Justin Tuck is turning heads and churning out headlines with his new facemask that he unveiled at minicamp. It’s a small gapped wire mask that is drawing a lot of comparisons to Optimus Prime. Not only is Justin Tuck a ferrous end in the league. One the strikes fear in the heart of lineman and quarter backs but now he has a look that magnifies that. Let’s take a look at other intimidating mask in sports history,
B
rian Dawkins
For year Dawkins ruled the middle of the field in Philly. He was hype personified. His muscles and intensity just showed you were in a world of hurt when you met him. Probably one of the most intimidating without a helmet but when he strapped on the dome with the tinted visor you never knew what he was capable of. The most intimidating aspect was probably the extra padded chin strap. Like Dawkins knew that he was gonna hit you and hit you hard.
Tuukka Rask
Even though Tuukka doesn’t play as much as he would like when he does there is something about his game that must scare even the most accomplish goal scores. His mask just seems to scream at you. It plays well with the Bruins colors of gold and black and combined with the ice like stare strikes fear into oncoming skaters. There will be a lot more of his ice stair this upcoming year with Tim Thomas taking a year off. (see article on site)
Curtis Joseph
For many years the only bright spot for the maple leafs was the man between the pipes. Cujo as he was known took the name and put it to his mask. The yellow eyes coming out of a deep blue fur is as scary as it gets. It’s not the gross out factor or straight shock factor but like a good Hitchcock movie it’s a deep rooted psychological fear
LaDainian Tomlinson
A fierce runner that never went down with one hit. He always seemed to make defenders miss and stutter in their attempt to tackle him. He was the player that really brought the tinted visor to the game. He managed to combine the fierce and the sleek much like his running style. Never has anyone embodied his team as much as LT did with the chargers. A lightning bolt. Fast and powerful but also shocking and deadly. Just what LT did with his running thanks in part to his helmet
Gerry Cheevers
One of the original goalies to paint their mask. The stiches on his mask were added every time he was hit in the face with a puck. Long before Mike Myers this was the mask that children and skaters feared. Just a simple yet scare design. A plain white goalie mask like that is scary but start adding stiches and you have come up with something truly menacing.
Vesa Toskala
The goalie that has never found a permanent NHL home has found a permanent mask. One that incorporates the colors of the team he is on as well as the macabre, the super natural and the ferocious. I’m not really sure what it is but it’s scary. I can’t imagine skating in on a breakaway and see that down the ice from me.
Gary Bromley
Another original goalie mask. The skeletal look with the missing teeth seems to echo the hockey mentality and persona. it to this day seems to be one of the scariest mask ever made even with all the improvement in graphic design and painting. The undead are all the rage now but Bromley brought that too the ice way before anyone ever thought of a zombie apocalypse
Dale Earnhardt
The one the only Intimidator. Not really as ask but with those black shades and mustache he was a force to be reckoned with on the track. He drove hard and strong and looked and played the part as Nascar’s bad boy. Even with his bad boy persona the world was shaken by his death. To this day race fans will hold up 3 fingers in tribute to the man, the myth, the legend Dale Earnhardt
