Eddie Giacomin's First Goalie Mask

[sawchuk1971]

i saw a pic from the 1970-71 season where eddie giacomin is wearing a terry sawchuk styled mask...

do you guys think eddie wore the mask as a tribute to terry? terry died in the summer of 1970..

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[Doctor No]

Good shots - never seen the Giacomin photos before.

There weren't a lot of mask makers back then - my guess is that Giacomin was hooked up with Lefty Wilson by Sawchuk (Wilson was a longtime Detroit practice goaltender and trainer), and that Eddie either had the mask while they were teammates (wearing it in practice) or made the switch immediately after.

If anyone can replace (my) impressions with (your) facts, I'd love to hear it.

 

[Doctor No]

I just pulled out Jim Hynes' book, and I'm not sure that he's aware of the Wilson mask either - there's a photo of Giacomin's famous mask, with the caption: "Rangers goalie Ed Giacomin (opposite) played five NHL seasons without a mask before being fitted for an Ernie Higgins model in 1970."

 

[tony d]

Always liked those old goalie masks. Prefer those to the ones of today.

 

[Tarantula]

Always liked those old goalie masks. Prefer those to the ones of today.

I would love to have a authentic mask from that time to hang on my sports wall at home, wouldn't have to be NHL game worn, just a real model. Love the Rogie Vachon, Gilles Meloche though they had slightly different versions according to Killion. No paint either, dirty white only.

When I first played goal in peewee houseleague I wore a fiberglass or plastic mask that was available likely through Canadian Tire. Wasn't able to wear my glasses, but nobody was ripping any shots in peewee.

Miss the old stuff............

 

[sawchuk1971]

I just pulled out Jim Hynes' book, and I'm not sure that he's aware of the Wilson mask either - there's a photo of Giacomin's famous mask, with the caption: "Rangers goalie Ed Giacomin (opposite) played five NHL seasons without a mask before being fitted for an Ernie Higgins model in 1970."

is there a photograph of this?

 

[Doctor No]

It's a photo of the Higgins mask.