Masks and Uniforms

[moose-and-squirrel]

I had a Tony Espo copy/plastic one when I was a kid

ended up putting it in my gerbils cage for her to crawl in and out of. she loved it.. and ended up chewing it up till there was nothing left! lol

[Bluesbacker]

Hey, it went to good use!!

[moose-and-squirrel]

Hey, it went to good use!!

indeed it did... she loved it

[bud white]

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.

Liut had a painted mask at Bowling Green and with Cincy in the WHA. Now, I was listening to an interview and he shared what happened. Before his first training game with the Blues, his painter asked him what he wanted to do and he was of the opinion that if he did have it painted, it would come across as presumptuous - that he had already made the team. So, he just had his guy paint it white. The backplate was already yellow from the Stingers days, so he just left it that way. He was playing well, so just left it that way. He never had a painted mask in the Show. Closest was the dark blue Jofa helmet he had before he went to the combo in Hartford.

It wasn't like today where guys have several masks to choose from. He (and others) kept those masks until they literally fell apart.

[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.

Liut had a painted mask at Bowling Green and with Cincy in the WHA. Now, I was listening to an interview and he shared what happened. Before his first training game with the Blues, his painter asked him what he wanted to do and he was of the opinion that if he did have it painted, it would come across as presumptuous - that he had already made the team. So, he just had his guy paint it white. The backplate was already yellow from the Stingers days, so he just left it that way. He was playing well, so just left it that way. He never had a painted mask in the Show. Closest was the dark blue Jofa helmet he had before he went to the combo in Hartford.

It wasn't like today where guys have several masks to choose from. He (and others) kept those masks until they literally fell apart.

Hey Bud, thanks for the context! Appreciate the info!

Cheers,
HW72

[Hazelwood72]

I had a Tony Espo copy/plastic one when I was a kid

ended up putting it in my gerbils cage for her to crawl in and out of. she loved it.. and ended up chewing it up till there was nothing left! lol

I also had the Tony Espo plastic mask. The one I had was made by Cooper. Thank God that in the late ‘60’s early ‘70’s nobody in Greater St. Louis could shoot that hard, otherwise my brains would be Jello today.

I stopped playing hockey at age 19 since I had too much going on. College, marriage, young family, etc. Resumed at age 38 when my kids got into it and played beer leagues. Man, the difference in goalie equipment (well, and my salary) was like night and day! My equipment at age 19 was old used (bleep) that didn’t fit and wasn’t very protective. At age 38, I could afford real decent goal equipment. And the leg pads were much lighter than those old leather pads stuffed with kapok.

Man, I miss those days when my sons and I were playing. My younger son (age 42) still plays beer league in Denver. One of his buddies uses my old “Mage” goalie mask/cage.