Steve Mason unzipped the bag and inside found zombie heads with mouths agape staring right back at him through whitewashed eyes.
[b]Caleb Joseph Jersey[/b] .Mason removed his newly painted goalie helmet, the latest piece of art for his collection, and pinpointed Philadelphia Flyers teammates who have been transformed into decaying faces and rotting corpses. There was Claude Giroux, with white eyes matching the colour of the captains patch on his jersey. Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek may as well have lumbered straight off the set of Michael Jacksons Thriller video.Beautiful, Mason said, rotating his helmet to eye each ghoulish character.Masons helmet does more than protect his noggin from pucks whipped in his direction on a daily basis. Its a symbol of his love for both ghouls and his teammates, a colorful sign of respect for the guys on the ice who watch his back.The helmet was made by airbrush ace Franny Drummond, one of a very few NHL helmet artists who make the designs come to life. He zombified several Flyers for Masons latest helmet, creating perhaps the most frightening mask this side of Jason Voorhees.I just think it looks cool on a helmet, Mason said. Ever since I was a young goaltender, I always thought the scary-looking helmets were the coolest ones.The 41-year-old Drummond littered his desk with pictures of the Flyers he used as a template for his work. Drummond then picked up his Iwata airbrush loaded with orange clear-coat automotive paint — picked because of its durability, not its $400 a gallon price tag — and held it a pinch away from his sanded white helmet and went to work with a surgeons precession.Its not the most exciting thing, Drummond said, but when its finished it gets exciting. You have to wait for it to all come together.Drummond creates the kind of helmet art that had one collector paying $4,000 for a one-of-a-kind Winter Classic-themed piece.He has created masks for NHL goalies including Bostons Tuukka Rask, Brian Boucher and Montreal Canadiens prospect Mike Condon. Condons helmet has state troopers painted on one side in honour of his father and Band of Brothers on the other for his favourite TV show. Canadiens and Princeton logos are both on helmet, as well as Condons family crest.Drummond, a former goalie who still plays in adult hockey leagues, had his art displayed in the NHL equivalent of the Louvre when Boucher and Michael Leighton both wore his helmets in the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs.He has built a business by airbrushing just about any type of object, from a bus for a radio host to motorcycles, welders masks and walls. He worked for a time on the show Extreme Makeover, and recalled frantically putting the finishing touches on bedrooms while host Ty Pennington yelled Move that bus! as the show neared its finale.Drummond studied at Miami International University of Art & Design and custom painted in his PaintZoo shop for 18 years.Hes a Flyers fanatic, and became involved with the organization when he created artwork for a former Flyer for a charity event. He was introduced to Flyers equipment manager Derek Settlemyre and that led to his first helmet for Ray Emery in the 2010 Winter Classic. The mask was decorated as a tribute to former team goalies Ron Hextall, Bernie Parent and Pelle Lindbergh.Boucher liked what he saw and became his next client. Drummonds work soon caught the attention of Bauer, one of the leading hockey equipment manufacturers. Drummond signed with Bauer and became a certified painter for the NHL helmet kings.The helmets range from $400 a mask for youth hockey players up to about $2,000 for the adult versions.Drummond is one of seven artists used by Bauer, most notably Swedish artist Dave Gunnarsson, who paints about 65 per cent of NHL helmets.Whenever theres a third party involved, weve learned the process gets ruined a little bit, said Lee Britt, custom goalie manager at Bauer. Weve learned over time its best for the player and artist figure out what the design is going to be. Sometimes the teams will have a little bit of input.Drummonds masterpieces occasionally go bust. He worked for about 10 days on Ilya Bryzgalovs helmet for the 2012 Winter Classic, only for the Flyers goalie to get benched for the big game. And he sent Star Wars nerds into a frenzy when he painted Yodas lightsaber Flyers orange instead of green.Drummond has been Masons personal artist for two years.Id put his work up against anyone elses in the world, Mason said. Ive seen a lot of goaltenders masks through the years, and seeing his up close and personal, the amount of detail he puts in there, its second to none.Mason was razzed last season when his helmet failed to include any defencemen. Nicklas Grossmann and Luke Schenn made the cut this week and so did some members of the teams equipment staff. He had asked for the new helmet to change his mojo after an 0-4-1 start to the season, and he also needed a darker cage because the brightness of the new state-of-the-art lighting system at Philadelphias Wells Fargo Center has made it tougher to see the puck during a game.The helmet wasnt unveiled until Monday. Mason broke in the helmet at practice and it made its NHL debut Tuesday night against Edmonton. Mason made 35 saves to earn his first win of the season as Philadelphia beat the Oilers 4-1.Mason uses two to three masks per season and keeps a shrine of them, a timeline of his career that is capped by Drummonds glittering pieces.These are more than helmets, Drummond said, theyre keepsakes.
[b]Mike Morgan Jersey[/b] . The move will give Hentgen the "time needed to support his family and his fathers current health issues," the Blue Jays said in a release. Hentgen spent 10 of his 14 big-league seasons with the Blue Jays, winning a Cy Young Award in 1996.
[b]Matt Mantei Jersey[/b] . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell. MONTREAL -- Matteo Ferrari describes the Montreal Impact as "a team that likes offence but doesnt like to defend." Those traits were clear to the 24,071 at Olympic Stadium on Saturday as the Impact dominated the scoring chances but settled for a 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls in a battle of still-winless Major League Soccer teams. And the home side was lucky to get a point, as Peguy Luyindula put a penalty shot off a goalpost that could have given New York a 3-1 lead early in the second half. The Impact tied the game in the 60th minute on Felipe Martins header. Andres Romero scored in the fifth minute for Montreal (0-3-2), only to see turnovers lead to goals three minutes apart from Jonny Steele and Luyindula in the first half for the Red Bulls (0-1-4). New Impact coach Frank Klopas, still looking for his first win, has been trying to get his team to avoid forcing the play in the midfield and giving the ball away, but they have been slow learners thus far. Ferrari, the veteran Italian central defender, is one of those who has to deal with the consequences when opponents counterattack. "We played well, we had a lot of chances to score, but in the end, if we dont pay attention to the defensive part its going to be all the time counterattacks," the 34-year-old said. "The last games, every time we lose the ball badly, they score. "I dont want to be negative, but when you score two goals, it should be enough to win. We have to be more concentrated without the ball." The Impact controlled most of the game and swarmed the Red Bulls net repeatedly, but either missed their shots or were foiled by goalkeeper Luis Robles. Montreal led 21-13 in shot attempts and 12-4 in shots on goal. Striker Marco Di Vaio was in alone a handful of times and failed to convert. Justin Mapp was stopped from just outside the six-yard box and Romero was robbed by Robles as he hammered a Di Vaio rebound on target from 10 yards out. At the other end, the Red Bulls made the most of their chances and earned their fourth draw in a row. "Coming into Montreal and getting a point -- you take it," said New York coach Mike Petke. "We seem to like ties, but its still early in the season." The Red Bulls had a glorious chance to secure a win when Ferrari got an arm around Bradley Wright-Phillips in the area, but Luyindula hit the woodwork from the spot in the 48th minute. Ferrari escaped without seeing the red card. "I dont know if it was a penalty or not, but I felt like the referee was not sure about it," said Ferrari. "If you make a penalty, it should be a red card and they send me off. "Anyway, they didnt score. We had another chance to stay in the game." Felipe started and finished the tying goal when he played a long ball to Mapp on the right side and went to the net to head in his first oof the season.
[b]Custom Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys[/b]. "I believed we would score," said Felipe, whose team was coming off a 1-1 draw last week in Philadelphia. "We had a lot of chances and didnt get the three points, so thats sad. We played well but we made mistakes and we tied again." Ferrari said his team has been the same since they entered MLS in 2012 -- good at moving forward and getting chances and bad at getting back to cover when mistakes are made. The back line gets much of the blame from fans when goals are conceded, which Ferrari finds unfair. "This is a team that likes offence but doesnt like to defend, so the defence in the back suffers," he said. "Also our field is very big and theres a lot of ground to cover. "Its not easy. Today we saw it. Against Seattle (a 2-0 loss in their home opener) it was the same. We have to work on that and do better because every week were here talking about us not winning and the win isnt coming." Asked if pressure was starting to build on the team, Ferrari smiled. "Pressure is something else," he said. "Its when you dont have food to give to your kids. "Its still a game. I played in a place like Roma, like Turkey. Thats pressure. When you dont win, they wait for you outside the stadium to break your car. But Im not happy because, as a defender, I cant be happy when every game you concede one or two and sometimes three goals." It looked like the Impact would romp when Romero scored. The goal was set up when Heath Pearce recovered a ball and Felipe slipped it to the Argentine midfielder for a shot off the far post. Then New Yorks Lloyd Sam got a cross past Heath and Steele beat defender Eric Miller to the ball to nudge it across the line in the 31st. Only three minutes later, Di Vaios weak cross-field pass was picked off by Steele, who sent it to Luyindula breaking in on the right to score for a second game in a row. The Red Bulls had to draw on their depth as several of their starters sat out. Forward Thierry Henry, who has seven goals in four games against Montreal, and defender Jamison Olave werent in the lineup because both have health issues playing on artificial turf. Forward Tim Cahill (hamstring) and defender Richard Eckersley (ankle) were hurt in last weeks 1-1 draw with Chivas USA. Also, veteran midfielder Dax McCarty didnt start, but Petke said he sent him in after the intermission because Roy Miller had suffered an Achilles tendon injury. The Impact defeated the Red Bulls 1-0 at the Big O early last season, then lost to them twice in New York. Notes -- Striker Jack McInerney, obtained Friday in a trade with Philadelphia, is to join the Impact on Monday. As No. 9 is taken by Di Vaio, he will wear No. 99. The Impact had no lineup changes from last week, with Di Vaio, Romero and Pearce each getting a second start in a row. ' ' '
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