NHL.com is spotlighting goaltenders this week, and as such, Kevin Woodley has assembled a set of iconic goalie masks which represent one of the world’s strangest professions. Woodley includes the helmet-cage combo masks worn by Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood:
Dominik Hasek and Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings
Prior to the Harrison-Dryden combo, NHL goalies had switched briefly to using a combination of a metal cage and players helmet dubbed the “birdcage.” First seen in North America when Vladislav Tretiak wore one for the Soviet Union during the 1972 Summit Series against Canada, the birdcage didn’t debut in the League until 1976.
Though the Harrison-Dryden design became the NHL mask of the choice not long after, some goalies continued to use the helmet-and-cage combo throughout their careers. That included Hasek, who finished his Hall of Fame career in Detroit wearing a custom fiberglass helmet made by famed mask builder Gary Warwick with a custom paint job attached to his birdcage. Osgood, whose search for his preferred-but-discontinued Cooper helmets, led to some being purchased off eBay before realizing one of the Red Wings trainers had some from his time with the Soviet Red Army team in his garage. Osgood retired in 2011 as the last goalie to wear a true birdcage combo, and it was indeed a Soviet helmet.
Continued; there are now specialty mask-makers who will make you a carbon fiber Hasek/Osgood-style shell in the shape of the former Cooper SK 2000 helmet, and you can purchase what were once Cooper HM 50 (Hasek) or HM 30 (Osgood) cages from these mask-makers as well. No more need to go onto eBay or into someone’s garage unless you want authentic 80’s or 90’s-made Cooper/Bauer steel and plastic on your head.
Honestly, the carbon fiber helmets made by Warwick Masks in Port Huron are far superior in terms of their levels of protection, but I’m an old Jofa helmet-cage combo wearer, so I understand the picky peculiarities of goaltenders of all ages.
Was never a fan of the birdcage, but loved how Hasek finally added artwork to his mask when he came to Detroit.