The preseason hasn’t started the way the New Jersey Devils have hoped as the team sits at 0-3-0 after a loss to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday. There’s no need to panic since these are meaningless exhibition games.
The team even joked during their pre-season opening loss that they would avoid the “preseason curse”, which is a joking nod to the fact that they went undefeated in preseason games last season but would miss the playoffs in a disappointing campaign.
One main thing Devils fans were watching in the preseason was to get a first look at newly acquired goaltender Jakob Markstrom.
A lot went wrong for the Devils last season and subpar goaltending was the biggest problem. Markstrom was acquired from the Calgary Flames to fix that and the team posted his new mask for the season on their social media channels on Thursday.
New Jersey Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom has a really nice goalie mask
Markstrom’s new mask is a work of art. His mask tells the story of the legend of the New Jersey Devil, the team’s namesake.
Although the team’s mascot is a cartoonish Devil (who likes breaking windows), the actual legend of the New Jersey Devils revolves around a mysterious creature that lives in the heavily wooden pine barrens in the southern part of the state. An interpretation of the Jersey Devil is heavily featured on the mask’s left side.
The mask is especially eerie with a main color palate of black and white with the famous New Jersey Devils red being used more on the mask’s left side, bottom, and black plate.
References to the legend appear as torn book pages on Markstrom’s mask, referring to the “Pine Barrens” and drawings of the rather interesting creature.
Markstrom’s name is painted with wings and horns adorning the “K” and “S”. The back plate features the Swedish Three Crowns with the name of his son and late father.
The mask was made by Jordon Bourgeault who Markstrom gave full creative control. The Devils logo appears with “reptilian skin” on the mask’s left side (Markstrom’s right-hand side, for those who want to be technical).
Markstrom did veto Bourgeault’s original design idea for the back plate featuring a self of books named after each team he played for, a nod to the “different chapters” of his career.
Bourgeault has designed Markstrom’s masks for years and has his own company JBo Airbrush. The article mentions that Bourgeault got one of the first calls from Markstrom after his mid-summer trade became official.
All that’s missing from this mask of Paulie Walnuts and Christ Moltisanti lost in the Pine Barrens, just like that famous episode of “The Sopranos”. If he could paint a book page that says “13th child”, he could have added another book page that said the iconic line “he was an interior decorator!”