March 7, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL) Utica Comets For a professional goalie, the mask serves as a representation of who they are as an individual and a hockey player. Mask designs range from personal experiences to interesting artwork, uniquely designed by the goalie himself. For Comets goaltender Joacim Eriksson, getting a new mask this past week was the much-anticipated finished product after much hard work and planning.

Returning to Swedish artist David Gunnarsson, Eriksson's new mask is a huge step above his last one, in terms of both color and design. "This mask is more of my design," Eriksson explained. "Me and Nick Jensen designed it together. We have a big dragon on the top, with a warrior, and huge dragon wings on the side. On the back, I have the Comets logo with the Swedish flag, showing where I came from." Eriksson worked with the color scheme of blue and green, sticking true to the Canucks and Comets brand.

When asked if he was excited to use the mask in his upcoming games, Eriksson explained, "I always like when I get a new mask. It's always fun to see and design it." The Comets starting goaltender said that initially, he had no idea what he wanted, but after collaborating with Jensen and thinking of a cool concept, he was very happy with the finished product. This will serve as Eriksson's starting mask, while his old design will be his backup. Goalies typically receive a new mask every year, but because of the intense planning that goes along with mask artwork, Eriksson will have to begin designing his next one as soon as summer hits.

On David Gunnarsson's Instagram, he explained that it was a pleasure to work with Eriksson, and that he was pleased with how the design came out as a finished product. He went into detail describing the intricacies of the mask, staying, "The Vancouver green dragon is spitting fire in green and blue...this design is a continuation of Eriksson's dragon mark when he played in Leksand many years ago. The dragon slayer [on top] is trying to tame the dragon...if possible. Behind him the sky is fulled with green comets. Thanks Joacim, I am so proud to be your painter and evolve your mask art from mask to mask."

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