne Dillon is Pat Westrum. Pat would go on to have a son, Erik, who played for the University of Minnesota and also played a handful of games with the Phoenix Coyotes & Minnesota Wild.

Other Saints players are Mike Antonovich (far left), Mike McMahon (#23), and the player McMahon is checking is Canadian hockey legend Paul Henderson.

Keep in mind, the Fighting Saints were a club with perpetual financial issues. Color-coordinating the buckets probably wasn't very high on their priority list, but yeah, it is a strange look. Not sure why Pat's helmet has the goofy dark striping. Weird.

 

[Double]

 

[Double]

I'm not the biggest fan of him as a commentator, but is there any doubt John Garrett had some of the coolest masks of all time?

 

[Sanf]

One of my favourite mask of all time is Gary Simmons mask. Not that one. The one before that. I have tried to make sense and guess what those doodles are.

 

[Killion]

^^ .... Native North American, Anastazi cave paintings... possibly even some Sanskrit....

 

[Doctor No]

I'm not the biggest fan of him as a commentator, but is there any doubt John Garrett had some of the coolest masks of all time?

Traded 36 years ago today to Quebec!

 

[Killion]

^^^ Johnny always did "look good". Stunk. But Man, had the "look" dialed in.

 

[FerrisRox]

^^^ Johnny always did "look good". Stunk. But Man, had the "look" dialed in.

I'll add Jimmy Waite and Mark Fitzpatrick to the "look good/stunk" list.

 

[pvr]

1969/70 - Tony Esposito sporting his early mask

... and his later mask...

 

[pvr]

 

[Sanf]

Rocky Farr in Salt Lake Golden Eagles uniform wearing something... Hope there would be better pictures.

 

[Killion]

^^^ Beauty. Nice job digging that one up Sanf!

 

[DowntownBooster]

One of the more unusual masks. This one was worn by Donald Rich who played 5 games for the New York Rovers of the EHL during the 1959-60 season. Perhaps he borrowed it from NASA as they may have had an extra helmet from their space program.

 

[Killion]

One of the more unusual masks. This one was worn by Donald Rich who played 5 games for the New York Rovers of the EHL during the 1959-60 season. Perhaps he borrowed it from NASA as they may have had an extra helmet from their space program.

... This must be a "novelty shot".... a stunt. Are you freakin kiddin me?

 

[DowntownBooster]

... This must be a "novelty shot".... a stunt. Are you freakin kiddin me?

It's hard to tell for sure. It was the only picture I could find of Donald Rich. The same picture is also on hockeydb.com website when looking at his records. The website lists him as being a member of the Guelph Biltmores of the OHA for the previous season of 1958-59 but that he didn't play any games. Other than that it lists him as playing 4 games for the Collingwood Kings of the OHASr league in 1968-69. His GAA stats weren't the best as it was 5.20 when he played the 5 games for the New York Rovers in 1959-60 and then 6.70 during his stint with Collingwood. Maybe he was better suited to be an astronaut than a goaltender.

 

[Killion]

It's hard to tell for sure. It was the only picture I could find of Donald Rich. The same picture is also on hockeydb.com website when looking at his records. The website lists him as being a member of the Guelph Biltmores of the OHA for the previous season of 1958-59 but that he didn't play any games. Other than that it lists him as playing 4 games for the Collingwood Kings of the OHASr league in 1968-69. His GAA stats weren't the best as it was 5.20 when he played the 5 games for the New York Rovers in 1959-60 and then 6.70 during his stint with Collingwood. Maybe he was better suited to be an astronaut than a goaltender.

Gotta be a "stunt". These were the early days of the Space Race, so either a take off on that or possibly something to do with Stock Car Racing.... I mean, can you imagine playing in that thing DB?... Talk about Bubble Boy.... You wouldnt be able to hear anything, communicate properly, youd be overheating & guaranteed that lexan shield would be fogged right up.... also heavy.... tip you right over... like Charlie Brown.... go down, need hep' gettin up.... like a turtle on its back.... Maybe its for realsy... explains his GAA etc.

 

[Killion]

One of the more unusual masks. This one was worn by Donald Rich who played 5 games for the New York Rovers of the EHL during the 1959-60 season. Perhaps he borrowed it from NASA as they may have had an extra helmet from their space program.

Came across the backstory on this DB.... Seems NY Rovers GM Tommy Lockhart staged this photo session with Don Rich in 1959 (motorcycle helmet & "windscreen") just after Jacques Plante donned his mask in an attempt to basically just get some publicity, capitalize on the moment if you will... that "hey, weve got a guy who wears a mask too, check us out"! type dealeo.... Don Rich may have never wished he'd agreed to the stunt as apparently he's spent decades since denying he ever wore it in a game nor not even in a practice.

 

[DowntownBooster]

Came across the backstory on this DB.... Seems NY Rovers GM Tommy Lockhart staged this photo session with Don Rich in 1959 (motorcycle helmet & "windscreen") just after Jacques Plante donned his mask in an attempt to basically just get some publicity, capitalize on the moment if you will... that "hey, weve got a guy who wears a mask too, check us out"! type dealeo.... Don Rich may have never wished he'd agreed to the stunt as apparently he's spent decades since denying he ever wore it in a game nor not even in a practice.

Thanks for looking into it Killion. It's great to finally know the background to the mask in the picture. It was actually pretty clever of the Rovers GM to come up with that plan and get some publicity for his team.

 

[Killion]

Thanks for looking into it Killion. It's great to finally know the background to the mask in the picture. It was actually pretty clever of the Rovers GM to come up with that plan and get some publicity for his team.

Ya, Tommy Lockhart was inducted into the HHOF in the Builders Category in 1965 after a 40+ year career as an Administrator, Coach, GM etc etc. Very active guy. He was the NY Rangers Business Manager later in his career, overseeing the Rovers as well I believe, so it wouldve been in that capacity that he had that photo staged & taken... Native New Yorker, very active in cycling & boxing, creating amateur hockey tournaments, promoting the game in the US since the 30's.

 

[FerrisRox]

Corey Hirsch had the charming nickname of 'Psycho' so he, of course, paid tribute to the 1960 classic on his mask. Always loved this lid.

Slight variation: