As difficult as it is to believe, it’s October already. You know what that means*; hockey season is rapidly approaching.
Along with stories about guys who might still be a little injured claiming they’re “100 percent” and teams carrying in optimism that will eventually look foolish, we also get fun stuff like new goalie masks.
We’d already seen Petr Mrazek pay tribute to Joe Louis Arena a month ago, but with the preseason in high gear, we’re seeing more masks.
While there will likely be some other fun entries before the games start to count in 2016-17, PHT is kindly saving your delicate fingers a few extra clicks by collecting a few choice masks in one post.
To start things off, Michal Neuvirth paid tribute to late Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLB4SBygFnd/
This Miami Herald video shares Roberto Luongo’s very-cool concept: the old Panthers cat on one side, the new one on the other. Here’s a shot from George Richards:
.@strombone1 has a brand new mask....video coming soon pic.twitter.com/ztGsQnV7sD
— George Richards (@GeorgeRichards) October 1, 2016
(Anyone else get a little John Vanbiesbrouck nostalgia from that lid?)
Thankfully, no birds were harmed in the making of Louis Domingue’s mask, which features Arizona sports figures from Randy Johnson to more obvious Coyotes choices:
Louis Domingue (@domingue35) went #AllAZ when designing his newest goalie mask. See it: https://t.co/ZGB28rSlDv pic.twitter.com/LulaiSwOFs
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) September 26, 2016
Nitpick: Steve Nash’s hair could have been floppier. Just saying.
Finally, hockey and Seinfeld once again mix better than a black-and-white cookie in Scott Wedgewood’s mask, which features a Puddy reference:
#NJDevils' G Scott #Wedgewood's goalie mask for the upcoming season. pic.twitter.com/1HV50kFAv5
— CoastToCoastHockey (@coastocoasthky) September 30, 2016
If you want more goalie masks, DaveArt.com’s list should keep you entertained for some time.
* - Barring all-too-frequent lockouts.