Montreal Canadiens: Remembering Carey Price’s Indigenous Mask Amid NHL Mask Controversy

The Montreal Canadiens have been part of many controversies over the years, but none seemed as trivial as the one Marc-Andre Fleury found himself in last week.

The Minnesota Wild goaltender received his share of flack from the National Hockey League, because of a mask paying tribute to his wife’s heritage, which he planned on wearing on the ice.

The mask could have been costly for Fleury, but he wore it for the game. His mask technically defied the NHL rule that themed masks on theme night are strictly prohibited, and the respected veteran was told earlier this season that he was not to wear the mask.

Fleury’s mask featured some beautiful Native American airbrushed flowers and some of the indigenous language viewable through the cage of his mask. On the back of the mask, he has his children’s names written.

Number 29 sits at the chin of his mask, with a nice sharp red outline of the letters. The inside part of the letters featured Minnesota Wild colours.

Carey Price once wore a similarly themed mask, but with much less fanfare and negativity from the league. His cancer awareness mask had an homage to his Indigenous roots. Back in 2013, he had a mask on backorder and was in need of one for the upcoming game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Price had a mask commissioned, which he chose to wear until the arrival of the other one. Montreal Gazette writer and hockey historian Dave Stubbs detailed the entire process in January of 2013.

The middle of the mask featured a pink design in honour of breast cancer awareness. The other with a hat tilt to his Indigenous roots. He grew up in Anahim Lake, BC, and grew up hunting and fishing on the land, and he has a deep respect for his culture. His mask depicted it best with the dreamcatcher on the back and two tribal chief portraits on either side of the mask.

On one side he is wearing a headpiece with traditional beadwork, with a Habs spin on it. Feathers also sit on the face of the mask just above the cage on both sides and on the jawline of the mask. The opposite side of the mask features a close-up view of the chief.

The breast cancer portion slid in between the two chiefs, the distinguishable pink colour is smooth and vibrant. At the top there is a Habs logo laid over a big dreamcatcher, and the bottom has Price written across the chin of the mask in red and blue and the breast cancer ribbon spelling the I in Price. The mask shared something in common with Fleury’s, and that is that it is a beautiful gesture to the Native American culture, and the art work is second to none.

Both masks deserved to be showcased to the teams fanbase, and shown to the world. The kind gesture of auctioning it at a later date for a good cause just puts the cherry on top. All for a good cause, and a chance for the players to show their creativity through their mask art work.

Unfortunately, the league has chosen to try and stand in the way of players that want to honor their heritage on their masks. Hopefully they can see the light and loosen up these restrictions soon.

Want your voice heard? Join the A Winning Habit team!

Write for us!