Catalog of Best Goalie Masks in NHL History

[Killion]

I worked there for over a decade and the Hall of Fame does not have any replica masks, equipment or jerseys in their collection.

Un huh. So your telling me/us the HHOF in Toronto has Cheevers original mask on permanent display?... When did Gerry or his Grandson donate it to the HHOF in Toronto Ferris & why no press release or statement, acknowledgement from Scotty Morrison or Jeff Denomme, Phil Pritchard, Kelly Masse or whomever?... Ive been dealing with them off & on for 30+ years and will ask about it. Meanwhile, you need to send me or post here verification of your claims.

 

[Howie Hodge]

Gary Simmons

Vachon - Boston

Meloche - Cleveland

 

[Howie Hodge]

Murray Bannerman

John Garrett

Ron Low

 

[FerrisRox]

I worked there for over a decade and the Hall of Fame does not have any replica masks, equipment or jerseys in their collection.

The mask that Hall of Fame has, according to Cheevers, is a "practice or exhibition mask."

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/...nted-mask-boston-bruins-goalie-gerry-cheevers

 

[FerrisRox]

Un huh. So your telling me/us the HHOF in Toronto has Cheevers original mask on permanent display?... When did Gerry or his Grandson donate it to the HHOF in Toronto Ferris & why no press release or statement, acknowledgement from Scotty Morrison or Jeff Denomme, Phil Pritchard, Kelly Masse or whomever?... Ive been dealing with them off & on for 30+ years and will ask about it. Meanwhile, you need to send me or post here verification of your claims.

Gerry himself, in the link I provided, talks about the mask that the Hall of Fame has. You think the Hall of Fame issues a press release after each item they obtain? Also, if you've been dealing with them for thirty years, and know Scotty, you would know he hasn't been affiliated with the Hall in decades and would literally be the last guy that would be issuing press releases and discussing artifacts.

 

[Killion]

Gerry himself, in the link I provided, talks about the mask that the Hall of Fame has. You think the Hall of Fame issues a press release after each item they obtain? Also, if you've been dealing with them for thirty years, and know Scotty, you would know he hasn't been affiliated with the Hall in decades and would literally be the last guy that would be issuing press releases and discussing artifacts.

Gerry Cheevers retired in 1980, Scotty Morrison from the HHOF in 1998 and so I thought perhaps you had info that at some point during those 18yrs the original, one & only game used famous Cheevers mask had been donated to the HHOF and.... apparently not, as I'd contended... That maybe between 1998 & 2017 Cheevers or his Grandson had donated it and again as I heard nothing about it, even did a google search, and again drawing blanks. So..... they do have a "practice" or "exhibition" mask but not the original. If they ever had or do receive it then yes, I would expect them to have a ceremony of some sort including a press release & or mention on their website, acknowledge the donation, amp up their "Goalie Mask" Display with the addition of the famous Cheevers stitch mask which as you know is one of the more popular attractions at the HHOF.

 

[Ofuzz]

I can't remember who said it on "Showdown" but the gist was that they hated going one on one with Rogie because he was already laughing at you...

 

[MarkusKetterer]

https://www.pinterest.ca/jonallred/sharks-goalie-masks/ some of these masks are pretty cool. And anybody else love how fantastic those Nordiques WHA jerseys were

 

[Killion]

I can't remember who said it on "Showdown" but the gist was that they hated going one on one with Rogie because he was already laughing at you...

Those are 2 different masks (look at the airholes on the side, nose holes & mouth), the white one for sure with the mouth carved out in that configuration sure does look like a laugh, the other one not so much.... and ya, I prefer the white one with the sort of open mouthed smirk.

 

[FerrisRox]

Gerry Cheevers retired in 1980, Scotty Morrison from the HHOF in 1998 and so I thought perhaps you had info that at some point during those 18yrs the original, one & only game used famous Cheevers mask had been donated to the HHOF and.... apparently not, as I'd contended... That maybe between 1998 & 2017 Cheevers or his Grandson had donated it and again as I heard nothing about it, even did a google search, and again drawing blanks. So..... they do have a "practice" or "exhibition" mask but not the original. If they ever had or do receive it then yes, I would expect them to have a ceremony of some sort including a press release & or mention on their website, acknowledge the donation, amp up their "Goalie Mask" Display with the addition of the famous Cheevers stitch mask which as you know is one of the more popular attractions at the HHOF.

I was there from 1993 til 2002. Scotty was, throughout those years, very much a figurehead and not involved at all in artifact collection, display design or anything to do with the collection at all. That's why I thought it was odd you mentioned him in connection with an artifact, even a high profile one like Gerry Cheevers mask. Scotty wouldn't have had a clue what the museum had in the archives or on display.

The Cheevers mask I saw was already part of the collection in 1993 when I got there. It was, for a time, displayed right by the front admissions when the Hall of Fame opened at it's then brand new downtown location. The mask, along with a Ron Low Capitals mask, a Brian Hayward Sharks mask and a Murray Bannerman Blackhawks mask were part of a mini-exhibit that you could see without even buying a ticket to the museum, it was displayed outside of the admissions area. I am very surprised to learn it was in fact an "exhibition" mask because the Hall had a policy of not displaying anything at all that wasn't "game used" so either they were unaware of the pedigree of the mask Cheevers had given them or they had made an exception in this case because of the popularity of the item. Either way, it was taken off display when the front admissions were renovated (which I think was around 1997 or so) and it was replaced by a Billy Smith Islanders mask. I thought, at the time, the mask had been returned to Cheevers (there are a surprisingly amount of artifacts at the Hall that are "on loan" but based on Cheevers comments in the aforementioned article, it appears the Hall still has it. I suspect it was removed from display because it didn't mean the standard of being "game used."

 

[GarbageGoal]

Always loved Murray Bannerman, Rogie Vachon and Dunc Wilson's masks.

As well as this simple Gilles Meloche design which I'm not sure was posted prior.

I'm glad we've left the dark days of the late 80's early 90's when masks just became giant cages (The Billy Smith masks I call them) with no designs and gone to what we have now.

My all time recent fave is Kari Lehtonen's "Kill Bill" design

 

[Killion]

As well as this simple Gilles Meloche design which I'm not sure was posted prior....

.... seeing that model brings back warm memories as I had the same model made by Greg Harrison though sadly long gone. Mine wasnt painted, came in "bondo grey badass" unless otherwise specified & when I had it made, decorating custom masks hadnt really taken off.... more here on Meloche's mask & the various paint jobs Greg applied to it over the years with pictures...

www.gameusedmasks.com/maskshtml/meloche_white_matches.html

 

[Hobnobs]

Leif Honken Holmqvists mask

 

[DowntownBooster]

Ed Belfour

 

[DowntownBooster]

Nikolai Khabibulin

 

[DowntownBooster]

Ed Staniowksi

 

[DowntownBooster]

Gary "Suitcase" Smith

 

[Olden McGroin]

Andy Moog

 

[Olden McGroin]

Roman Turek

Steve Mason

 

[Killion]

^^^ Wow! Love the nods to Parent et al. That is some seriously intricate artwork.

 

[Johnny Engine]

Yeah, the paint job on both of those are great, but it just kills me how many masks these days have great artwork but just brutal design. You look at a mask like Hayward's and the Shark is visible from any spot in the arena, on any size of TV, from any angle, but the majority just recede into coloured blobs. And I mean, there are some good ones in the airbrushing age. Roberto Luongo consistently has a recognizable look that makes use of the helmet's space, and Ben Bishop's glowing orbs are uniquely his own. But man, so many of them look like nothing at all unless you're looking directly at a thumbnail on DaveArt's website.

 

[Killion]

Yeah, the paint job on both of those are great, but it just kills me how many masks these days have great artwork but just brutal design. You look at a mask like Hayward's and the Shark is visible from any spot in the arena, on any size of TV, from any angle, but the majority just recede into coloured blobs. And I mean, there are some good ones in the airbrushing age. Roberto Luongo consistently has a recognizable look that makes use of the helmet's space, and Ben Bishop's glowing orbs are uniquely his own. But man, so many of them look like nothing at all unless you're looking directly at a thumbnail on DaveArt's website.

Yeah. Sort of like a performance artist in a huge mammoth space performing whatever that you need to be a few feet away from max rather than yards upon yards upon yards away from in order to make anything out. Less is more when it comes to masks though I think most would agree the modern airbrushed masks up close are certainly quite stunning in their own right. They just dont translate well in the cavernous space of an arena nor on television with the exception of extreme close-up's.

From any distance they look like a Jackson Pollock as seen through the bottom of a glass , spied through the wrong end of a telescope, just a blur of mixed, schizophrenic colors vaguely in keeping with the teams colors. Even back in the day with the face flush custom masks a lot of guys went overboard with the airbrushing. Wasnt a fan of the Gary Bromley "Skull Mask" nor of others of that kind. Some have become iconic in their own right of course but to me silly novelty nonsense, that kind of artwork & statement more appropriate as album covers, stoners t-shirts, Dead Heads tricked out VW Camper Van or whatever. Playing the same shock value card repetitively like that grows tired rather quickly.

 

[Johnny Engine]

Yeah. Sort of like a performance artist in a huge mammoth space performing whatever that you need to be a few feet away from max rather than yards upon yards upon yards away from in order to make anything out. Less is more when it comes to masks though I think most would agree the modern airbrushed masks up close are certainly quite stunning in their own right. They just dont translate well in the cavernous space of an arena nor on television with the exception of extreme close-up's.

From any distance they look like a Jackson Pollock as seen through the bottom of a glass , spied through the wrong end of a telescope, just a blur of mixed, schizophrenic colors vaguely in keeping with the teams colors. Even back in the day with the face flush custom masks a lot of guys went overboard with the airbrushing. Wasnt a fan of the Gary Bromley "Skull Mask" nor of others of that kind. Some have become iconic in their own right of course but to me silly novelty nonsense, that kind of artwork & statement more appropriate as album covers, stoners t-shirts, Dead Heads tricked out VW Camper Van or whatever. Playing the same shock value card repetitively like that grows tired rather quickly.

Indeed, although for what it's worth Bromley's visage included a single element placed in a deliberate location. Today's mask artists might put the skull itself somewhere near the temple, so that one eye socket and half the teeth run off the side of the canvas, a Pirates of the Carribean-inspired army of the dead parading from the chin to the opposite jaw, Stanley Park scenery on the crown of the head, the letters BROM in the most unreadable font face available in the centre of the brows, and a pattern of 0.5"x0.25" stick-in-rink logos overlaid on the entire thing, leaving the entire thing completely inscrutable under direct light.

 

[Killion]

... say what?... how much coffee have you had Johnny?

 

[DJ Man]

I remember an article from an early 1960s hockey magazine. It was about Ed Chadwick, who was now stuck in the minors, but hoping for another NHL chance.

A photo caption said that Chadwick would now be wearing a mask, but the photo was peculiar: the mask that he was holding up and posing with looked like some thin plastic Halloween thing with a clown-like grimace. It was as if Chadwick forgot his proper mask and the photographer grabbed this one as a prop.

See if you can find that one!