BEHIND THE MASKS - Gilles Gratton Talks

Over the weekend, I discovered that one of the sports networks here in Canada has been building a nice little collection of feature stories on various goalies and their masks.

Like a kid in a candy store, I've been sifting through them one by one.

This one was on page two and I missed it originally. You don't see too many interviews with him floating around, so I was really excited to see it.

That, and he has one of the most iconic masks of all time.

Enjoy.

WHO AM I? - Congrats Iggy!

Well, this one might have been tougher than I had anticipated. I received 5 submissions and only two of you had the right players.

Big congrats to Puckhound (in addition to Iginla) for being the first to correctly list the three players and note their connection.

All three players are in the 1000 point club, with their newest member, Jarome Iginla, leading the way. In total, there are 77 players who have hit this milestone mark.

Jarome Iginla

Iggy's been on fire lately and his 3-point night last week against St. Louis, capped by a classic Jarome Iginla wrist shot far side, pushed him to the magical mark.

He's currently sitting tied for 6th in league scoring and is one goal away from hitting the 40-goal mark for the fourth time in his career.

Back in November, he was being tagged as 'over-the-hill', 'not the same player' and 'lacking leadership'. To all the 'Flames fans' (and I use that term lightly since we have some doozie bandwagon jumping followers here in Cowtown) and to the media who kept this front and center for so long - How's Iggy doing now?

In my eyes, he's shown all the doubters that he's a clutch player and one of the best leaders in the game. I hope they can find a way into that magical 8 spot in the standings.

Vincent Damphousse

I tricked a couple of people here I think. The 'V' makes people think Lecavalier, but it's another popular Vincent that scribes this sig.

Vinny Damphousse sits with 1205 points in his interesting career. He never hit the 100-point plateau and only scored 40 goals in a season once (he had 40 goals in 1993/94 with the Montreal Canadiens). He was just under a point a game when he hit the 1000 point milestone in October of 2000.

He played with four teams during his 18-year career (remember his one season with Edmonton?) and after the 03/04 season signed with the Colorado Avalanche. He never played with the Avs due to the lockout that cancelled the 2004/05 seasons. One of the many casualties of the lockout.

Phil Housley

I forgot he scored 1000 points. I forgot he played for EIGHT different teams.

He's one of those 'love 'em or hate 'em' type players. I wasn't the biggest fan of his I'll admit, but you have to give him credit for getting to the 1000 point mark.

He actually did it in 9 fewer games than Damphousse and over 100 fewer games than Iginla. I don't know if that is a tell tale for the talent Housley has or if it provides an example of just how much the game has changed since Phil came into the league in 1982.

A 7-time All-Star, Phil is second amongst U.S.-born players with 1232 career points. He is eligible for the Hall Of Fame, but his never winning a Stanley Cup might be one thing that keeps him out.

Iginla better get things movin' if he's going to knock that monkey off his back himself.

RATE MY MASK - Murray Bannerman

A goalie who had a mediocre career (at best), Murray Bannerman's name will be remembered more for the equipment he wore over the statistical impact he achieved for his team.

If you were to sift through the multitude of "Top Goalie Mask" lists, Murray's name (and subsequent lid) frequent high-ranking spots. A real eye-catching mask that was the inspiration for numerous hand-drawn pictures by me as a kid, it goes down as one of the best ever.


Murray came over to the Hawks in the summer of 1978 from the Vancouver Canucks. He didn't see action in the nets until 1980, backing up veteran Tony Esposito.

While he didn't receive much playing time his first couple seasons, he made everyone take notice when he skated out to the net. Murray's mask gave instant recognition and drew support from the crowd and teammates alike. He developed a solid fan following (and I have no doubt his 'fan friendly' mask was a part of that) and eventually took over the number one spot on the Chicago depth charts.

While his numbers weren't spectacular (27 wins was his best season), Bannerman was chosen to appear in two NHL All-Star games.

At the end of the 1987 season, Murray was demoted to the IHL and ended up retiring from the game shortly thereafter. Only 10 years after being drafted by the Canucks, Murray was out of the game entirely. He finished with 116 career wins and 20 more in the playoffs.

Now let's take a closer look at his mask.



Designed by renowned mask maker Greg Harrison, Bannerman's mask shape is a direct result from the face mold taken of Murray back in the day. Those trying to replicate the mask today for their own use will not be able to re-create the complete look, due to the shape of Bannerman's face.

The paint job on this mask is one of the most unique from that era. Harrison turned Murray's mask into a three dimensional Hawks' logo (truly a stroke of genius). The war-paint on this mask is enough to spook any opponent and note the emphasis on the eyes - it 'suggests a mysterious power to see through and around things' (so I read).

The originator of the 'headdress/Indian-face' motif, this mask has also been the inspiration of numerous masks worn by Hawks' tenders in the years after Bannerman set the standard.

What I found interesting in researching this mask is that for such an iconic mask in the history of NHL goalies, there is next to no information on this mask. I would have thought this mask to have been dissected and analyzed numerous times. Sadly no.


I think this mask had that 'outside the box' attitude in comparison to the growing trend of 'helmet and cage' goalies of the 1980's. Murray's mask grabbed the attention of people and epitomizes the phrase "I'm known more for my mask than anything else". You'd never recognize him walking down the street.

A definite fave of mine.

4.5 out of 5

Now it's your turn....Rate My Mask!

BEHIND THE MASKS - Look What I Found...

...A great site that has videos of NHL goalies talkin' masks.

Nice!



I really like Curtis' mask this season. Some amazing detail.

WHO AM I? - Milestones

I was watching the game tonight and it gave me inspiration for this 'Who Am I?' post. Tough to say if it'll stump you or not, but I'm throwing out the challenge anyways.







As always, I'm looking to hear who these signatures belong to and what the common theme is between the three.

Good luck! (Oh....and no hints this time). :)

LINDEN CARD OF THE WEEK - 2010/11 Panini Limited Vintage Pucks

Mailday! Yes! It's about time!

It's only been a couple weeks or so since I last received a package in the mail, but it feels like an eternity.

This card is a doozie to boot.

2010/11 Panini Limited
Vintage Pucks #TL /20

The very first game-used puck in my Linden collection. And patience paid off. Let me just say as well that the scan does not do this card justice. I know you've heard that a million times, but this time I kid you not. A nice thick card with a great rainbow-type reflective surface. Gorgeous.

I had been eyeballing a number of these ever since they were released a few months ago. The prices though were a little higher than I would have liked.

I passed on a few, and knowing that there were only 20 copies out there, decided to start taking a more serious look at any that would be popping up in the near future.

Well, I didn't have to wait long and there were a couple on ebay. Again, a little higher priced than I would have liked. While I was thinking things through, I received an e-mail from one of my fellow Linden collectors. We had been discussing a couple other cards to pop up on ebay when out of the blue he says "If you need the puck /20, I have an extra copy."

Um, yes I do and thank you very much.

I was curious as to the asking price and to my sheer joy found out it would be one of the cheapest puck cards /20 to surface. He was merely looking to get his money back on the card.

Done and done!

He shipped the card off and I plan on chipping in a few extra bucks for his kind gesture. Linden collectors....they're the best.

What I like most about this Linden card is that Panini finally decided to use a different photo of Trev than from the cards in the previous products. Finally, some variation.

Speaking of....now I'm on the hunt for the elusive parallel /10. That one might not be so cheap.

OUTSIDE THE BOX: Hello To Another Baseball Season!

Well, the 2011 baseball season is upon us. And to celebrate this day, I thought I'd share some of what remains in my baseball 'collection'.

In all honestly, it's not really a collection since I'm not actively collecting baseball cards. It's more of a baseball 'pile'.....stored in a card box.....placed in a Rubbermaid container.....sitting in the basement of my place......with dust on it.

But I cracked them out to take a look. Brings back some great memories and some 'what was I thinking moments'. Forgive me if my years are off. :)

1981 O-Pee-Chee
#240 Nolan Ryan

1980/81 was the year I discovered sports cards. While hockey was a must have, baseball would be the summertime project. I never really completed any of the sets (I normally managed 250 or so cards from the release) and found it tough to build since I didn't have too many doubles and there weren't too many friends to trade with since they didn't collect baseball.

This Nolan Ryan became more than just 'one of the cards' in my set. It became the tracing card for many early custom projects and scrapbook adventures. Oh, the destruction of cardboard that I unleashed. This ones got a great crease across the front, some nicely dinged corners and the back of the card shows some nice ink soaking around the edge.

A definite keeper.

1982 Topps
#200 George Brett

My favorite player growing up. Why? Well, his last name is the same as my first name. For a couple years, I actually thought his name was Brett George.

I laugh every time he leaps out of the dugout to spaz at the umpire. Classic television.

1983 O-Pee-Chee
#83 Ryne Sandberg RC

1983 was the year I completed my first OPC set. I was pretty happy with the accomplishment. Looking back, I wish I had kept it intact. All that remains is a couple rookie cards and a few star cards.

This Sandberg ended up getting some nice water damage on the left side (no clue where it came from), but I chose to keep it as opposed to giving it away or just chucking it out.

1983 O-Pee-Chee
#143 Tony Gwynn RC

I actually have 2 of these. They would be a couple of my 'high-end' baseball cards. I've had them stored in the good ol' 4-screw hard cases. They've been encased in them for probably 20 years.

I cracked them both so I could figure out which one to scan. Wouldn't you know it, both of them have a tiny crease in them.

Drat!

By the way, I love the old uniforms. San Diego, Houston and Pittsburgh especially.

1986 Sportflics
#26 Wade Boggs

1986 was the year I got to go to Disneyland. Yeah, yeah, yeah the rides, the oversized stuffed animals. It was all nice. But the sports cards! I had never seen anything like it.

I picked up a couple rack packs of football and a couple packs of Sportflics.

They're cool looking cards, and to a 12-year old, they were unlike anything I had ever seen. I thought these were priceless at the time.

There were two poses and a head shot embedded in the motion cards. I got guys like Ripken, Brett, Gooden and this Wade Boggs card.

To this day I think these cards were ahead of its time.

1989 Topps Major League Debut
#133 Larry Walker

In 1990, after a few years away from collecting, I got back into sports cards. Hockey was again at the forefront. But this time, I gorged on football, basketball and yes - even baseball.

I wanted anything and everything. Of course, with my limited budget that meant anything and everything - cheap.

Looking back, not a good plan. I'm still sitting on a bunch of cards from thos overproduced early 90's. The junk wax era.

Still, sifting through the cards can be fun. This card of Larry Walker reminded me of how great the Expos were in the early 90's, how they were robbed of a World Series appearance and how tiny Larry used to be. Hmmmmmm.

Again, love the uniforms!

1997 Bowman
#196 Kerry Wood

In the mid-90's, after I got my 'I want everything' phase out of me, I decided to be selective in my baseball purchasing. Specific players who were pegged to be huge.

I felt like I had my finger on the pulse of great knowledge.

Yeah......right. Tell that to my collection of about a dozen or so Kerry Wood cards, all nicely encased in the 4-screw screwdowns. Ouch.

Still, a nice memento of my collecting history.

1993 Bowman
#511 Derek Jeter RC

My last card in this show & tell is one I didn't even know I had until I got digging.

I remember buying a partial set of Bowman back in the day and was gung-ho to complete it. Well, that never happened and the cards went from nice Ultra-Pro sheets, to a monster box, to a storage bin....well, you know the rest.

I saw the partial set and sifted through the cards. Sure enough, a Jeter pops out. Well, that made my day.

And while it doesn't really rekindle the desire to collect baseball cards, it makes me take a second look at this container full of forgotten cardboard.

Will I get rid of them? Maybe. But I'll be sure to pluck out the cards of importance first, be it monetary or just sentimental.

Play Ball!