Photo: @artofdave
The way Braden Holtby has played this year, Justin Peters may not suit up for another game. That’s unfortunate because Peters is now sporting one of the coolest masks in the NHL.
If you don’t believe me, let’s turn off the lights.
Photo: Caps Instagram
Braden Holtby has been busy this year, playing in 53 of the Capitals’ 62 games. Maybe that’s why he just unveiled his fourth new mask of the 2014-15 season. Painted by Swedish artist Dave Gunnarsson, the mask integrates some design features from Holtby’s Winter Classic bucket. The hand-painted Uncle Sam portrait, an homage to Olie Kolzig, returns on the chin.
Photo via DaveArt.com
Washington Capitals backup goaltender Justin Peters always wears a dog-themed mask which honors his nickname Pete-Dawg. For the Caps’ Winter Classic this Thursday, the general theme of Peters’ mask will be no different, but this time it integrates a dog house instead of an actual bloodthirsty animal.
Oh wait, I’m sorry Dawg House.
I’ll let Swedish air brush artist Dave Gunnarsson explain.
Photo: Amanda Bowen
Recently, a lot of Washington Capitals masks designed by Swedish airbrush artist Dave Gunnarsson have looked similar (which is kind of hard to avoid when you do a million of these). Justin Peters‘ new mask is, um, not one of those.
“In junior [hockey], my nickname was Pete-Dawg,” Peters began as he showed off his new bucket to RMNB Saturday. “That’s the whole theme behind my mask. It’s a dog, obviously. It’s got the mean teeth and stuff.”
The mask, which features a dog’s mouth wide open with yellowed, bloody canine teeth surrounding the opening of the mask, includes subtle details like the Caps weagle and stars. On the bottom of the mask, Peters’ nickname is found in a script font with a weathered look.
Photo: DaveArt
Swedish airbrush painter Dave Gunnarsson has just released photos of Braden Holtby‘s new mask, and boy is it a beauty. Built off the design of Holtby’s bucket from last season, Gunnarrsson continued — in his words — the “old school style” of the Capitals brand.
Photo: DaveArt.com
A lot has changed in Washington D.C. since last season, including the goalie situation. On the first day of free agency, new Caps GM Brian MacLellan signed veteran goalie Justin Peters to be Braden Holtby‘s back-up. That means goaltending prospect Philipp Grubauer, who shined in a one-month stint with the team last December, will likely be relegated to the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears for most of next season.
I bring that up because, um, well, this is awkward. Grubauer’s new mask from Swedish airbrush artist David Gunnarsson is 100% Caps-flavored.
For almost two months, Adam Oates rode the hot hand in net with Philipp Grubauer. Grubi was impressive in his first extended look with the big-league team, putting up a 6-5-5 record, a .925 save percentage, and a 2.38 GAA in 17 games. In fact, Grubauer dominated so much that George McPhee felt comfortable enough to fill Michal Neuvirth’s trade request, thereby slating Grubi to become the Caps’ back-up goalie for the 2014-15 season.
With more opportunity soon on the horizon, Grubauer has commissioned crazy ol’ Swede David Gunnarsson to paint him a new Capitals themed mask. There’s nothing amazing here, but the design is still pretty baller. It’s like July 4th with Capitals logos.
Via the Washington Capitals Instagram, here’s Braden Holtby‘s new mask.
Designed by Swedish artist-to-the-stars, Dave Gunnarsson, Holtby’s mask features a sign on its side reading, “Please do not feed the animal.”
Not sure if that refers to the eagle with the crazy eyes or the actual guy wearing the mask.
Photo credit: DaveArt.com
Though recently we’ve seen him in a baseball cap more often than not, Michal Neuvirth‘s got a new mask. As with all Neuvy’s lids, the latest one was done by masterful Swedish airbrush artist Dave Gunnarsson, who posted pictures on his Facebook page. This is sad news for us at RMNB as Neuvy’s current Olie Kolzig Memorial Mask is a favorite of ours. The old mask lionizes former Capitals great Olie Kolzig on one side along and Czech netminder Jiří Holeček on the other. Neuvy has yet to wear his new mask, so the old one is still around for now.
The new mask features a large image of Washington’s Weagle logo on the front, but with the head chopped off and replaced with a more realistic rendering. The right side, as always, sports an image of Strekov Castle from Neuvirth’s hometown in the Czech Republic.
“Just as usual the design is pumped with details and hidden messages,” Gunnarsson, who designs masks for many NHL goaltenders, including Braden Holtby, wrote on Facebook. “It is so exciting to create a design in old school style mixed with top modern fx.”
By Chris Gordon 10 years ago
