New Retro Mask has Luongo joining Schneider in Ridley Tribute

Roberto Luongo debuted a new "vintage tribute" mask Monday.

Roberto Luongo is like any other goaltender: He likes getting new gear under the Christmas tree.

Luongo debuted a new vintage-look Reebok/Lefebvre mask in practice Monday morning and plans to wear it with the Canucks third jerseys the rest of the season.

“I guess I was on the nice list this year so Santa brought me something special,” Luongo joked after the skate.

The mask was painted by F-X Allaire, whose father Francois is the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending guru, and Luongo’s long-time personal coach. While it’s decidedly different from the mask worn by teammate Cory Schneider, Luongo’s new lid joins Schneider in echoing the original crossed stick-in-rink logo design worn by former Canuck Curt Ridley in the 1970s.

“Just an old vintage tribute,” Luongo said. “It’s beautiful, I love what he did with it as far as the look and vintage effects.”

The vintage effects include puck marks placed under the clear coat, making this new mask look like it’s been around for years.

Allaire, who previously painted a mask for Luongo that was worn in practice, talked to InGoal Magazine about the mask and how he achieved the used look:

“The basic inspiration for the mask was to recreate Ridley’s design but with an old-school worn look acheived by painting it by paintbrush instead of traditional airbrush. As for the clearcoat we developed a satin finish using custom matte paint reducer, which accents the worn look of the whole mask.”

Roberto Luongo's new mask art by F-X Allaire compliments his new Reebok P4s with the green outer roll - chosen by Luongo for their "retro" look.