What Happened To Goalie Masks

[Shark Finn]

As a goalie it's one of the saddest things about hockey. It's super rare now that I'll love a mask. Ten years ago there was still quite a few nice masks. Today Jonas Hiller's matte black mask would be one of the nicer masks in the league lol.

This is the very mask I always think of in these threads.

 

[Ghost of Murph]

Fitting a body's worth of tattoos onto a goalie mask isn't optimal aesthetically to me, but I get why goalies have gone the direction they've gone, given the culture.

As an aside, most people here have probably already read it, but for those who haven't, "Saving Face: The Art and History of the Goalie Mask" is an excellent book. Tons of good photos and info.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

They literally all look the same

Especially if you're sitting in the cheap seats.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Wonder what would happen if a goalie asked Dave to put something questionable on his mask. Like if a goalie wanted a pic of John Wayne Gacy in his clown getup taking up the whole mask would he do it?

 

[Billdo]

The best masks in the league are the ones not done by DaveArt. Artists like Syla and JBo are light years better than DaveArt and his stupid f***ing "tech" and "story telling". The problem is somewhere along the lines the league aligned themselves with him and he's got the majority of the masks in the league and the vast majority of those are unreadable, cluttered, lens flare filled garbage.

 

[FrozenJagrt]

Goaltenders have masks for themselves, not for the TV audience. They aren't designed to look good from the stands, or on TV, they are designed for the goalie himself. They feature what he likes, the details he wants and the stuff he thinks is cool.

This doesn't sit well with a lot of people here, but that's the simple truth.

Every year people whine and complain about DaveArt, as if he is forcing these goaltenders to use the masks he designs, and he's forcing them to incorporate different paint techniques, effects and features.

That's not at all how it works. The players always have a discussion, usually on a Zoom call, about the things they like and want on the mask, there's a back and forth, sketches are exchanged and signed off on, and in most cases, the goaltenders are citing existing masks from other goalies that they like or details or effects they want incorporated.

The silly narrative that DaveArt has some sort of exclusive contract and goalies are "forced" to use him is utter nonsense.

Nah you're right, all those goalies just happen to have the exact same taste in cluttered crap. All this time I had no idea that so many goalies were asking for the exact same thing in their masks.

 

[a mangy Meowth]

They've definitely gotten too busy for my taste, but I guess it's really just up to the goalie as to what they like

 

[Rebels57]

John Van Biesbrouck's Flyers helmet was INCREDIBLE

 

[Hockeyfan2390]

Wonder what would happen if a goalie asked Dave to put something questionable on his mask. Like if a goalie wanted a pic of John Wayne Gacy in his clown getup taking up the whole mask would he do it?

How about an even more sinister and homidical clown?

 

[Kevinsane]

The best masks in the league are the ones not done by DaveArt. Artists like Syla and JBo are light years better than DaveArt and his stupid f***ing "tech" and "story telling". The problem is somewhere along the lines the league aligned themselves with him and he's got the majority of the masks in the league and the vast majority of those are unreadable, cluttered, lens flare filled garbage.

ABSOFRICKINLUTELY bang on.

It’s like having the money to hire any rapper you want for your company’s Christmas party, but being told your choices are limited to the Island Boys because corporate says so.