In a city ever curious
about the minutia of its favourite hockey sons, the chatter on
the Oilers’ online fan message board for days revolved around
new goalie Dwayne Roloson’s mask—or lack thereof.
“People were talking about
it, absolutely,” says Darren Krill, the team’s
communications guru. “They wondered when he was going to get
anew one.”
Even when the wondering stopped, even
after the stark white mask hastily slapped with team decals was
replaced by a colourful Oilers-friendly copper and- blue shell,
the online chatter continued apace.
Now, though, the faithful
discussed its design, pondered its meaning, quizzed others who’d
strained to get a closer look at the oil derricks which dotted
its surface, at the nickname “Roli”encircled by an oil drop on
the piece protecting the netminder’s chin.
Such is life in a
hockey-mad town.
Surely,
no one feels that madness more keenly than Roloson, his newly
adopted team scrabbling to secure a playoff berthas time ticks
down on the regular season.
The tension is not
apparent on his face, though, which remains a mask of benign
civility during a discussion about his headgear.
“I didn’t have any input
on my mask whatsoever,” says he, almost apologetically. “I
never do.”
The brains behind this
mask, and in fact every mask that has protected Roloson’s noggin
since his professional career began, is Pro-Masque, a
family-operated company based in the small town of Rindge, NH,
population approximately 6,000.
Owner Matt Garland
says he and artist Mike Myers
“agonized” over the design of
the mask, especially when they found out their favourite
client’s destination at the trade deadline.
“I mean, it’s Edmonton,
right?” says Garland. “And it’s all the tradition that goes with
that.
“The pressure’s really on.
We had to come up with something good. We wanted (the mask) to
be unique and cool.”
It is all of that, not to
mention expensive. Garland figures it’s worth about $2,000, a tab
that’s picked up by the Oilers'.
The handmade Fiberglas
mask is a veritable work of art, its surface painstakingly
etched with brushes dipped in high-end holographic paint.
The paint changes colour
depending on the light, going from bronze to a rich, deep
purple. The cage is solid stainless steel, which is first
nickel, then gold-plated.
The mask even boasts a
“blow-up airbag,” a unique feature the company developed about
15 years ago.
“No one else has it,” says
Garland.
“There’s
an area across the forehead and down around the temple area
that’s critical to protect. The mask has a tube coming out of
the top of it — you can’t really see it —and the first time
Dwayne puts it on, he blows air into the tube, (which deploys
additional padding) that conforms precisely to the contours of
his head.”
Special features aside,
Garland wishes they’d done more with the goaltender’s backplate.
“It’s pretty plain,” he
says, “but we didn’t have a lot of time.”
In fact, says Garland, he
beheld the finished product for all of 20 minutes after Mike
Myers got through with it, then overnighted it to Denver in time
for the Oilers’ game Saturday against the Avalanche.
Roloson debuted his new
piece of equipment in victorious fashion, prompting hopeful fans
to speculate on the mask’s magical properties.
Since then, its record has
been spotty, its wearer under constant scrutiny.
Ask Garland, though, and
he’ll tell you Oilers’ fans have nothing to worry about when it
comes to the hunt for a playoff spot.
“Hey, don’t worry,” says
Garland. “Roli will do his part. He’s a true professional.
“Being a goalie is one of
the most prestigious positions, but it’s one of the most
difficult, too, and mentally taxing to play.
There’s a famous quote, by
(former Boston goalie) Reggie Lemelin about goaltending, that’s
worth repeating: "Five other people have to make
significant mistakes before the puck gets by you.”
