Masked men

So what will the well-dressed goaltender be wearing on his head next season? If you are Lightning No. 1 Mike Smith and backup Olaf Kolzig (that's how the season is supposed to start, anyway), the art on one's mask reflects some personal roots. For Smith, his love of fishing cultivated by his father, Ron, back in Kingston, Ontario. For Kolzig, the Godzilla nickname he got in 1993 while playing for AHL Rochester.

First to Smith, who said the biggest fish he ever caught was a 150-pound tarpon off Boca Grande after last season. Ron beat him with a 155-pounder.

Smith, who after being acquired from the Stars in the Brad Richards deal, had a mask (shown here)quickly made with a big lightning bolt across the top. He said next season's will have fish scales as the design base. It will have a fishing pier, "And, obviously, lots of lightning and stuff like that."

Smith said he truly likes the sport to which Ron introduced him. Back home, they fished for pickerel and bass.

"It's a nice way to get out with your dad and your brother and friends of the family and enjoy it on the water and drop a line in," Smith said. "I love fish to eat, too. So usually in the summer, we'll go early in the morning on a Saturday and try to catch some lunch."

Smith said if you catch it, you have to clean it. "I get dirty. It gets bloody. My dad doesn't clean too many because I'm the one catching them all."

Kolzig said his mask will stick to the basic theme that carried him through his years with the Capitals. He will have "Zilla" written across the lower extension and Godzilla, the fictional, prehistoric, fire-breathing dragon will be on top, snorting flames. Other than that, a couple of swaying palm trees and some lightning bolts.

Kolzig said the first time he had the animal drawn on a mask, "It ended up looking like Barney. Now we've got it right."

He said his Godzilla nickname dates to his minor league playing days in Rochester.

"I still had a bit of a temper and I played with a lot more fire back then," he said. "I was a big guy and playing well. I came to the rink one day, and somebody had a sign up that said, 'Nobody beats Godzilla.' It just kind of stuck with me ever since."

No pictures yet as the masks, both goalies said, are still being painted.

Comments

[HockeyBay.com]

Smittys is kind of a laime mask, palm trees and lazy beach scenes?.. even Holmer and Denis had better masks... Get some God of Thunder and freaking lightning bolts out of the sky mask going on! Also Ramo needs to change his.. looks like he took a slap shot to his head and brains came popping out...

[Voice of the Turtle]

Somehow I reserve some special respect for a guy like Chris Osgood of Detroit who uses a plain unadorned mask. He just quietly goes out to his cage and performs with excellence and class while winning Stanley Cups. That's what catches my attention, not a showy mask with a goalie's life story symbolically splashed all over it.

Instead of worrying about the mask designs, goalies would be better off working on their angles, studying the shooters, and protecting the 5-hole.

After watching Mr. Smith play, I feel assured that he, in particular, could benefit from more concentration in those areas. Maybe it would be more appropriate to adorn the handle of his fishing poles with related pictures instead of his mask.

Goalies were less interested in showboating in an earlier hockey era that was less dominated by media attention, excessively high salaries, and huge egos. One must figure a goalie to be really very embarrassed when he skates off the ice with his compelling and dazzling mask after giving up a half a dozen or more goals (and, no goalie has ever been spared the pain of some evenings like that).

[Steve R]

Turtle,

Showboating? Not too long ago the goalies equipment looked half the size it is now. Kinda hard to showboat when you're getting lit up like the 4th of July almost every night. Look how small the goalie and his equipment are in the footage of #99 scoring his 50th in 39 games for a case in point.

[Alex]

Denis did have the god of thunder on his mask, it was Zeus. He was simply holding a bolt, but still it was he. I think Ramo had the best mask in the game, before the pink brainy thing. I loved the idea that his mask was Jack Skeleton of Nightmare Before Christmas. That's still one of my favs. Yeah, he should go back to that.

[Jim- NJ]

Rick Dipietro's mask is THE greatest mask ever.

[léo]

Know what would be cool?
A goalie mask adorned with different goalie masks.
Then you'd have a mask EVERBODY likes.
P.

[Don in St. Pete]

I'm with the Turtle, always a voice of wisdom. The mask painting may be entertaining to marginal fans, but to true hockey fans, you don't even think about it after the first glance. I think Gerry Cheevers may have been the first to paint his mask, a simple set of stitches added each time he got hit in the face with the puck, still my favorite mask of all time and a simple reminder of the sacrifice the goalies makes each time he skates into the crease.

[ajax]

I read a story where after the season was over they discovered a manufacturer's defect in the mask of Carey Price. Seems the mask was made 1.5 inches to long in the front, creating a very small blindspot on high shots. Explained months of wondering for me.

[DSB]

I don't mind a good paint job on a mask. But, Don in St. Pete, I didn't know that one's opinion on a mask made them a marginal fan or a true hockey fan. If I think about it more than once I am no longer a true hockey fan? Come on Don.

[bingo]

Ajax, nothing like a mis-configured face mask being used as the latest and greatest excuse for a right side glove hand that looked like my grandmothers Ben Franklin Clock when the spring said enough is enough. ROFLMAO

[Twinebulge]

Like others, I hold respect for those goalies who go simple on the headgear, although no less for those who go flamboyant. I've wondered for a long time why more goalies don't opt for the helmet & cage a la Hasek, Osgood, Joseph, Salo et al. From a pragmatic standpoint it seems as if it would be cooler, better visibility and spread out the force of a fired puck and not have impact so close to the face....but they're ten times harder to customize with the paint job.

Cheevers: Best. Mask. Ever. Life-size picture of that puppy on the wall at our office never fails to elicit a smile from newcomers.

As far as the fan not being a true fan if they like the art on the goalie mask, or the goalies needing to have no art in order to demonstrate proper focus on their fundamentals, it's tough to put much stock in that. Mike Smith would be in dire need of vast improvement in his timing, mental focus, puckhandling and judgment even if he wore a plain white mask. As for a goalie after a loss feeling embarrassment over the design painted on his equipment, I'd bet at that moment nothing could be further from his mind than his MASK ART.

What do you think?

[Don in St. Pete]

Sorry DSB, I wasn't actually trying to marginlize fans that enjoyed the art of goalie mask painting. I was just stating as a long time player, and now fan, that after the first glance I don't pay attention anymore. I'd like to hear others opinions on the importance they place on the paint job on a goalies mask?

[Boltflasher]

The coolest goalie mask I ever saw was Cheevers'. Nothing else comes close...not very important really...A neat addition to a mask would be to add a star each time the goalie was the 1st star in a game...

[coach bill]

Don in St. Pete- I think the first goalie to paint the stiches on his mask was Jacques Plante. ' could be wrong. Leo, do you remember that?
When Cheevers came up, he also played defense( I think it was Soult Saint Marie) in juniors.

[Don in St. Pete]

Coach you may be right, but I seem to remember Plante palying without a mask after Cheevers came up. Coach do you remember during the cup when ken Hodge's slapshot hit Glenn Hall right between the eyes? Hodge could bring it, much like Modin a few years back and If I remember right Hall was in a coma or unconscious for like 3 days. I can see it now, the Glenn Hall mask with half of a puck sticking out of your forehead. I love the idea of the stars flasher, that's the most inventive one I've seen yet,

[Twinebulge]

"According to the Hockey Hall of Fame, Gerry Cheevers of the Boston Bruins was the first to have markings on his shield. Trainer John (Frosty) Forristall painted stitch marks wherever the goalie got hit by a puck."
Source: The Hockey News

Don, it depends on what you mean by "when Cheevers came up." When Plante last played without a mask (1959) Cheevers was still in the OHA with the Toronto St. Mikes. He didn't crack the NHL until 1961-62, when he played in two games for the Leafs. I don't think Jacques Plante ever again played without a mask after that fateful night in November '59 when he got riveted by a shot in the face, got stitched up, told coach Toe Blake he wasn't coming back without the mask, and went on to win that game and change the face of hockey forever.

And does this sound familiar regarding Game 1 of the 1970 Final against Boston: "At 3:57 of the first period, a hard shot from Fred Stanfield was deflected and struck Jacques Plante in the forehead of his face mask, splitting the mask in half and injuring Plante. Plante was finished for the series. Doctors later said if he hadn't been wearing the mask, he surely would have been killed." (Wikipedia)

Ernie Wakely filled in - weakly. >:^D) Games 1 & 2 in STL went 6-1 and 6-2 BOS, that was all she wrote.

[Wildman]

"Know what would be cool?
A goalie mask adorned with different goalie masks.
Then you'd have a mask EVERBODY likes.
P."

Already been done, by Minnesota Wild goalie Josh Harding in his rookie season...still my favorite of the newer style masks.

Fred

[Don in St. Pete]

Twiney, Thanks for clearing up the details. Forgetting the details and players involved in my old age. Those old plastic masks were about useless ( other than saving your life ) as I can remember even a street hockey ball hurt if you got hit in the face wearing one of those.

[coach bill]

I was a rinkrat in Providence when Cheevers was coming up.He was playing against us one night and some fan sitting behind him was giving him a hard time(no glass in those days-chicken wire!)During a time out, I was out on the ice picking up papers and Cheevers reached over me to pick up a penny off the ice. He skated back to the obnoxious fan and passed it through to him saying " Here! Go call all your friends!" I loved it.