retro Jason style goalie masks vs modern day goalie masks

[South Florida Canuck]

I am a big fan of the retro style goalie masks of the 70's and early 80's, and would love to see them return. A couple of questions I have however is, has the NHL banned them? What are the differences in performance compared to the modern day goalie masks of today? Do you think we might ever see the Jason style masks return? I for one would love that.

I play hockey, but have never played goalie so I really dont know what the differences would be except for maybe vision in which the old style masks had two small holes for the eyes where as the modern ones use a face shield.

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[Dark Shadows]

I am a big fan of the retro style goalie masks of the 70's and early 80's, and would love to see them return. A couple of questions I have however is, has the NHL banned them? What are the differences in performance compared to the modern day goalie masks of today? Do you think we might ever see the Jason style masks return? I for one would love that.

I play hockey, but have never played goalie so I really dont know what the differences would be except for maybe vision in which the old style masks had two small holes for the eyes where as the modern ones use a face shield.

No goalie in their right mind would use one today.

#1, contact from a puck will still impact on your face more(bullet proof vest effect)

#2,The bigger reason....... they cut off your Peripheral vision

 

[weaselsuit]

I still wear one in pickup games.

But thornton19 is correct, they are pretty dangerous. Think of them as the gap between bare faced goalies and the guys who play today (The Osgood style helmet/cage combo was prevalent for a short time). Gerry Desjardins and Bernie Parent suffered career ending eye injuries wearing the full facemasks in the late seventies, and other NHL goalies started making the switch to the helmet/cage setup as a result.

But they WERE cool looking. As a matter of a fact, it was seeing Dan Bouchards flaming mask on TV back in 1976 that made me want to be a goalie in the first place.

Check this out: A message board devoted to thye fiberglass masks of yesteryear;

http://www.runboard.com/bvintagegoaliemaskdiscussionpage

 

[MaskedSonja]

I like the modern ones for the reason that they can be decorated like the masks of old while retaining the visiblity and protection that the cage provides-beautiful combination of the two.

Incidently, the exact fibreglass type Jason wore wasn't like those of yesteryear(the closest might be like an Esposito)-when I've watched the movie, it's a style I'm not familiar with.

Can somepost a pic of his mask(I've never been able to post a pic to a thread)?

 

[lextune]

They provided next to no protection at all. They'll never return.

Some of 'em were pretty cool though....

 

[Bear of Bad News]

I was going to mention Bernie Parent's eye injury, but I see that I was beaten to it.

So I'll ask a trivia question instead.

Name the last National Hockey League goaltender to wear this style of mask in a game.

 

[Hedberg]

I was going to mention Bernie Parent's eye injury, but I see that I was beaten to it.

So I'll ask a trivia question instead.

Name the last National Hockey League goaltender to wear this style of mask in a game.

I think it was Sam St. Laurent. What year did he quit wearing it?

 

[cupcrazyman]

http://www.hockeymasks.com/masks/Ken-Dryden.shtml

one of my all time favs is the Ken Dryden "Pretzel" style mask from the early 70's.

 

[weaselsuit]

I think it was Sam St. Laurent. What year did he quit wearing it?

Hey Brian.

St. Laurent was 89 I think. But he was the last guy to wear one by several years I think...

 

[Space Herpe]

I am ex-goalie (I got hurt.)
I wore a Osgood style of mask/cage/thingy.

I would never even consider wearing a Jason style of mask.

Apart from the vision, there's no 'breathing room' for your face, no ventalation, know what I mean?

Plus, as someone upstairs said, if you get hit in the face, its hitting your face. I've been hit in the cage many times, and never got hurt.

Also, you can paint up cages all you like! Gotta love this one...

 

[Bear of Bad News]

I think it was Sam St. Laurent. What year did he quit wearing it?

Correct! To the best of my knowledge, he wore it for his entire playing career (which ended in 1991-92). If anyone has information (pictures) to the contrary, I'd love to hear from you.

 

[Dark Shadows]

They provided next to no protection at all. They'll never return.

Some of 'em were pretty cool though....

Uh, they provided PLENTY of protection as opposed to nothing at all.

Obviously they will never return because they would not protect as well as new ones, but they were immensely helpful back then. It gave goaltenders a bit more confidence in their safety from most players(Obviously not Bobby Hull, who admittedly used to try to wizz it past their faces if he had no angle for a goal to make them think about it the next time he was on the ice)

The advent of the goalie mask changed the way goaltenders play, allowing them to make more saves on their knees without fear of serious head or facial injuries. Before the advent of the mask, most goaltenders stayed standing as much as possible. In the modern era, a goaltender is likely to make the majority of saves when he has one or both knees on the ice.

Terry Sawchuk's 600+ pre mask stitches agree it provided much protection.

 

[leftyhiggins]

Not to undermine the ammount of physical damage Sawchuk endured over his carreer, these photos of his 'stitches' are enbelishments and enhanced to show the accumulated damage...what it look like all at once, if you will.

----------

I have many goaltender pictures and can't believe I don't have one of St. Laurent!
Somebody post one!

 

[leftyhiggins]

This Gilles Gratton mask was pretty wild..

I always liked Gary Simmons 'cobra' mask..

 

[lextune]

Correct! To the best of my knowledge, he wore it for his entire playing career (which ended in 1991-92). If anyone has information (pictures) to the contrary, I'd love to hear from you.

There's a shot of him on his website wearing a more modern mask in 1992

http://www.acomba.net/scripts/page.asp?site=9909588

 

[lextune]

Uh, they provided PLENTY of protection as opposed to nothing at all.

Sure, that is pretty self evident. I was obviously being slightly hyperbolic. My point (more specifically) was that the mask was mostly intended to prevent cuts, (blood in the eye will knock you out of a game, whereas you should just be able to "tough it out" with a broken cheekbone ).

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

I could be wrong, but if I recall, those types of masks were banned. You either have to wear a Hasek style bird cage or the more popular one used by most current goalies.

I think Tony Espo was the first to put a mini cage on his mask. He just basically screwed a cage onto his old mask he used his entire career.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

There's a shot of him on his website wearing a more modern mask in 1992

http://www.acomba.net/scripts/page.asp?site=9909588

Good find - thank you!

Now I'm wondering when he switched - I know that he wore it through 1989-90 (*), but did he switch when the Rangers picked him up and he played in Binghamton? Hmmm.

(*) Of course, until now I "knew" that he wore it for his entire career, so take that with a grain of salt.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

I could be wrong, but if I recall, those types of masks were banned. You either have to wear a Hasek style bird cage or the more popular one used by most current goalies.

I think Tony Espo was the first to put a mini cage on his mask. He just basically screwed a cage onto his old mask he used his entire career.

All of the sources I've seen credit Esposito with that innovation.

Dave Dryden's the one who took it a bit further and put together the first "modern" goal mask.

 

[lextune]

Somewhat related to this topic is Andy Brown.

On April 7, 1974, Andy Brown tended goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins bare faced, marking the last appearance by a maskless goaltender in the NHL.

http://www.legendsofhockey.net/htmlgallery/gallery_masks020.htm#x

The whole gallery is awesome by the way: http://www.legendsofhockey.net/htmlgallery/gallery_masks001.htm#x

 

[Hawksfan2828]

No goalie in their right mind would use one today.

#1, contact from a puck will still impact on your face more(bullet proof vest effect)

#2,The bigger reason....... they cut off your Peripheral vision

I own 2 replica Bannerman masks... When I want to play goal I use one and the other is just to look at... They are pretty expensive as well but growing up a Hawks fan in the 80's that was the mask I wanted when I was a kid because I was a huge Bannerman fan.

I'm a vintage mask collector as well, I have all kinds from the 70's, I also collect vintage goalie pads.

They had a store around where I live called play it again sports that was a used sporting goods store and I found some gems. The store doesnt exist anymore but I spent around 150 bucks and walked out with 5-6 vintage masks from the 70's a few vintage jerseys and a few sets of goalie pads from the 70's and one set from the 20's (?). I got some old skates too.

 

[leftyhiggins]

Sounds like a cool bunch of goalie stuff you have.
I have full size autographed replicas of Ed Giacomin's & Tony Esposito's masks up on the wall....
...and just moments ago I obtained an early 70s Fibrosport Plante mask from a sporting goods store that had a vintage hockey equipment display. I've had my eye on it for about a year...got up the nerve to ask for it a week ago...just got a phone call and he says 50 bucks and it's yours!

I pick it up next Saturday... I'll be posting a pic!

I am freakin' overjoyed!!

 

[leftyhiggins]

Well, I couldn't wait and scooped up the mask today. While it'd be nice if it still had the sticker, I like the fact that it shows some age...there's your 'Jason' mask!

 

[Michael Scofield]

apart from looking like youre taking a lead role in gladiator, they are far too dangerous since protection is minimal compared to modern day masks.

 

[RandallFlagg1982]

I am a big fan of the retro style goalie masks of the 70's and early 80's, and would love to see them return. A couple of questions I have however is, has the NHL banned them? What are the differences in performance compared to the modern day goalie masks of today? Do you think we might ever see the Jason style masks return? I for one would love that.

I play hockey, but have never played goalie so I really dont know what the differences would be except for maybe vision in which the old style masks had two small holes for the eyes where as the modern ones use a face shield.

For anyone interested the exact model of mask used to make Jason's was a Fibrosport Elite JPG-102 size medium. The first film to feature the mask was 1982's Friday The 13th 3D. It was largely improvised in that it wasn't planned or scripted exactly what type of mask Jason would be wearing through the second half of the film.
He wore a potato sack in the previous film that was removed and discarded moments before the final appearance of the character right before the end. The effects crew were doing lighting tests with the actor in full make-up and they needed a mask to cover the make-up to see what spectrum color light would be needed to best take advantage of the 3D camera. Since the mask hadn't been chosen yet they just needed a quick fix to cover the face but still leave the eyes exposed to see what adjustments needed be made so the actors eyes were still visible as the character has no dialog and the only expression of emotion conveyed is through movement, body language, and eye expressions. One oofthe crew members was a goalie for his team and happened to have his equipment on set, and suggested the goalie mask would be a pretty scary addition as well as serve as facial protection for the character. The powers that be loved it as did the crew the only problem was the actor already had X amount of prosthetic covering his head, and the extra weight of the mask wearing it for sometimes as long as 14 hours a day for filming was straining his neck. It was also determined that the mask looked slightly too small in contrast to the size of the actor plus the added bulk of the prosthesis so the effects crew was tasked with making a mold of tthe original mask, recasting a new mask to retool and resize, then making a new master and mold from that. The eyeholes were reshaped slightly and made just slightly smaller. And the two lower straps on the cheek were removed to make the mask easier to slide on and remove for the actor. The prop masks were also made from very flimsy and lightweight vacuuformed clear plastic.
The rest is history, Jacques Plante's company Fibrosport out of Magog Quebec Canada was the manufacturers of the mask though and It was their mass produced Elite Model sized medium that was the origin mask. I own 3 originals, and 2 replicas. The originals are a rarity to come across these days as they were produced around 1970 by Fibrosport, and sold by Cooper and Ralley as well through the mid 70s.