Ever since the NHL mandated masks on goaltenders, goalies have been figuring out ways to customize them. Jacques Plante helped design his own mask that became the very first one worn in an NHL game, Gerry Cheevers put a stitch on his white face shield on the spot he got hit, and Doug Favell became the first to paint his mask when he threw some orange stripes on his white mask while playing with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Now, the unveiling of a new mask design is a marquee event. Goalies and artists work together to create the perfect combination of player and team, and in 2024-25, there may not be a better example of that then Linus Ullmark‘s new mask for the Ottawa Senators. Working alongside artist Dave Fried, who’s worked with several Senators’ goalies, he came up with a way to not only honour his Swedish heritage but also the great goalies who came before him in Ottawa.
Ullmark’s arrival was already an exciting event, but seeing his mask draw on so many elements familiar to Senators’ fans will surely make him one of the most popular goalies in Ottawa in years. So let’s take a deeper look into the masks that inspired his new design and how those elements connect back to a rich tableau of goalie masks though Senators’ history.
Hasek’s Simple-Yet-Iconic Birdcage
Of the three masks Ullmark mentioned, Dominik Hasek‘s inclusion seems a bit misplaced. After all, it’s just a red cage with two slightly-altered Senators’ logos on the sides. But, sometimes, there is a beauty in simplicity, and that’s what this mask nails. Ironically, it was one of the most detailed masks that he wore in his career. Before arriving in Ottawa in 2004, ‘The Dominator’ wore a generic cage mask with some small adornments. With the Buffalo Sabres, he wore a black mask with just a small logo on the front. But when he went to the Detroit Red Wings, he plastered two large winged wheels on either side of a red mask. Unfortunately, he and his iconic mask only played 43 games for Ottawa before returning to Detroit in 2006.
Rate Dominik Hasek’s Ottawa Senators Style ⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/pUExwJ5qPf
— Missin Curfew (@MissinCurfew) January 15, 2023
While most goalies include their team’s logo somewhere on their mask, Hasek was one of the few Senators at that point to feature just the logo. The first to do it was Daniel Berthiaume, who joined the team in…
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