Remarkable Canadiens Toque Mask for McNiven

When Jose Theodore donned a toque to play outdoors for the Montreal Canadiens at the inaugural Heritage Classic in 2003, it instantly became an iconic moment and image in Habs history.

Michael McNiven’s new Canadiens toque mask is good enough to become the same.

Painted by artist Sylvie Marsolais of Sylabrush for the Montreal puck-stopping prospect, the new mask captures the toque feel perfectly, right down to making the CCM and Canadiens logos look like they were sewn on. The closer you look, the more it appears there really is a toque over top of the mask.

“We wanted to give the tuque a vintage and a realistic look with all the wool knitted one by one,” Marsolais told InGoal. “We wanted to create a design that would make reminds some great souvenir to the Montreal Canadiens fans. The toque theme is to represent kids playing hockey in the street or an outdoor rink, wearing their Habs toque.”

As you can see in the close-ip photos below, mission accomplished:

In addition to the toque, Marsolais included other iconic Canadiens images on the sides.

“On the right side you can see the old Montreal Forum, with the famous hockey stick visible from the street, a great part of the Habs history,” she said. “On the other side the Jacques-Cartier bridge.”

The chin features McNiven’s nickname, and the backplate has some inspirational messages. Please enjoy the rest of these beautiful images of the gorgeous new mask below, courtesy of Marsolais, and be sure to check out her website, Twitter feed and Instagram page for more great goalie masks.