This is the first equipment review of the season, so I’m really excited about that. I’ll be going conference-by-conference, team-by-team (in alphabetical order) as the season progresses. We’re kicking it off with the Boston Bruins 2015-16 tandem, Tuukka Rask and Jonas Gustavsson.

Tuukka Rask

Mask- Tuukka’s mask appears to be the exact same one that he rocked last year, and it’s certainly a great mask. The bear on the mask is fierce, and I am always a fan of the goalie’s name/nickname along the chin, and Tuukka does must that. While not visible in the above picture, there is a small Finnish flag on the back of the mask as an homage to his home country. A nice, subtle touch on the mask is a gold cage rather than traditional silver, which better matches this Bruins color scheme. The only downfall of this mask is the brown base, which doesn’t really match the uniforms. Rating: 8.6/10.

Tuukka’s mask appears to be the exact same one that he rocked last year, and it’s certainly a great mask. The bear on the mask is fierce, and I am always a fan of the goalie’s name/nickname along the chin, and Tuukka does must that. While not visible in the above picture, there is a small Finnish flag on the back of the mask as an homage to his home country. A nice, subtle touch on the mask is a gold cage rather than traditional silver, which better matches this Bruins color scheme. The only downfall of this mask is the brown base, which doesn’t really match the uniforms. Glove- The glove is pretty basic here. It’s a Vaughn V6 2000 in just white and black. I’m all for simple designs/color schemes on equipment, so on it’s own, this glove is great. That being said, I feel that the addition of a single yellow stripe would really help this glove complement the rest of the pad set. Rating: 7.2/10

The glove is pretty basic here. It’s a Vaughn V6 2000 in just white and black. I’m all for simple designs/color schemes on equipment, so on it’s own, this glove is great. That being said, I feel that the addition of a single yellow stripe would really help this glove complement the rest of the pad set. Blocker- Not really sure what Tuukka was going for here; to me, the yellow is way too dominant on the blocker. If he were to reverse the yellow and black on the blocker, then it would work absolutely perfectly with the leg pads, which are always the centerpiece of the pad set. If the yellow on this blocker were black, the black stripe were yellow, and the logo were white, I probably would’ve given this blocker a 10/10. However, I do not think this blocker works well with the rest of the set here. Rating: 3.5/10

Not really sure what Tuukka was going for here; to me, the yellow is way too dominant on the blocker. If he were to reverse the yellow and black on the blocker, then it would work absolutely perfectly with the leg pads, which are always the centerpiece of the pad set. If the yellow on this blocker were black, the black stripe were yellow, and the logo were white, I probably would’ve given this blocker a 10/10. However, I do not think this blocker works well with the rest of the set here. Leg Pads- Really sick pads here. Keeping it consistent with the V6 2000, Tuukka really knocks one out of the park with his pads this year. I love when pads use white as the base color, and that’s exactly what he did. One black stripe and one yellow stripe is perfect, not over the top, but incorporates all of Boston’s uniform colors. The black on the outer roll looks really good; the only knock against these pads is that the entire outer roll isn’t black. I definitely think an all black outer roll would make this pads perfect. Rating: 9.7/10

Really sick pads here. Keeping it consistent with the V6 2000, Tuukka really knocks one out of the park with his pads this year. I love when pads use white as the base color, and that’s exactly what he did. One black stripe and one yellow stripe is perfect, not over the top, but incorporates all of Boston’s uniform colors. The black on the outer roll looks really good; the only knock against these pads is that the entire outer roll isn’t black. I definitely think an all black outer roll would make this pads perfect. Stick- Not much to say about a goaltender’s stick. I am including sticks in my ratings, because they are a part of the equipment, and sticks have the ability to complement the pad set nicely (or poorly). Tuukka’s stick does the former. The white base works well, and he makes sure to include both uniform colors in the ‘Warrior’ logo. Rating: 10/10

Not much to say about a goaltender’s stick. I am including sticks in my ratings, because they are a part of the equipment, and sticks have the ability to complement the pad set nicely (or poorly). Tuukka’s stick does the former. The white base works well, and he makes sure to include both uniform colors in the ‘Warrior’ logo. Overall- The blocker ruins an otherwise really solid pad set. The yellow stands out way too much, and does not really match the other parts of the set very well. The pads look really good, but could stand having an all black outer roll, and the mask has some really strong aspects too. Overall Rating: 7.8

Jonas Gustavsson

Mask- Not much to say about Gustavsson’s mask here. Just solid black. Of course, he did not know whether he would be on the Bruins this season, so I guess I can cut him some slack here. Rating: 2.0/10

Not much to say about Gustavsson’s mask here. Just solid black. Of course, he did not know whether he would be on the Bruins this season, so I guess I can cut him some slack here. Glove- Just like Rask, it looks like Gustavsson is going to using the Vaughn V6 2000 pad set. His glove is similar to Rask’s, it just features a little less black. What makes this glove better than Rask’s is that it works better with the overall set. Since there’s no yellow in the leg pads, it makes sense to leave it off of the glove. Rating: 7.9/10

Just like Rask, it looks like Gustavsson is going to using the Vaughn V6 2000 pad set. His glove is similar to Rask’s, it just features a little less black. What makes this glove better than Rask’s is that it works better with the overall set. Since there’s no yellow in the leg pads, it makes sense to leave it off of the glove. Blocker- It does not get any simpler than an all white blocker with a black logo. I always like the all-white look, although it works best when the entire set is all-white. I wish there were one small black stripe on the blocker to really click with the rest of the set. Still, not bad. Rating: 8.1/10

It does not get any simpler than an all white blocker with a black logo. I always like the all-white look, although it works best when the entire set is all-white. I wish there were one small black stripe on the blocker to really click with the rest of the set. Still, not bad. Leg Pads- Really simple design, but it works. The one black stripe is a safe design for a guy who was not 100% sure where he was going to end up this year. We may see him upgrade at some point during the year, at which point I will re-evaluate the set. But for now, these pads work just fine. Rating: 9.3/10

Really simple design, but it works. The one black stripe is a safe design for a guy who was not 100% sure where he was going to end up this year. We may see him upgrade at some point during the year, at which point I will re-evaluate the set. But for now, these pads work just fine. Stick- Gus is using the exact same stick with Rask. And while I gave Rask a 10 in this category, I can’t bring myself do it with Gus because I’m basing it off of how well the stick works with the rest of the set. There’s yellow in the stick, but no yellow anywhere else. Regardless, the stick looks good with the uniform, so I’m not giving it much of a penalty. Rating: 9.8/10

Gus is using the exact same stick with Rask. And while I gave Rask a 10 in this category, I can’t bring myself do it with Gus because I’m basing it off of how well the stick works with the rest of the set. There’s yellow in the stick, but no yellow anywhere else. Regardless, the stick looks good with the uniform, so I’m not giving it much of a penalty. Overall- A pretty basic set, most likely due to the fact that Gustavsson was a late addition to the Bruins roster. Regardless, the pads look pretty good. The only thing holding this back is the all-black mask which I’m sure will be updated as he settles in on this roster. Rating: 7.4

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-AB