Goalie masks for ice hockey goalies
The most important protection is the one that protects your head. For a goalie, it's the goalie mask. We at Hockeystore never recommend the use of a second-hand mask. It may look fresh, but you never know what it's been through.
History of goalie masks
As early as 1959, Montreal goalie Jaques Plante wore a mask during an NHL game after injuring his face in an earlier game. However, there was no requirement for goalies to wear a mask or helmet. In the 1979-1980 season, the NHL made rules requiring goalies to wear masks. The earliest masks were made of fiberglass and molded to the face of the goalie. The style of the earliest masks is iconic and perhaps particularly well known because of a horror movie where the character uses a mask of a goalie.
Today's Goalie masks
Today, masks are made from a variety of materials including composite, carbon fiber, Kevlar fiber and fiberglass. This, combined with today's padding/lining in more Blocker-absorbent materials, gives the masks more protective properties than the masks of the past.