25 most bizarre goalie masks in NHL history
By C.L. Kohuss
No. 11: The shark
The advent of a full cage as opposed to using paper plates with eye holes cut in them allowed goaltenders to really flex their creativity in the 1990s. This look, a ferocious animal bearing down on opponents, mouth-wide and teeth showing, is actually fairly popular and commonplace. It’s been used with bears, panthers, dinosaurs, tigers, etc. You name it, it’s probably out there somewhere in the ether giving would-be goal scorers the runs. But it doesn’t mean we don’t love them any less.
Brian Hayward’s mask for the San Jose Sharks happens to be one of the coolest and most recognizable, mostly due to it being an early example of what we previously mentioned. It’s fairly unique and creative, at least by 1992 standards.
Any ol’ goaltender can slap a shark on his face, but using the design and shape of the guard to make the entire thing look like it’s about to devour you whole is special. It simply works.
Hayward didn’t see much time with it on, unfortunately. He only played in 25 games for San Jose before calling it quits, and he didn’t wear it the entire 25 games. We only wish this had been worn right after the release of Jaws back in 1975, but alas, they were mostly still holding on to the “my face is made of steel” strategy at that time.
Hayward now serves as color analyst for the Anaheim Ducks, where he can routinely be heard calling Dallas Star Antoine Roussel “Dominic” for zero reason. And as bonus, here he is trying to beat up an old fan with a stick.