Goalie masks are an amazingly underappreciated part of sports. Their creativity, uniqueness in sports and the subtle details that can make anyone say “wow” are some of the more fun parts of studying them, and the goalies that wear them. Two goalies are trying to push the envelope even further… by wearing masks that actually change colors.
Quebec mask-artist company Sylabrush have created color-changing masks depending on temperature and water contact for Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevsky and Bruins goalie Anton Khudobin. The secret is down to a special type of paint called sub-zero white.
We thought about [the color-changing effect] a couple months ago, then we decided to test it for this season on a couple of our NHL masks,” designer Sylvie Marsolais told NHL.com. “For [Khudobin’s] mask, we did the whole design without thinking about the Sub-Zero paint. When we got to the chin part, we decided to add dramatic effect on the background. The idea was when [Khudobin] would get on the ice, or squirt his water bottle on the chin, it would darken up.”
How "cool" is that? Andrei Vasilevskiy's mask will change design based on temperature.
Video via @sylabrush https://t.co/AOVUPlrRIP
— NHL (@NHL) October 7, 2016
…and not to be outdone, so will Anton Khudobin's.
Video via @Sylabrush https://t.co/YsY66CiSuU
— NHL (@NHL) October 7, 2016
The company has made masks for both of the Russian goalies since the 2012-13 season, and another customer of theirs is Habs prospect Zach Fucale, who will be wearing one of these masks down in the AHL this season. Will we be seeing more of these color changing masks down the line?
“We have many more to come,” Marsolais said. “We are artists, so we always want to innovate and create.”
[NHL.com]
