Masks and Uniforms

[Bluesbacker]

To the younger generations who are hockey fans, maybe share with your kids some color pictures back in the 67’ 68’ season to when to the mask started to evolve in the 70’s with cages and wire front masks.
With the passing of Eddie Giacomin and Bernie Parent, who was one of my all-time favorites as a kid. I started thinking back to the old days and the awesome masks worn by the goalies. At the time not all did wear a mask which in itself was actually pretty cool. I was just a kid and seeing those masks and combined with the most awesome uniforms worn of all sports. Add the hitting, fighting, speed and really cool arena’s a lifelong fan was born!
Just to name a few there was Parent and Favell in Philly, Plante and Hall with the Blues, Espo with the Hawks, Eddie G. with the Rangers, Manigo with the North Stars, Cheevers in Boston, Gary Smith with the Seals, Rogie Vachon with the Kings. Combine that with the hitting, fighting, speed, and intensity, Man, what terrific time to be a kid.

Thanks for letting an old man reminisce and ramble.

[BobbyOrr]

I remember going to the arena early so I could look at all the jerseys in the main entrance with my dad.
Back in the late 60's and early 70's they had a framed jersey from every team, all 12 teams.
It was not like today where you have the internet and access to pictures and such.
Plus goalie masks had more character back then, now they all look the same other than the paint.

[BrummerStealsHome]

To the younger generations who are hockey fans, maybe share with your kids some color pictures back in the 67’ 68’ season to when to the mask started to evolve in the 70’s with cages and wire front masks.
With the passing of Eddie Giacomin and Bernie Parent, who was one of my all-time favorites as a kid. I started thinking back to the old days and the awesome masks worn by the goalies. At the time not all did wear a mask which in itself was actually pretty cool. I was just a kid and seeing those masks and combined with the most awesome uniforms worn of all sports. Add the hitting, fighting, speed and really cool arena’s a lifelong fan was born!
Just to name a few there was Parent and Favell in Philly, Plante and Hall with the Blues, Espo with the Hawks, Eddie G. with the Rangers, Manigo with the North Stars, Cheevers in Boston, Gary Smith with the Seals, Rogie Vachon with the Kings. Combine that with the hitting, fighting, speed, and intensity, Man, what terrific time to be a kid.

Thanks for letting an old man reminisce and ramble.

I remember Vachon. He was one of my favorite non-Blues players back in the day. Those were some great days.

[Harry York 37]

To the younger generations who are hockey fans, maybe share with your kids some color pictures back in the 67’ 68’ season to when to the mask started to evolve in the 70’s with cages and wire front masks.
With the passing of Eddie Giacomin and Bernie Parent, who was one of my all-time favorites as a kid. I started thinking back to the old days and the awesome masks worn by the goalies. At the time not all did wear a mask which in itself was actually pretty cool. I was just a kid and seeing those masks and combined with the most awesome uniforms worn of all sports. Add the hitting, fighting, speed and really cool arena’s a lifelong fan was born!
Just to name a few there was Parent and Favell in Philly, Plante and Hall with the Blues, Espo with the Hawks, Eddie G. with the Rangers, Manigo with the North Stars, Cheevers in Boston, Gary Smith with the Seals, Rogie Vachon with the Kings. Combine that with the hitting, fighting, speed, and intensity, Man, what terrific time to be a kid.

Thanks for letting an old man reminisce and ramble.

Thanks for sharing. We are all that way, even the biggest and baddest of men.

Don Was produced Willie Nelson’s superb “Borderline” album in the 90s and got the gig producing one of the Highwaymen’s albums. He told of a break in recording where ( I forget the reason) they all had a chance to meet 90 plus year old Gene Autry. These giants of Manly and Macho music, Johnny Cash, Willie, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson were as giddy as kids at Christmas, and when Gene let them handle the revolvers he used in the movies, they were reduced to abject awe and stunned silence.
We are all like that.

[SRV1990]

To the younger generations who are hockey fans, maybe share with your kids some color pictures back in the 67’ 68’ season to when to the mask started to evolve in the 70’s with cages and wire front masks.
With the passing of Eddie Giacomin and Bernie Parent, who was one of my all-time favorites as a kid. I started thinking back to the old days and the awesome masks worn by the goalies. At the time not all did wear a mask which in itself was actually pretty cool. I was just a kid and seeing those masks and combined with the most awesome uniforms worn of all sports. Add the hitting, fighting, speed and really cool arena’s a lifelong fan was born!
Just to name a few there was Parent and Favell in Philly, Plante and Hall with the Blues, Espo with the Hawks, Eddie G. with the Rangers, Manigo with the North Stars, Cheevers in Boston, Gary Smith with the Seals, Rogie Vachon with the Kings. Combine that with the hitting, fighting, speed, and intensity, Man, what terrific time to be a kid.

Thanks for letting an old man reminisce and ramble.

I'm one month shy of my 60th birthday and was introduced to hockey and the Blues by an older brother (he had season tickets at the old barn) when I was around 8 or 9. Yes indeed it was a great time to be a kid and follow hockey!

By the time I was nearly a teenager, me and another friend were huge hockey fans. And Bernie Parent was easily one of our very favorite non-Blues players. When we played street hockey, my buddy was almost always in goal and was always Bernie Parent. He even provided a little of his own play-by-play: "Parent with the big save" would be bellowed out frequently!

As for Blues goalies, for us it started and ended with Mike Liut. What an absolute stud he was. I still remember watching that All Star game during the 1980-81 season when he literally stole the show and walked away with the game MVP!

Thanks for reminiscing and bringing back some awesome memories of my childhood!!

[2forDiving]

I remember going to the arena early so I could look at all the jerseys in the main entrance with my dad.
Back in the late 60's and early 70's they had a framed jersey from every team, all 12 teams.
It was not like today where you have the internet and access to pictures and such.
Plus goalie masks had more character back then, now they all look the same other than the paint.

You brought back memories with the framed jerseys. I had forgotten about that. I also remember a little later they had the award/trophy Unger was presented for his iron man steak in the lobby as well.

[Hazelwood72]

To the younger generations who are hockey fans, maybe share with your kids some color pictures back in the 67’ 68’ season to when to the mask started to evolve in the 70’s with cages and wire front masks.
With the passing of Eddie Giacomin and Bernie Parent, who was one of my all-time favorites as a kid. I started thinking back to the old days and the awesome masks worn by the goalies. At the time not all did wear a mask which in itself was actually pretty cool. I was just a kid and seeing those masks and combined with the most awesome uniforms worn of all sports. Add the hitting, fighting, speed and really cool arena’s a lifelong fan was born!
Just to name a few there was Parent and Favell in Philly, Plante and Hall with the Blues, Espo with the Hawks, Eddie G. with the Rangers, Manigo with the North Stars, Cheevers in Boston, Gary Smith with the Seals, Rogie Vachon with the Kings. Combine that with the hitting, fighting, speed, and intensity, Man, what terrific time to be a kid.

Thanks for letting an old man reminisce and ramble.

I’m 71. Don’t feel old, but yes I am. So here’s my ramble. I was at a game vs. NYR in around 1970, before Eddie Giacomin started wearing a mask. It was an early season game, midway through the game, not much happening as the Rangers had a big lead, so the fans at The Arena were relatively quiet. Puck came into the Rangers zone several times, and you could see and hear Eddie barking out instructions to his D-men. Stuff like “MAN ON YA”, “HARD AROUND”, “GOT TIME”, etc. Until then I hadn’t realized goalies were like catchers or quarterbacks in the scheme of the game.

[wiscrev]

To the younger generations who are hockey fans, maybe share with your kids some color pictures back in the 67’ 68’ season to when to the mask started to evolve in the 70’s with cages and wire front masks.
With the passing of Eddie Giacomin and Bernie Parent, who was one of my all-time favorites as a kid. I started thinking back to the old days and the awesome masks worn by the goalies. At the time not all did wear a mask which in itself was actually pretty cool. I was just a kid and seeing those masks and combined with the most awesome uniforms worn of all sports. Add the hitting, fighting, speed and really cool arena’s a lifelong fan was born!
Just to name a few there was Parent and Favell in Philly, Plante and Hall with the Blues, Espo with the Hawks, Eddie G. with the Rangers, Manigo with the North Stars, Cheevers in Boston, Gary Smith with the Seals, Rogie Vachon with the Kings. Combine that with the hitting, fighting, speed, and intensity, Man, what terrific time to be a kid.

Thanks for letting an old man reminisce and ramble.

I’m 71. Don’t feel old, but yes I am. So here’s my ramble. I was at a game vs. NYR in around 1970, before Eddie Giacomin started wearing a mask. It was an early season game, midway through the game, not much happening as the Rangers had a big lead, so the fans at The Arena were relatively quiet. Puck came into the Rangers zone several times, and you could see and hear Eddie barking out instructions to his D-men. Stuff like “MAN ON YA”, “HARD AROUND”, “GOT TIME”, etc. Until then I hadn’t realized goalies were like catchers or quarterbacks in the scheme of the game.

I'm 81. Old is a cuss word in my house-----I'm mature, lol.

[Hazelwood72]

To the younger generations who are hockey fans, maybe share with your kids some color pictures back in the 67’ 68’ season to when to the mask started to evolve in the 70’s with cages and wire front masks.
With the passing of Eddie Giacomin and Bernie Parent, who was one of my all-time favorites as a kid. I started thinking back to the old days and the awesome masks worn by the goalies. At the time not all did wear a mask which in itself was actually pretty cool. I was just a kid and seeing those masks and combined with the most awesome uniforms worn of all sports. Add the hitting, fighting, speed and really cool arena’s a lifelong fan was born!
Just to name a few there was Parent and Favell in Philly, Plante and Hall with the Blues, Espo with the Hawks, Eddie G. with the Rangers, Manigo with the North Stars, Cheevers in Boston, Gary Smith with the Seals, Rogie Vachon with the Kings. Combine that with the hitting, fighting, speed, and intensity, Man, what terrific time to be a kid.

Thanks for letting an old man reminisce and ramble.

I’m 71. Don’t feel old, but yes I am. So here’s my ramble. I was at a game vs. NYR in around 1970, before Eddie Giacomin started wearing a mask. It was an early season game, midway through the game, not much happening as the Rangers had a big lead, so the fans at The Arena were relatively quiet. Puck came into the Rangers zone several times, and you could see and hear Eddie barking out instructions to his D-men. Stuff like “MAN ON YA”, “HARD AROUND”, “GOT TIME”, etc. Until then I hadn’t realized goalies were like catchers or quarterbacks in the scheme of the game.

I'm 81. Old is a cuss word in my house-----I'm mature, lol.

My wife says I haven’t even come close to maturity. And I plan to keep it that way!!

[lidstrom5]

To the younger generations who are hockey fans, maybe share with your kids some color pictures back in the 67’ 68’ season to when to the mask started to evolve in the 70’s with cages and wire front masks.
With the passing of Eddie Giacomin and Bernie Parent, who was one of my all-time favorites as a kid. I started thinking back to the old days and the awesome masks worn by the goalies. At the time not all did wear a mask which in itself was actually pretty cool. I was just a kid and seeing those masks and combined with the most awesome uniforms worn of all sports. Add the hitting, fighting, speed and really cool arena’s a lifelong fan was born!
Just to name a few there was Parent and Favell in Philly, Plante and Hall with the Blues, Espo with the Hawks, Eddie G. with the Rangers, Manigo with the North Stars, Cheevers in Boston, Gary Smith with the Seals, Rogie Vachon with the Kings. Combine that with the hitting, fighting, speed, and intensity, Man, what terrific time to be a kid.

Thanks for letting an old man reminisce and ramble.

I’m 71. Don’t feel old, but yes I am. So here’s my ramble. I was at a game vs. NYR in around 1970, before Eddie Giacomin started wearing a mask. It was an early season game, midway through the game, not much happening as the Rangers had a big lead, so the fans at The Arena were relatively quiet. Puck came into the Rangers zone several times, and you could see and hear Eddie barking out instructions to his D-men. Stuff like “MAN ON YA”, “HARD AROUND”, “GOT TIME”, etc. Until then I hadn’t realized goalies were like catchers or quarterbacks in the scheme of the game.

I'm 81. Old is a cuss word in my house-----I'm mature, lol.

The official term now is elderly.

[wiscrev]

To the younger generations who are hockey fans, maybe share with your kids some color pictures back in the 67’ 68’ season to when to the mask started to evolve in the 70’s with cages and wire front masks.
With the passing of Eddie Giacomin and Bernie Parent, who was one of my all-time favorites as a kid. I started thinking back to the old days and the awesome masks worn by the goalies. At the time not all did wear a mask which in itself was actually pretty cool. I was just a kid and seeing those masks and combined with the most awesome uniforms worn of all sports. Add the hitting, fighting, speed and really cool arena’s a lifelong fan was born!
Just to name a few there was Parent and Favell in Philly, Plante and Hall with the Blues, Espo with the Hawks, Eddie G. with the Rangers, Manigo with the North Stars, Cheevers in Boston, Gary Smith with the Seals, Rogie Vachon with the Kings. Combine that with the hitting, fighting, speed, and intensity, Man, what terrific time to be a kid.

Thanks for letting an old man reminisce and ramble.

I’m 71. Don’t feel old, but yes I am. So here’s my ramble. I was at a game vs. NYR in around 1970, before Eddie Giacomin started wearing a mask. It was an early season game, midway through the game, not much happening as the Rangers had a big lead, so the fans at The Arena were relatively quiet. Puck came into the Rangers zone several times, and you could see and hear Eddie barking out instructions to his D-men. Stuff like “MAN ON YA”, “HARD AROUND”, “GOT TIME”, etc. Until then I hadn’t realized goalies were like catchers or quarterbacks in the scheme of the game.

I'm 81. Old is a cuss word in my house-----I'm mature, lol.

My wife says I haven’t even come close to maturity. And I plan to keep it that way!!

Exactly! You're only a kid once, so why not stay a kid for as long as you can. That's my philosophy.

[theograce]

Loved the shape of Liut’s

[Hazelwood72]

Loved the shape of Liut’s

Great photo, Theo. I’ve never seen that before. I wondered if it was a phony which was photoshopped, but I searched on the InnerWebs and sure enough, I found some black & white newspaper action photos showing that mask with the Stingers artwork.
It’s interesting to me that Liut had an ornate, fully-decorated Cincinnati Stingers mask in the 1978-1979 season, yet when he came to the Blues next for the 1979-1980 season, he had a plain white mask. And as late as 1986 with the Hartford Whalers, he still had a plain white mask (the newer type with a cage front by then). I wonder why he went from something so colorful to plain white.

Maybe before he had a chance to customize it with Blues colors, he had a couple real good games in white and his superstition kept it white???

Being a beer league goalie, I always thought the big chin section of his mask might hinder seeing the puck at his feet. Obviously he played just fine with it. I think Liut is one of the most underrated goalies in NHL history.

[theograce]

Loved the shape of Liut’s

Great photo, Theo. I’ve never seen that before. I wondered if it was a phony which was photoshopped, but I searched on the InnerWebs and sure enough, I found some black & white newspaper action photos showing that mask with the Stingers artwork.
It’s interesting to me that Liut had an ornate, fully-decorated Cincinnati Stingers mask in the 1978-1979 season, yet when he came to the Blues next for the 1979-1980 season, he had a plain white mask. And as late as 1986 with the Hartford Whalers, he still had a plain white mask (the newer type with a cage front by then). I wonder why he went from something so colorful to plain white.

Maybe before he had a chance to customize it with Blues colors, he had a couple real good games in white and his superstition kept it white???

Being a beer league goalie, I always thought the big chin section of his mask might hinder seeing the puck at his feet. Obviously he played just fine with it. I think Liut is one of the most underrated goalies in NHL history.

Yeah I hadn’t seen that one either. It’s cool

[theograce]

I think Liut is one of the most underrated goalies in NHL history.

I remember being very very little and my Dad was so mad when the Russians blew him up.

I think Liut said he suffered legit depressive episodes over that game and that he still struggles with it

[Bluesbacker]

Loved the shape of Liut’s

I agree, the shape was very unique, really cool. I don't remember any other goalies wearing that style.