#BACK OF GOALIE MASK PLAIN CLIP ART SKIN#

The only thing that broke were the hockey pucks. This mask withstood a test in which pucks were fired out of an air cannon at speeds of 120 miles per hour (193 km/h). This new mask was made with epoxy resins which were able to absorb impact better. In 1970, Plante added hard ridges on the forehead and down the middle of his mask to deflect pucks, and protruded the mask over the ears. The new mask weighed 10.3 oz (292 g) and allowed more air to circulate around the goalie's face. His new mask, called the pretzel design, used fiberglass cloth and was made up of fiberglass bars contoured to the goalie's face. The result was the flesh toned 0.125 in (52 mm) thick mask that weighed only 14 oz (397 g).īy January of 1960, Burchmore had come up with a second goalie mask design. Burchmore layered sheets of fiberglass cloth saturated with polyester resin on top of the mold. He had to put a woman's stocking over his head, cover his face with Vaseline, and breath through a straws stuck in both nostrils while his head was covered with plaster. Burchmore gave Plante his idea, and Plante was persuaded by his trainers to give it a try. While at work the next day, Burchmore was looking at a fiberglass mannequin head when he realized the he could design a contoured, lightweight fiberglass mask that would fit the goalie's face like a protective second skin. He witnessed Plante getting hit in the forehead with a puck, resulting in a 45 minute delay One evening he had gone to watch a game in which Plante was goaltending. Bill Burchmore, a sales and promotional manager for the company, envisioned the mask. Plante's mask was the product of a Canadian company called Fiberglass Canada. By this time, Plante had broken his jaw, both cheekbones, and his nose, his skull had suffered a hair-line fracture, and he had gotten over 200 stitches from past injuries received during games. Plante was forced to leave the game to be stitched up, but later returned wearing a flesh tone mask constructed of fiberglass with cutouts for the eyes. The first recorded goalie wearing a mask came on November 1, 1959, when Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadians was hit with a rising shot in the nose and was knocked unconscious by New York Ranger Andy Bathgate. HistoryĬlint Benedict in 1930 is thought to have worn the first mask-like protection in a game but his mask was not formally recorded. Goaltenders at that time wore their injuries like badges. Goalies also did not wear any form of facial protection during games because they worried that other players and fans would lose respect for them, thinking them to be weak. These forms of facial protection were not satisfactory since they fogged up, there was a glare from the lights in the rink, and they had many blindspots, making them unsuitable for game use. Goaltenders began experimenting with facial protection such as wire cages and clear shatter-proof shields in the 1950s, but they were only used during practice.

#BACK OF GOALIE MASK PLAIN CLIP ART SKIN#

The slapshot was beginning to hit players in the face, resulted in broken facial bones and skin lacerations. It took decades for the goalies to incorporate the wire cages into the fiberglass masks of today.Īs the game of hockey progressed, the players got stronger and faster, and players were shooting the puck harder and higher. The wire cage was originally worn by baseball catchers. In 1934, Roy Mosgrove, who wore eye glasses all the time, first put on a wire cage to protect his glasses. This, however, was not recorded as the first goalie mask in history. Benedict ended up wearing the mask for only two games because it blocked his vision. One theory is that it was a modified football faceguard, and the other is that it was a boxer's sparring mask. There are two theories as to the origin of the face-mask that he wore. In 1930, he wore a modified leather mask that covered his broken nose and cheekbone, the result of getting hit by a puck during a game. Shots were low and were not as strong and fast as they are now.Ĭlint Benedict of the Montreal Maroons was the first goalie to wear any type of facial protection in a hockey game. In the early beginnings of hockey, goaltenders had never thought to wear any facial or head protection. Hockey has been played for over 100 years in North America and over 500 years in Europe, but amazingly the goalie mask is a relatively new invention. The first organized hockey league began with four teams in Kingston, Ontario in 1885. As a formal game, hockey began to be played in North America in the 1870s in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Back of goalie mask plain clip art