St. Louis Blues: Carter Hutton Debuts Crazy New Mask

The St. Louis Blues have had an interesting string of goaltender masks in recent years. Some have taken more straight-line routes and some were more off the beaten path. Carter Hutton went for the latter.

The St. Louis Blues have pretty good history when it comes to interesting goaltending masks. There is always the CuJo masks to fall back on when you’re looking for some of the best of the best.

Of course, there were some that were a little bit blah. Jake Allen’s odd silver mask that was supposed to be reminiscent of early goalie masks just did not work for most fans.

For the most part, the Blues have lucked out with goalie masks. There have been far more hits than misses.

This year’s crop is pretty solid as a duo. We already discussed Allen’s new snakeless mask here.

While I was personally disappointed that he has abandoned the reptilian nickname in mask form, it was a solid entry into the pantheon of goaltending masks. However, if we consider Allen’s new dome cover a safe choice, Carter Hutton went for anything but.

You can check out more angles of the mask on the Blues website.

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The main thing that draws the eye on Hutton’s new mask is the old Rat Fink type designs. Kids of the 80’s and 90’s should remember the designs known for the bulging eyes.

While the Rat Fink was around since the 60’s, it regained popularity during those later decades. It was originally part of the hot rod culture, though it later became synonymous with grunge.

The original purpose fits more in with what Hutton intended. His mask is very much like a hot rod car or monster motorcycle.

It’s got that sparkly-chrome look on the blue sections on the sides and then also on the gold flame that adorns the forehead. The creature on the left ear of the mask is even driving a souped up car.

I’m not totally sure why, but I really like the print of the St. Louis Blues on the right side. It is almost in a graffiti style without going over the top with the bubble-like letters.

The blue note itself, on the left side, is a little meh. It looks like something I, or a 10 year old drew. However, it fits in with the mask since that is the artistic style of the Rat Fink design to begin with. It is much less about any realism and more conveying an idea or feeling.

It’s a really fantastic mask in terms of design. It will be very interesting to see how well it plays on television, where subtle things get lost in the shuffle.

Overall, you’ve got to give the mask battle to Hutton so far in his brief Blues career. He has far bettered Allen in that department.

His mask from last year featured half a skull and half a cracked goaltender mask. Then his Winter Classic mask was slightly better as well, featuring both St. Louis pro sports logos on top of a baseball seamed mask. This one just really hits the spot for me, growing up in a time when that kind of art and sparkle paint was in style.

Hutton has kept his solid mask game in step. Now, if he can repeat last year’s solid backup netminding game, the Blues will be in business.