For want of a new mask

Welcome everyone to the first blog entry of the husband of DCSportsChick. Please be gentle.

My first post has to be hockey related, since it is the season. Also cause my Eagles are done, I don't get too into Basketball (other than Maryland), and there is not much on the radar about Baseball or DC United.

So let it begin.

Yesterday in a uncharacteristic game, the Ottawa Senators were crushed by the Bruins. This alone should be news, but it was not the top story I heard on XM or the Ottawa wires. It seems that the Sens goalie Ray Emery has a new mask, and the artwork has a few people in a bit of an uproar.

Emery has a new helmet and it features two images of the former heavyweight champion -- one when he was a younger boxer and the other from late in his career when he was highly ridiculed for having his face tattooed, presumably to look more frightening in the ring.

I first caught wind of this while listening to XM's Home Ice. One of the radio personalities was going ape shit. He was besides himself on how this was a stain on hockey and that Tyson should not be highlighted in any way.

The Ottawa Sun's Don Brennan is of a different opinion or at least he spoke to the man in question.

All the good and pure robot lovers out there are breathless with their complaints of how Ray Emery could have the gall to wear a mask with a painting of Mike Tyson on each side. Get real, robot lovers. Emery is unique, his own man, a nonconformist. And that's not just cool, it's downright refreshing. A big boxing fan who has also worn likenesses of Jack Johnson and Marvin Hagler on his face protection this season, he's clearly honoring the pugilist, not the rapist. "Tyson was a prominent figure when I was growing up," Emery said yesterday morning. "A lot of people were fans of his. I don't want to get into the trouble he's been in, but as far as entertaining fighters, he was the best, and that's why I did it."

Now my general opinion of Tyson is that he is a dumbass and a bit odd. I know that he is a convicted criminal and spent time in jail. My question is, should there be any stir about what is on Emery's mask? The NHL currently does not have any rule governing what can or cannot be on a goalie's mask. I have not heard if there is a team rule, but it seems like that they are going to ask him to retire it. ( I hear E-bay calling.)