Express Your Team Identity

• Goalies such as the Toronto Maple Leafs' Andrew Raycroft and the Montreal Canadiens' Ken Dryden wore masks that embraced the team logos, colors and, in the case of Raycroft, Maple Leafs' legends. Think of your own team's history. Are there past players you idolize whose presence on your mask will help to inspire your teammates and strike fear in the opposing team? If so, include them on your mask. If you can't draw people, use their number.
  
  Use designs that incorporate your team colors. You may use the colors in an abstract manner or you can stick to a more traditional representation of team colors. If your team has had many logos over the years, consider one of the team's classic logos as your primary motif.
  
  

Express Your Goalie Persona

• Like all hockey players, goalies have a variety of on-ice personalities. If you are a goalie known for an aggressive style, use images and colors that will reflect your intensity. Red and oranges will evoke fire, while purple or black alludes to the mysteries of the night. Remember that opposing players will see your mask as they go in for a breakaway. While cute images and designs are always an option, bold colors and patterns will send a message to the opposing team that you mean business. What do you want people to feel as they try to score on you? Goalies such as the San Jose Shark's Evgeni Nabokov have adorned their masks with demons, dogs and other scary images in the hope that they may strike fear in the other team.
  
  

Design The Mask With Your Favorite Items

• While a goalie mask that represents team identity or hockey persona works for some goalies, others like to use their masks as canvases for the people, places or characters that matter most to them. Much like a tattoo, a goalie mask is a statement about the person behind the mask. As goalie mask artist Dave Arrigo says, "the goalie mask is a billboard to that player's soul."
  
  Think of your favorite things in life. Perhaps you have a cartoon that you love or want to honor a family member. Remember that a goalie's mask covers a lot of the face. Most of your mask may incorporate intimidating images but that doesn't mean you can't also have a reminder of your soft side on another part of the mask.
  
  At the end of the day, the mask is the face players and fans will see most. Give them a little insight into your off-ice personality, even if its nothing more than a subtle pattern that others may not get at first. Esoteric images will give you an excuse to tell everyone the stories behind the mask.