25 most bizarre goalie masks in NHL history

No. 12: Flame on

The design for this classic mask is impeccable and pretty awesome. It’s also relatively straightforward: If you play for the Atlanta Flames, why not go ahead and light your whole face on fire? Considering that the team averaged only 10,000 fans a game and had two playoff wins in their eight NHL seasons, it’s probable that Dan Bouchard wasn’t the first to think about setting himself ablaze.

In the least, he could have made one heck of a stuntman/horror film villain with that look.

There’s a reason a large percentage of the face armor on this list harkens back to those used in the 1980’s or before. Just look at that thing. We’re talking nightmare city. This could also be the reason for so few fans showing up to watch them play. Nobody is taking their kids to an event where a man skates around looking like a match head. What if he comes off the ice and starts chasing you with that thing on?

It sounds absurd, but again, they didn’t have much better to do. The team was soon to relocate in 1980 so why not go full mental?

Here’s a short article by I.J. Rosenberg that details the actual reasoning behind Bouchard painting his mask. The gist is that it was for psychological purposes. Humans react differently to different colors, and players were shooting higher when he wore that specific piece. They’d shoot lower when he wore an all-white guard.

Huh, a goalie trying to gain an advantage by manipulating people. Imagine that. His save percentage was still undeniably putrid so they likely wanted to use it as simple target practice. Though the story of a netminder thinking he’s some kind of Dr. Flame sounds much better to us.