Artistic canvas continues to grow for goalies

Goaltenders have shown their personalities for years through custom-designed masks. Now that ability is showing up on other equipment.
Customized leg pads, gloves and blockers have provided a new canvas for goalies interested in providing an insight into who they are and what inspires them.

Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson wore a customized set of Brian's pads at the 2017 Scotiabank NHL100 Classic on Dec. 16. Buffalo Sabres backup Chad Johnson recently unveiled a special set of Vaughn pads featuring swords stitched onto the pads and his jersey number on the blocker and glove for the 2018 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 1. New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist has been wearing personalized Bauer pads and gloves all season and has a special set for the Winter Classic against the Sabres.

"I think it's great because it identifies the personality of the goaltender," said television analyst Darren Pang, a former NHL goalie. "And if he is creative and wants to bring out that personality, I see no reason why that would be anything but great, as long as you aren't putting a magnifying glass of, 'Hey, look at me,' because it's such a team sport. But most goalies do it right."
Custom equipment for special events is not entirely new, but the evolving technology, on display with the Bauer equipment used by Lundqvist, is taking it to another level. The ability to digitally print almost anything onto pads and gloves has allowed the complexity of the designs to increase dramatically.
Look no further than Lundqvist this season. His current pads feature the Statue of Liberty and New York skyline. His Winter Classic pads incorporate the logo of the New York Mets because their ballpark, Citi Field, is hosting the game against the Sabres on Monday (1 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, TVA Sports, NHL.TV).
"I feel like now is the time we take the design to another level because of the print technique that's being used," Lundqvist wrote on Instagram when his first set debuted July 31.

Lundqvist has been personally involved with the evolution of the Bauer pads since 2013, long before the line was first available to the public in the spring of 2016.
The technology grew once a new manufacturing process, involving molding multiple layers into the shape of a goalie pad instead of the previous method of wrapping the core of a pad in leather materials, was developed. As that happened, Bauer moved away from stitch-and-sew graphics by adding a digitally printed layer. An improved outer coating in their latest line seals graphics more completely and doesn't distort color like the first model.
The 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship is a showcase for this new technology. Canada's Colton Point (Dallas Stars), Sweden's Filip Gustavsson (Philadelphia Flyers) and the United States' Jake Oettinger (Stars) are wearing patriotic custom equipment.

Martin Biron was the backup goaltender for the Rangers at the 2012 Winter Classic against the Philadelphia Flyers. He had a new mask for the game but was limited to vintage-looking brown Bauer leg pads. Now working as a television analyst for MSG Newtork in Buffalo, Biron said he is a fan the new custom options.
"That's why I was drawn to goalie when I first started, the different-colored equipment, the masks and all that, and now you get to see even more custom designs, so I love it," Biron said. "It's like a mask, right? I was all-in when I designed a mask. I sat down with the artist, we talked about it, I was always checking to see how it was going. I think the pads and gloves would be the same. I would have fun and push the envelope as much as I could."

Some goalies were doing that long before digital printing was an option.
Pang was the first NHL goalie to sign with Brian's in 1987-88 and fondly remembers the red-white-and-black equipment matching his Chicago Blackhawks mask. Current NHL Network analyst Kevin Weekes had an elaborate black panther stitched into his Vaughn pads during stints with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes.

A recent set of Brian's equipment created to promote the 2018 Honda NHL All-Star Game in Tampa Bay, featuring the events logo and color scheme on the leg pad, blocker and glove, shows there really isn't much today's pad makers can't create, even with traditional methods and materials.
That doesn't mean intricate details are for every goalie.

Jake Allen, the No. 1 goalie in St. Louis, went with a subtler vintage look at the 2017 Winter Classic and stuck with a slightly modified version of bright blue-and-yellow Vaughn gear this season.

"I am not very creative, so I don't want to lie about my personality," Allen said, laughing. "But I think you can show off your personality, and a lot of goalies do a really good job with it."
Minnesota Wild starter Devan Dubnyk went with simple stripes for his new personalized graphic, and Vancouver Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom has a similarly subdued look coming soon.

Others will be bolder.
"The possibilities are endless," Dubnyk said. "There are going to be some pretty crazy things showing up on goal pads in the next few years."