Behind the Masks
December 17, 2004 | Men's Hockey
Ever since Jacques Plante became the first NHL goaltender to wear a mask in a game on Nov. 1, 1959, goalie masks have become the signature of netminders. In the NHL, former Badger Mike Richter became known for his patriotic Statue of Liberty mask in addition to his stellar goaltending. Now, there are few goaltenders playing professionally who fail to spice up the game with an artistically designed mask.
The tradition has carried into the college ranks. While Badger fans became familiar with Bernd Bruckler's joker-like mask of the past two seasons, the senior and the rest of Wisconsin's goaltending triumvirate recently unveiled new goalie masks, each showing a bit of the players' personality.
The process began this past August when Rob Malnory, Wisconsin 's Director of Hockey Operations, had Luke Kohtala, Brian Elliott and Bruckler start to think about what they would like on their new masks for the upcoming season.
'I don't know about the other two guys, but I just like Bucky so that's what I went with on top,' said Kohtala. 'I like the tracks of the Badger too, so that's what I got on the sides. Other than that, I left it up to the artist to throw in some other stuff.'
While Kohtala took a relatively hands-off approach to his design, Elliott and Bruckler mixed the Badgers, Madison and a bit of the personal into their designs.
'First of all, I wanted a change from last year because I didn't really have a lot of input,' said Elliott on his new mask. 'This time, I wanted a fierce Badger on the front and to bring some parts of Madison to it, so I put the Kohl Center on one side and the Capitol Building on the other. '
While fans can enjoy the front of Elliott's mask, it is the back panel that the sophomore says holds the most meaning.
'The back plate is the more special part to me. A family friend, Owen Scott, was like a grandfather to me. He was a world champion moose caller and he knew everybody in the whole hunting industry. He ran all of the moose-calling competitions back home and all around the world. He always had a big, black truck that he had air-brushed with a moose.
'He always followed my hockey career and let my family live with him for three months one year. He gave my family his house because our house was unfinished, so he moved out into his trailer. He passed away at the end of last season so I took one of the murals off his truck and got the painter to put that on the back. His license plate on his truck was 'Mr. Moose' so that's why you see Mr. Moose on an Ontario license plate.
'I got that on the back plate because it was like he always had my back. He was always the guy that my parents said, `if you get in trouble, call him, he'll go pick you up.' I always knew I had great strength behind me so it 's kind of spiritual in a way.
'I also got my No. 1, with an American flag and a Canadian flag showing that I want to stick to my roots. But it's great to be in the States and taking advantage of the opportunity that the University of Wisconsin has given me.
'I got a picture of the moose and I told the artist exactly what I wanted. I also gave him a picture of the Kohl Center and the Capitol Building and I told him that I wanted the Badger clawing back on it and popping out.'
While Elliott was happy to change to a more personal design, Bruckler was also ready to make a switch. When it finally was time to come up with something new, the senior enlisted the help of a teammate with a surprising talent.
'Matt Auffrey and I are good friends and he said he might have a few ideas for a new mask,' said Bruckler. 'I said `go nuts. Do whatever you want. I'll trust you if you have some good ideas.' And he came up with the entire thing. I told him a few things that I wanted on there ' my dad's birthday on the back, the Austrian flag to add a touch from home, and my number.
'The back is a little bit different, but the rest of the helmet is a lot different from last year. I gave him some guidelines but he just went and did it all on his own. I had no idea he was so talented. I was really impressed when I saw it. The entire team was really impressed, actually. I think even the guy that finally put the mask together and did the air-brushing was wowed.
'On the front of the mask, I have a Badger on top whose teeth go over and under my cage and then I have Bucky on the right side and a `W' on the other side with Badger claw scratches through it. It says `Wisconsin' on the right side, and `Badgers' on the other side.'
Completing the design on the front of the mask is a brick wall background, a term sometimes used to describe goaltenders like the Badger All-American.
The new masks for the goalies arrived for the opening weekend of the season, but without a chance to get comfortable with them, Elliott and Bruckler decided to use their old masks for one more game each.
Now, with comfortable masks and a personal touch, Wisconsin goaltenders can make their saves following a long tradition in the hockey world.
