A few weeks ago, word leaked out on Twitter that Braden Holtby was sporting a new goalie mask during practice up in Hershey. We sent photographer Kyle Mace — of our sister blog Sweetest Hockey on Earth — to the Bears’ next home game and had him capture every angle imaginable of Braden’s new roller-coaster themed mask.

Well now, David Gunnarsson — the Swedish artist who custom-painted Holtby’s new headgear — explains the backstory to the project.

How about transforming a mask into a rollercoaster ride? Sounds like fun! Braden Holtby had an awesome idea to put a rollercoaster ride on his mask, cause in Hershey there is a sweet amusement park. So I came up with this design with a mix of Hershey and Caps theme.

…

The bear is, of course, a goalie bear… his facemask is flying off in the high speed ride. And not only that, maybe the bear looks kind, but look again… this goalie bear is a real badass bear… 🙂 He has a black eye, bruises and scars… He must have been in a number of fights… Don’t mess with him…

Yup. Sounds perfect for Braden.

You can check out Gunnarsson’s entire explanation and a few more photos at his website daveart.com.

S/t to the Tumblr I Love Goalies.