The Hockey News

When you think of Canucks third-string netminder



Richard Bachman, it’s unlikely any connection is made to author Stephen King. There’s a fact Bachman is well aware of, however, and it’s that his name, Richard Bachman, has been used by King as a pen name. In fact, Over the past 40 years, King, under the Bachman pseudonym, has released seven novels, the most recent of which was 2007’s The Blaze. And while King hasn’t delivered any of his most recognizable novels under the cover of his nom de plume, he is somewhat responsible for one of the best horror movie masks we’ve seen in some time with Bachman’s tribute to King’s novel-turned-film ‘The Shining.’ Check it out:





Designed and painted by David Gunnarsson of DaveArt, Bachman’s latest mask draws on two connections. First, the Bachman-King name connection is what gave the goaltender the idea to combine King’s works with his helmet design. But the second relies on a connection between a novel and the Canucks — or, more specifically, one of the Canucks’ mascots. In designing the mask, Gunnarsson and Bachman used famous image of Jack Nicholson bursting through a door and delivering the line, “Heeere’s Johnny!” They chose that scene specifically as a nod to Canucks mascot Johnny Canuck. On the right panel is a still of Nicholson performing the scene, and on the left panel is Johnny Canuck doing a similar look through a broken ice wall. The mask also features one of the lasting images from The Shining, which is the Grady twins holding hands. Now all that’s left is Bachman signing a lifetime deal with the Canucks so he can wear this mask forever…and ever…and ever.