Lehtonen’s new mask a family effort as three goaltenders work together on design.

InGoal first presented Kari Lehtonen’s new Stars mask for the 2013-2014 season last month, painted by ex-teammate Joni ‘Bona’ Hallikainen, a former pro goaltender himself. Bona makes his living as a mask artist and also loves creating replica masks from the 1970s NHL era – and is even putting the finishing touches on a custom neck guard for Lehtonen (see below).

The first mask presented featured a green base to match the Stars new home uniforms and this one is its match with a white base for the new road uniforms. If you look closely though you’ll find some details that are not on the green lid. Bona noted in an email to InGoal, “Kari is a car enthusiast so he came up with the idea to fade some car tire marks on the design. I thought it would be a great idea to add a personal touch and at the same time honor to a local Gas Monkey Garage.”

Bona’s parents had their hands full apparently – raising not one, but two goaltenders in the family. His younger brother Joonas is also a former pro and now works as goalie coach for for Jokerit Helsinki’s Jr-A team. Bona is thankful to have him on his business team as well, “He is my ‘design coordinator’ and usually goes through new designs and gives me good ideas and tips as he did on this one as well.”



