Cheevers' Famous Mask was a Matter of Happenstance

BostonBruins.com -Gerry Cheevers admits that he wasn't much into practicing back in his playing days. During his 30-minute drives to the rink, the Hall of Fame netminder would often try to drum up ways to get out of skating that day. Early on in his career, he also passed the time by thinking of how he could spice up his plain white goalie mask.
"I couldn't even wear white socks, for some reason they disturbed me," said Cheevers. "I always wore black socks when the rest of the team was wearing white."
Fortunately for Cheevers, both of his problems were solved simultaneously.
After taking a shot up high during a practice in one of his first years with the Bruins - "it wouldn't have cut me if I didn't have my mask on, that's how soft the shot was" - Cheevers retreated to the dressing room, believing he had successfully executed his plan to get the rest of the day off.

"I was probably having a look at the [horse] racing form and a cigarette. [Bruins coach] Harry [Sinden] came in and said, 'Get back out there, you're not hurt,'" Cheevers said as he recalled the story during a virtual town hall with Bruins season ticket holders on Thursday as part of a week-long celebration of the 1970 Stanley Cup champions' 50th Anniversary.
But before Cheevers made his way back to the ice, legendary Bruins trainer John 'Frosty' Forristall intervened.
"I'm sure you've heard lots of stories about our trainer, John 'Frosty' Forristall, who was a character," said Cheevers. "I didn't even think of this, he did. He said, 'Hold it.' And he painted a big eight-stitch scar over my right eye. We went out there and got a kick out of it…that's how it all started."

The mask, of course, lasted far longer than Cheevers' cigarette break, becoming one of the most iconic in NHL history, while setting the standard for goaltenders adding some personal flair to their face protection.
"At times, I did feel like I was somewhat of a pioneer in hockey because I actually decorated my mask," said Cheevers. "If you know goalies the way I do, none of them would probably be smart enough to put anything on their mask - so if I didn't do it, they might have all been white masks. And what good is that?!"
Cheevers didn't even wear a mask during his time in the minors - he spent parts of four seasons with the Rochester Americans, then an affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs - but realized around the time that he was picked up off waivers by the Bruins in 1965 that he better start protecting himself.
"It was scary. It created a change of underwear a lot, I'll tell you that. You played different," Cheevers joked when asked what it was like to tend goal without a mask. "I said, 'If I'm gonna make it, if I'm gonna have a career in the NHL, I gotta get a mask.'
"Lefty Wilson, an old trainer for the Red Wings, he had the only mask out - unless you wore one of those big plexiglass ones, which was impossible. When you got hit in that mask, it shifted…finally I found Ernie Higgins and we made this mask."
Higgins' son played goalie, prompting him to shift careers and begin creating the protective coverings, which he went on to craft and personalize for Cheevers. Initially, Higgins - who hailed from the South Shore - was nervous, Cheevers explained, when the goalie took a shot off the mask shortly after adopting it.
"Ernie Higgins was quite a character," said Cheevers. "He came into the next practice and he was all concerned about the reaction to me getting hit right in the nose. And I said, 'Well, we have to do something about the chips getting in my defensemen's eyes.' He thought I was serious."

At the time, goalies were not required to wear any kind of face protection, making Cheevers one of the first backstops in NHL history to wear one full time. Montreal netminder Jacques Plante started the trend after being struck in the face at Madison Square Garden in November 1959. Andy Brown, who retired in 1974, was the last North American professional goalie to play without a mask.
"The rule wasn't in yet. It was voluntary. You didn't have to wear a mask," said Cheevers. "After me, Glenn Hall - he played [500-plus] games consecutively without a mask, how bad is that? That's pretty good, actually."
Cheevers went on to don the mask - which now hangs on his grandson's wall in Florida - for the remainder of his 15 seasons in professional hockey. He and Forristall added stitch marks each time he took a shot to the face.
"We kept track," said Cheevers. "We embellished it a little bit and Frosty did all that. I remember one night playing in St. Louis and I was down and out and the only way I could make the save was [by putting] my head in front of it, which I wouldn't have done without a mask. It went right off my mask."
The Ontario native, now 79 years old, went on to have a Hall of Fame career (hewas inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1985), helping the Bruins to two Stanley Cups. He remains fourth in Bruins history with 226 wins and fifth in games played by a goalie with 416. His .901 save percentage ranks eighth.
In the 1970 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Cheevers was 12-1 with a 2.23 goals against average and .925 save percentage. He won 10 consecutive games to end the B's Cup run, which at the time was a National Hockey League record. In 1972, he went without a loss in 32 straight games, an NHL mark that still stands.
"It was a special time, there's no question about that," said Cheevers, who remains the B's all-time winningest playoff goalie with 53 postseason victories. "We had a lot of fun…we were a close-knit team, had a lot of fun in the dressing room. This particular year, we were mostly all business and had a lot of fun…this is a special group. We got together and we played to win."