Once upon a time a goalie in the NHL did not wear any head or facial protection while between the pipes. We look back at that and wonder, what the hell were they thinking back then getting a frozen biscuit fired at your head with nothing to save you. Granted the technology of composite sticks weren’t  born, curves were non existent and if you were a 6 foot tall player, you were considered a basketball player not a hockey player.

Back on November 1st, 1959 Montreal Canadiens goaltender,Jacques Plante decided to to what no other goalie had done…..he  wore head protection during an NHL game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Plante was wearing the mask in practice at the time but wasn’t allowed to wear it during games since coach Toe Blake thought it would impair his vision until Plante refused to play net that night. At that point, the goalie mask was born.

Plante made the original mask he wore that night and what started as protection turned into far more than that. By 1975, the year Plante hung up the skates, every goalie in the NHL was wearing an mask. The last goalie to play a game without a mask was Andy Brown in 1974.

Gerry Cheevers was the first notable painted mask with his famous painted stitches on his mask  as goalies started making their own designs withsignature paint jobs. In the early 1970’s a Russian goalie named Vladislav Tretiak make the helmet/cage combination the choice for most goalies as the game got quicker and slap shots approached 100 mph. Today Chris Osgood is the only goalie in the NHL that still wears that style cage.

The latest goalie masks are custom molded to the players faces since safety is number one with slap shots well over 100 mph now. These masks are made out of carbon fiber and have become works of art. The artwork on these masterpieces have become big business with every Pro goaltender today has a custom, painted mask to fit their personality as well as their team colors.

This trend has trickled right down through Juniors, High School and Youth hockey. Goaltenders in general have progressively gone to being the teams “center piece” as they match right down to the laces on their skates.

**Attention Goalies: do you have a custom paint job that you want to show off? Send us your pictures and provide us with your name, state and team you play for. We want to build a gallery page just for you**