KEEPERS OF DENIAL (form: Sestina) Was it just another save? Another imprint on the end of the defence? Silence in the anti-spectrum of the shot? Pink and purple tattooed the open-ended face proudly substituted for the first mask, blotting out the condescension of a goal. Not that we ever pondered on a goal, for we condescended just as much with a save. Not that you would have seen the eyes in the flesh of mask; I reckon our own defence - those privy to their partners open-ended face - would be hard-pressed to see the squint behind a black-eye-candy-coated shot. Broken cheek? A battle scar for which we thanked a shot. Still you wouldnt know a save for a goal on whatever canvass wrapped our face. No elation notified the cheap seats of a save and no beauty greeted our defeated defence, beat and bailed out by the cheek bone of a mask. Our chins and jaws were like nuts saved to cash in for a nutcracker. See, the mask embodied many parts securing an inevitable parting shot. The most poetic constitution couldnt author a defence against the crime of a back-breaking goal. No spine remained to sport on any subsequent save; by then, a saved puck didnt save face. Circumstantial artistry defined the degrees to which we chose to face the so-called facts. Some have said a mask wasnt donned to save our senses from a spiteful shot but to make generic the reaction to a goal. Some wondered, are we nursing team or psychological defence? Colour any black and white system of defence you tend to lean to after going face-to-face with the physical salvation of a goal and the alternative. How many would decline a mask when the alternative is the despondent draft from a shot snuffing out the stoic glory of whats never just another save? Maybe my retirement will render the dimensions of defence relative behind the mask. But retirement will not quell the need to bear my face in the presence of another shot: frozen rubber set aflame by the friction of a goal against a save. --- On November 1, 1959, Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadiens became the first ice hockey goalie to wear a mask full-time after a shot ripped - not cut, ripped - his face from the corner of his mouth to the bridge of his nose. At a time when goalies took courageous pride in playing bare-faced - and were expected to play as such - he took a lot of heat for the decision, as everyone from his coaches to fans to his own goaltending brethren questioned his courage. Over the years, masks became artistic vehicles for goalies, who often had them painted with images that reflected their personality. Goalies are by far the most stoic, superstitious, and cerebral players in the game; they dont celebrate after a goal like scorers do, and for these tendencies are generally considered to be quirky characters. Im one too... 01 12 13
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 11:37:17 +0000
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