Dr Dave
11-21-2008, 12:56 AM
Time to review my new mask. Not a short review, so I have broken it up into two sections. The first half covers my reasons for getting a Cubberly, custom fitting and choosing a painter and design for the mask. If all you want is the final review of the mask and paint you can skip to the second half.
I have been using an Armadilla mask for about 7 years now. The mask was clearly showing signs of wear with chips in the shell and a small crack in the chin. I wanted to replace it before it suffered a catastrophic failure with my head inside. I originally went with an Armadilla because of its reputation as a very protective mask. Poor form and a slow glove hand result in frequent testing of the protection offered by any mask that I wear. I never took a shot off the Armadilla that resulted in anything more than a few seconds of ringing in my ears and that only happened with hard shots off the cage. The Armadilla’s reputation for protection was not exaggerated and if Don Strauss was still making goalie masks I would not have considered anything else.
Choosing Cubberly
After spending some time researching different masks I decided to go with Ed Cubberly. Okay, I’m a Ranger fan so going with the guy that made Richter’s Statue of Liberty mask was tempting, but not enough to serve as the basis for my decision. If I was going to replace the Armadilla it had to be a mask that I could use without worrying about getting a concussion. Safety was my first concern. Unfortunately, there is no unbiased comparison of the level of protection with different masks. Ed works in an OR by day and makes masks at night. I was concerned about getting a mask from someone who was not a full time mask maker. On the other hand, Ed has been making masks for over 3 decades and he does have an impressive list of NHL tenders who have worn his masks including Richter, Cujo, Kolzig, Barasso and many more whose masks you can see on the Cubberly web site. (Ed Cubberly (http://www.edcubberly.com/index.html))
The deciding factor for me was a recommendation from Scott Battram. I have used Battram gear for years and I know his commitment to quality. I sent him an email listing a few masks that I was considering and at the end mentioned that I live an hour and a quarter from Ed. He told me to go with Ed. Scott had never met him, but he has seen his work and said that it was of the highest quality. That was enough for me. I contacted Ed and arranged a time to have him make a cast of my head.
Working with Ed
My wife had some doubts about this plan. As I was getting ready to go and meet Ed for the first time she told me that I was crazy to drive to the house of some guy that I met through the internet so he could wrap my whole head in plaster. Her question was, “How do you know he isn’t going to kill you and bury your body in his back yard?” I assured her that there was nothing to be concerned about and drove out to Frenchtown, NJ.
Meeting Ed starts with the tour. Ed took me through his house showing me masks that he had made in the past 30 years, masks made by other pioneers in the field of mask design, a wall full of pictures of pros wearing his masks and some of his art work. It is an impressive collection. Then there was one last thing that we looked at before going down into Ed’s basement to have my head completely encased in plaster. Ed designed the Hannibal Lechter mask for Silence of the Lambs. He has the original from the movie. Suddenly my wife’s warning didn’t seem so farfetched.
Okay, long story short, Ed did not kill me or bury me in his back yard. He was great to work with. He explained the entire plastering process before we started and also described the steps involved in making the mask. Ed does all the work himself, so he turns out one mask at a time. He actually finished the job a bit quicker than his original estimate.
After the shell was made it was sent out for painting and then back to Ed for all the pieces to be put together. Ed recommended Doug Wager (Weasel Head Custom Designs) to paint the mask. He said that Doug was a perfectionist who would do a great job with the artwork. More on Doug and the paint job later. When the mask was finished I went back to Ed’s house for final fitting and then out onto the ice a few days later.
Working with Doug Wager
Let’s start by saying that the final product is hard to beat. When I first contacted Doug I only had some very vague ideas for the artwork. I knew that I wanted it to relate to my profession (neurosurgeon) so a brain was the obvious place to start. I discussed my thoughts with Doug a couple of days after I had my head cast made and told him that Ed planned to have the mask ready to ship to him in about two months. Doug said he would come up with some ideas and get back to me. A month later Ed called to say that he would have the mask ready to ship to Doug in two more weeks. I had not heard anything from Doug, so I let him know that the mask was about 2 weeks ahead of schedule. We discussed my thoughts on the mask again and he said that he would get back to me. Doug developed a design and emailed a line drawing of his idea. I liked it, so we decided to go in that direction.
Then I waited. I thought that Doug would start working on my mask shortly after receiving it since we first discussed the mask 6 weeks before it was shipped to him. I also believed that a mask coming from Ed would move through the painting process quickly. It took Doug longer to paint the mask than it took Ed to make it. After than the initial rough sketch that was emailed the next communication I had from Doug was a picture of the painted mask. I thought there would be more communication before the final paint was applied. Fortunately I really liked the final product. About 2 months after it was shipped to Doug the paint was done and it was shipped back to Ed. Ed made it clear that he was not satisfied with that turnover time.
I have been using an Armadilla mask for about 7 years now. The mask was clearly showing signs of wear with chips in the shell and a small crack in the chin. I wanted to replace it before it suffered a catastrophic failure with my head inside. I originally went with an Armadilla because of its reputation as a very protective mask. Poor form and a slow glove hand result in frequent testing of the protection offered by any mask that I wear. I never took a shot off the Armadilla that resulted in anything more than a few seconds of ringing in my ears and that only happened with hard shots off the cage. The Armadilla’s reputation for protection was not exaggerated and if Don Strauss was still making goalie masks I would not have considered anything else.
Choosing Cubberly
After spending some time researching different masks I decided to go with Ed Cubberly. Okay, I’m a Ranger fan so going with the guy that made Richter’s Statue of Liberty mask was tempting, but not enough to serve as the basis for my decision. If I was going to replace the Armadilla it had to be a mask that I could use without worrying about getting a concussion. Safety was my first concern. Unfortunately, there is no unbiased comparison of the level of protection with different masks. Ed works in an OR by day and makes masks at night. I was concerned about getting a mask from someone who was not a full time mask maker. On the other hand, Ed has been making masks for over 3 decades and he does have an impressive list of NHL tenders who have worn his masks including Richter, Cujo, Kolzig, Barasso and many more whose masks you can see on the Cubberly web site. (Ed Cubberly (http://www.edcubberly.com/index.html))
The deciding factor for me was a recommendation from Scott Battram. I have used Battram gear for years and I know his commitment to quality. I sent him an email listing a few masks that I was considering and at the end mentioned that I live an hour and a quarter from Ed. He told me to go with Ed. Scott had never met him, but he has seen his work and said that it was of the highest quality. That was enough for me. I contacted Ed and arranged a time to have him make a cast of my head.
Working with Ed
My wife had some doubts about this plan. As I was getting ready to go and meet Ed for the first time she told me that I was crazy to drive to the house of some guy that I met through the internet so he could wrap my whole head in plaster. Her question was, “How do you know he isn’t going to kill you and bury your body in his back yard?” I assured her that there was nothing to be concerned about and drove out to Frenchtown, NJ.
Meeting Ed starts with the tour. Ed took me through his house showing me masks that he had made in the past 30 years, masks made by other pioneers in the field of mask design, a wall full of pictures of pros wearing his masks and some of his art work. It is an impressive collection. Then there was one last thing that we looked at before going down into Ed’s basement to have my head completely encased in plaster. Ed designed the Hannibal Lechter mask for Silence of the Lambs. He has the original from the movie. Suddenly my wife’s warning didn’t seem so farfetched.
Okay, long story short, Ed did not kill me or bury me in his back yard. He was great to work with. He explained the entire plastering process before we started and also described the steps involved in making the mask. Ed does all the work himself, so he turns out one mask at a time. He actually finished the job a bit quicker than his original estimate.
After the shell was made it was sent out for painting and then back to Ed for all the pieces to be put together. Ed recommended Doug Wager (Weasel Head Custom Designs) to paint the mask. He said that Doug was a perfectionist who would do a great job with the artwork. More on Doug and the paint job later. When the mask was finished I went back to Ed’s house for final fitting and then out onto the ice a few days later.
Working with Doug Wager
Let’s start by saying that the final product is hard to beat. When I first contacted Doug I only had some very vague ideas for the artwork. I knew that I wanted it to relate to my profession (neurosurgeon) so a brain was the obvious place to start. I discussed my thoughts with Doug a couple of days after I had my head cast made and told him that Ed planned to have the mask ready to ship to him in about two months. Doug said he would come up with some ideas and get back to me. A month later Ed called to say that he would have the mask ready to ship to Doug in two more weeks. I had not heard anything from Doug, so I let him know that the mask was about 2 weeks ahead of schedule. We discussed my thoughts on the mask again and he said that he would get back to me. Doug developed a design and emailed a line drawing of his idea. I liked it, so we decided to go in that direction.
Then I waited. I thought that Doug would start working on my mask shortly after receiving it since we first discussed the mask 6 weeks before it was shipped to him. I also believed that a mask coming from Ed would move through the painting process quickly. It took Doug longer to paint the mask than it took Ed to make it. After than the initial rough sketch that was emailed the next communication I had from Doug was a picture of the painted mask. I thought there would be more communication before the final paint was applied. Fortunately I really liked the final product. About 2 months after it was shipped to Doug the paint was done and it was shipped back to Ed. Ed made it clear that he was not satisfied with that turnover time.