(Photo: NHL.Com)
Looking like something straight out of Hannibal Lecter’s personal collection, Plante’s mask drove fear into his opponents. (okay, maybe it was him, not the mask) It also drove him to a Hart trophy, 7 Vezina trophies, and 6 Stanley Cup titles with Montreal. Entered The Hockey Hall Of Fame in 1978.
7. Mike Liut
Liut’s mask was what Jason Voorhees wishes his mask was. You cannot see the eyes of the goaltender, you only see darkness. This mask resembles somewhat of an executioner’s hood with the long edge on the front, enough to make players shake in their skates. Liut spent his career mostly with St.Louis and Hartford. In his career he won The Lester B. Pearson Trophy, and was named an All-Star in 1981.
6. Gerry Cheevers – “Stitches” Mask
(Photo:SI)
A perfect goalie mask that could be used by any trick or treater. The stitches all over this mask were indications of where the puck would have hit him had he not been wearing it, likely ending in stitches to his face. Cheevers was a All-Star in 1969, and won The Stanley Cup twice with The Boston Bruins. Inducted into The Hockey Hall Of Fame In 1985.
5. Terry Sawchuk
What you see above, is not technically a mask, but at one point, the goalie’s face was his mask, and Sawchuk wore it well. Looks like something out of any zombie or Frankenstein film, the stitches, the reconstruction, like something that could have been done by any mad scientist. But through the stitches and the scars, Sawchuk had an amazing hockey career. 11 time All Star, Calder, 4 Vezinas, and 4 Stanley Cup titles. Inducted in The Hockey Hall of Fame in 1971, a year after his death.
4. Curtis Joseph “Cujo”
The mad dog that everyone fears, straight from the Stephen King film to a goalie mask. The mad dog has been on Curtis Joseph’s mask since 1991 until the end of his career in 2009. Different reincarnations, and repaints were done over the span of 19 years and over 6 different teams. CuJo was a 3 time All Star who won 454 games during his career.
3. Denis Lemieux
While not a real NHLer, Denis Lemieux wore a great, halloween-esque mask in the movie Slapshot. A perfect, and memorable mask for this holiday. Especially terrifying to The Syracuse Bulldogs.
2. Gilles Gratton – “Leo” Mask
The mask that fits the man perfectly. Gilles Gratton, who once was accused of hissing and growling at players during a fight, wore what he called a “tiger” on his mask. Gratton only played 2 NHL seasons, 47 games total in his career. While the mask resembles a lion, or tiger (no bears, oh my!) , whatever it is, it is scary and terrifying enough to make this list at #2.
#1 Gary Bromley – “Skull” Mask
The perfect mask for Halloween, Bromley only wore it during his 3 year stint with The Vancouver Canucks. But the mask was cool and creepy at the same time, if the objective was to help strike fear in his opponents, it did a pretty good job of it during his brief NHL career. He went 54-44 over 6 NHL seasons with Buffalo and Vancouver.
Crimespree Hockey 