But the mask from 1966?-1969. Really hard to find pictures of it. Couple of poor quality videos which looks like that there might be increase of some sort of marks
. In late november he mentioned that the mask had 150 dents... Yeah probably not, but I believe that this was the mask in question... Interesting trivia. Sadly I don´t have time to do more research.....or maybe it was this one? I actually don´t know.
Nice work Sanf. Its' my understanding based on various anecdotal tellings of the tale of Cheevers mask was/is that yes, he was the first to decorate his facepiece (stitches) and that this was done in 68 or 69 at the latest. Top picture is a Lefty (Detroits Trainer who made masks on the side & widely used) Wilson mask that Cheevers wore for at least a couple of seasons but didnt like it because he had trouble finding the puck at his feet & secondly; the mask floated on the chin resulting in the mask moving around a bit.
A local Massachusetts maskmaker, the now famous Ernie Higgins, a Plumber who's son played goal & who Ernie made his first masks for approached Cheevers & Eddie Johnston, had a new design that did anchor the mask to the chin, thicker, safer than the Wilson model, only problem was that again Cheevers couldnt find the puck at his feet with it so..... he had Higgins file out the eye-holes, something then copied by goalies far & wide.
The story goes (68 or 9), and Cheevers a notorious shirker when it came to practices got hit with a puck in the face during a practice that actually knocked him out momentarily, and depending on what version, who's telling the story, Cheevers either "woke up on the trainers table" or "managed to skate off the ice under his own power". Harry Sinden, then Coach of the Bruins as most are aware tears into the dressing room & then into Cheevers for "faking it to get out of practice", Cheesy protesting, "for real, coulda been cut wide open, knocked me out".... Sinden not buying it, orders him back out there immediately.
So.... the Trainer Frosty Forrestal, witness to all this and looking at the Lefty Wilson mask with the puck divit above one of the eyes tells Cheevers "had you not been wearing the mask, that looks like about 8-12 stitiches" (or whatever) and as was Cheevers with his love of the sardonic / gallows humor.... tells Frosty there to mark them onto the mask so he can show it, prove it to Sinden "not lyin Boss. See here"?.... Well, needless to say Cheevers teammates thought this all pretty hysterical, showing up back on the ice again with a fake cut & stitches above an eye on his mask and Gerry enjoying the laugh himself forever thereafter had Frosty add stitch marks to the mask whenever he got hit by a puck or a stick in the face.
Now, when he started wearing the new Ernie Higgins mask, retiring the Lefty Wilson mask, the Higgins mask came in plain white & Cheevers didnt like that (he said he felt it made him look "pure" & he was anything but a "pure-clean" player, indeed, regular Lumberjack with his stick at times, very nasty, aggressive), did like the whole "stitches joke" and markings on his Lefty Wilson mask, so he obviously had Frosty Forrestal eyeball the old Wilson mask & by hand add the old puck marks & stitches, then touching it up, adding even more as time went on. So some stitch marks for real, more that werent. Regardless, iconic, all started as a joke.