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One of the first hockey posts that I did for this blog was a discussion of who was the greatest NHL goaltender of all time, and my choice was Terry Sawchuk, with the main reason being that not only did he dominate his era, but that era was the time when goalies played without masks. The blog included a picture of the accumulated damage done to Sawchuk’s face over the years. Most people would agree that the mask was a positive addition to the game. The picture above on the left is of another legendary goalie, Jacques Plante, donning his mask for the first time. I remember that same picture being used on t-shirts that read “GIVE BLOOD…PLAY HOCKEY!” In today’s game the mask has been replaced by the goalie helmet, and even though there are lot of creative masks being worn out there, it’s just not the same as it used to be. Boston’s Gerry Cheevers used a unique approach for his mask. He started each season with a clean white one, then would paint “stitches” on it in every spot he got hit as the season went on. His mask is shown in the picture above on the right. Here are a couple of other memorable masks from the past:

Mike Liut of the St.Louis Blues. 

Gary Simmons (also wore a “Cobra” mask in later years)

Here are some masks worn in movies, that wouldn’t quite make the grade for the NHL (the one in the top right corner is from the classic hockey movie “Slapshot”; I’m not sure about the others: