For those who weren’t sold on the concept of “Victory Green,” the very vibrant shade of green that adorns the Stars new identity, Kari Lehtonen’s new mask painter, Joni ‘Bona’ Hallikainen might just change your mind. With new uniforms and colors comes new goalie equipment, and Kari’s new mask utilizes the new logo and shade of green in stunning fashion.
The mask is a very reflective green, with the new Dallas Stars primary logo adorning the side. There are silver and black embellishments, including a silver skull of a longhorn on the chin. The mask also features a metallic silver facemask, and the beveled “Stars” wordmark atop the crown.
Joni ‘Bona’ Hallikainen is a former teammate of Kari Lehtonen back in his native Finland, who is getting into the business of painting goalie masks. This is the first design I’ve seen from him, but it’s impressive enough that I’m interested to see if he gets any more work at the NHL level.
The mask, and accompanying article, can be seen over at the [InGoal Magazine]
Speaking of the new uniforms and logos, fan-favorite Antoine Roussel is gaining more and more fans by the day. Roussel is one of the many Dallas Stars players who had their numbers re-assigned in an attempt to reclaim a more traditional aesthetic to their lineup.
Roussel, who wore the very odd #60, was re-assigned to the newly vacated #21 sweater, which had previously been worn by Loui Eriksson. After a Twitter interaction with one of his fans that had previously asked for reassurance that his purchase of a #60 jersey would be a sound investment, Roussel made an offer that would gain him some notoriety across the hockey world.
Roussel has stated that he will pay the bill for any Stars fan that currently has a #60 Roussel jersey to upgrade to a new #21 sweater, no questions asked. The dude is classy. [Dallas Morning News]
The Hockey Prospectus has ranked the Stars top ten organizational prospects, with the seemingly obvious choice of Valeri Nichushkin sitting at number one. There are few notable surprises though, like where exactly does Jack Campbell fit in? [Hockey Prospectus]
Remember when the Stars were hot in pursuit of Jonas Gustavsson, the big Swedish netminder that took a tour of the league to decide which franchise he’d want to start his career with? When he chose the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings, it was the first domino that led to the Kari Lehtonen trade.
Now he’s with with the Detroit Red Wings, and after a very disappointing debut with the organization, the Wings are hoping he can rebound and play some quality minutes for the organization. [Detroit Free Press]
Now I’m too old to be of the Pokemon generation, but for those of you who aren’t might get a kick out of this… someone took the time to re-imagine the logos of the NHL, if NHL teams were Pokemon. [Polygon]