It’s a new season for the Colorado Avalanche and starting goaltender Semyon Varlamov.

He’s coming back after two separate hip surgeries and half a season missed last year, ready to make an impact and help the Central Division club bounce back from a dismal 48-point campaign.

The team will skate out with a new backup for Varlamov, a new goaltending coach, and new jerseys for the league’s switch to Adidas gear.

The Russian-born starter will have more than just a new sweater, though; he and his long-time mask artist, David Gunnarsson of DaveArt, have debuted a fresh new concept for his mask to kick off the year:

Titled “The Avs of the Rocky Mountains”, Varlamov’s new mask plays on the team’s ‘new’ jerseys for the upcoming season. The Adidas-branded uniforms are a throwback to the team’s original jersey design, drawing inspiration from the team’s 1995 inaugural season and giving a nod to the region’s mining history with a bold silver stripe added.

“Semyon Varlamov’s new mask creation is inspired from Avs’s new game jersey and the Rocky mountains,” Gunnarsson explained on Instagram.

Sure enough, the mountains have the new silver striping integrated seamlessly, giving the snow-peaked ranges an edgy look that draws on the jersey Varlamov will don in net this year.

The team’s logo is subtly superimposed over the mountains, while the rest of the mask is an electric blue.

The design doesn’t stop there, though.

As Gunnarsson points out in the mask reveal, there are plenty of 3D graphics included in the mask, using his new Hologram FX paint to create a shifting, evolving design for the lid.

The goaltender’s nickname ‘Varly’ and the Russian Phoenix, painted alongside his name on the chin and up on the top of the mask, remain visible no matter the angle of the mask.

The other subtle designs, though – such as the Avs Sasquatch footprint logo, tracking across the starry skies above the mountain range – appear selectively depending on where you stand in relation to the mask. The holographic images help to give the design an extra dimension, adding another layer to the images in certain lights.

For more excellent work from Dave Gunnarsson, check out his official website, Twitter account, orFacebook page.