The Hockey News

Anders Nilsson’s first season as an Edmonton Oiler has been successful, but the 25-year-old netminder wants to look the part. As such, Nilsson went to DaveArt’s David Gunnarsson with an idea for a brand new mask and one that would pay tribute to one of the greatest goaltenders in Oilers history. Nilsson’s new mask is a tribute to Grant Fuhr, the five-time Stanley Cup champion and Hall of Fame netminder who manned the net in Edmonton from 1981 to 1991. On top of having three sketched drawings of Fuhr on the right and left panels of the mask, Nilsson’s new lid also features Fuhr’s name, retired No. 31 and pulls its design straight from Fuhr’s old masks:

Gunnarsson wrote that the idea was to make the helmet look “old and used.” In order to do so, the mask includes rust marks around the holes on the side of the helmet, puck marks strewn across the mask and Gunnarsson used a matte finish on the mask to make it look like the masks of old. Nilsson hasn’t rocked the new mask yet, but it could make its debut this week. The Oilers square off against the Carolina Hurricanes Monday and host the Tampa Bay Lightning Friday. Nilsson has been arguably the better of the two netminders in Edmonton this season, and he has the numbers to back it up. In 22 games, Nilsson has a 10-10-1 record, 2.91 goals-against average and .906 SP. At 5-on-5, Nilsson’s SP is .917. As for



Cam Talbot, who was acquired in the off-season, he has a 6-11-2 record in 21 games, 2.91 GAA, .906 SP. At 5-on-5, he has the worst SP of any goaltender to play at least 750 minutes at 5-on-5 this season with a .905 mark.