The 2024 NHL Winter Classic, with the Kraken hosting the Golden Knights on New Year’s Day, is now just three weeks away. The uniforms were unveiled a few weeks ago, and now a really cool goalie mask — and another one that’s slightly underwhelming — have been added into the aesthetic mix.
Let’s start with the really cool one. Since the game is taking place in the Seattle Mariners’ ballpark, Kraken goalie Joey Daccord’s mask design features six Mariners baseball cards. On one side of the mask are cards for three current M’s players: shortstop J.P. Crawford, catcher Cal Raleigh, and outfield Julio Rodríguez. The other side has cards for former M’s greats Ken Griffey Jr., Ichiro Suzuki, and Edgar Martinez (although the positioning of Martinez’s card — his 1988 Fleer entry — leaves his face and name mostly obscured). If you look closely, you can see that two ghosted Mariners logos are also included — their current logo on one side of the mask (look at the top-left corner of the photo shown above) and their old trident logo on the other (top-right corner).
I love this type of cross-sport acknowledgment — nicely done!
It’s not clear, however, that Daccord will even play in the game. So far this season, he’s started 12 of the Kraken’s 29 games (and appeared in three others), with teammate Philipp Grubauer starting the other 17. Unfortunately, Grubauer’s Winter Classic mask, while not unattractive, is a total snooze compared to Daccord’s:
But Grubauer was just placed on injured reserve, which means he’ll be out of action for at least a week. If he’s still on the shelf by the end of the month, Daccord will presumably get the nod for the Winter Classic.
To my knowledge, the Winter Classic masks for Golden Knights goalies Logan Thompson and Adin Hill have not yet been revealed.
I like them both. In fact, I prefer the second one. With the slightly distressed effect, it looks like an old nautical relic.
Now you have me thinking – an old timey dive helmet would be such a fun concept for a mask for one of the Kraken goalies.
Now we’re talking!
I also like them both. The Kraken should do more with this extra logo.
Good thing he didn’t choose the Jared Kelenic or Teoscar Hernandez card…
If anyone is wondering why the Crawford card is on an old design, it’s from a set called Topps Heritage, which reuses a design from roughly 50 years earlier but current players. That card is from this year’s set, which used the 1974 design. (The coming year will use the 1975 card design, and so on.)
I prefer the 2nd one as well – I think it’s technically a better design. Pretty cool and a version of it could be used regularly, whereas the baseball one is cool in a more gimmicky, one-off sort of way for a game like this (or one of even lesser importance in my opinion)