FOXBORO, Mass. — Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask will make his first NHL Winter Classic start on New Year’s Day.
He’ll do it in style, too.
Before the Bruins took the ice Thursday for practice at Gillette Stadium, they unveiled photos of Rask’s awesome goalie mask. It features sweet illustrations of the old Boston Garden, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski among other New England Patriots themes.
“It came out nice,” Rask said. “Our trainer, Matt Faulkner, designed it. He just had to (run) it by me and by a couple of the Patriots players who are in it. But yeah, we wanted to pay tribute to their success and some of their players and make the biggest part of the mask about the Pats. …
“I’m pretty happy with the result. It’s been a secret for months now, and now you guys will see it.”
Rask was on the Bruins’ roster for the 2010 Winter Classic at Fenway Park, but he was Tim Thomas’ backup and didn’t play.
“It’s definitely fun (to be able to play this time around),” Rask said. “I’ve got to be more focused than last time, actually playing hockey. But at the end of the day, it’s the same game, and we just try to stay focused on what you need to do out there to be successful. But it’s definitely something that might come once in your career, and personally, I’m going to make the most of it and have fun out there.
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Mike Condon released photos of his mask Wednesday, and it had a cool photo of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, four Lombardi trophies and the team motto, “Do Your Job,” on it.
