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03	August 2018

headed into their final group

Steve Mason unzipped the bag and inside found zombie heads with mouths agape staring right back at him through whitewashed eyes.Mason removed his newly painted goalie helmet, the latest piece of art for his collection, and pinpointed Philadelphia Flyers teammates who have been transformed into decaying faces and rotting corpses. There was Claude Giroux, with white eyes matching the colour of the captains patch on his jersey. Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek may as well have lumbered straight off the set of Michael Jacksons Thriller video.Beautiful, Mason said, rotating his helmet to eye each ghoulish character.Masons helmet does more than protect his noggin from pucks whipped in his direction on a daily basis. Its a symbol of his love for both ghouls and his teammates, a colorful sign of respect for the guys on the ice who watch his back.The helmet was made by airbrush ace Franny Drummond, one of a very few NHL helmet artists who make the designs come to life. He zombified several Flyers for Masons latest helmet, creating perhaps the most frightening mask this side of Jason Voorhees.I just think it looks cool on a helmet, Mason said. Ever since I was a young goaltender, I always thought the scary-looking helmets were the coolest ones.The 41-year-old Drummond littered his desk with pictures of the Flyers he used as a template for his work. Drummond then picked up his Iwata airbrush loaded with orange clear-coat automotive paint � picked because of its durability, not its $400 a gallon price tag � and held it a pinch away from his sanded white helmet and went to work with a surgeons precession.Its not the most exciting thing, Drummond said, but when its finished it gets exciting. You have to wait for it to all come together.Drummond creates the kind of helmet art that had one collector paying $4,000 for a one-of-a-kind Winter Classic-themed piece.He has created masks for NHL goalies including Bostons Tuukka Rask, Brian Boucher and Montreal Canadiens prospect Mike Condon. Condons helmet has state troopers painted on one side in honour of his father and Band of Brothers on the other for his favourite TV show. Canadiens and Princeton logos are both on helmet, as well as Condons family crest.Drummond, a former goalie who still plays in adult hockey leagues, had his art displayed in the NHL equivalent of the Louvre when Boucher and Michael Leighton both wore his helmets in the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs.He has built a business by airbrushing just about any type of object, from a bus for a radio host to motorcycles, welders masks and walls. He worked for a time on the show Extreme Makeover, and recalled frantically putting the finishing touches on bedrooms while host Ty Pennington yelled Move that bus! as the show neared its finale.Drummond studied at Miami International University of Art & Design and custom painted in his PaintZoo shop for 18 years.Hes a Flyers fanatic, and became involved with the organization when he created artwork for a former Flyer for a charity event. He was introduced to Flyers equipment manager Derek Settlemyre and that led to his first helmet for Ray Emery in the 2010 Winter Classic. The mask was decorated as a tribute to former team goalies Ron Hextall, Bernie Parent and Pelle Lindbergh.Boucher liked what he saw and became his next client. Drummonds work soon caught the attention of Bauer, one of the leading hockey equipment manufacturers. Drummond signed with Bauer and became a certified painter for the NHL helmet kings.The helmets range from $400 a mask for youth hockey players up to about $2,000 for the adult versions.Drummond is one of seven artists used by Bauer, most notably Swedish artist Dave Gunnarsson, who paints about 65 per cent of NHL helmets.Whenever theres a third party involved, weve learned the process gets ruined a little bit, said Lee Britt, custom goalie manager at Bauer. Weve learned over time its best for the player and artist figure out what the design is going to be. Sometimes the teams will have a little bit of input.Drummonds masterpieces occasionally go bust. He worked for about 10 days on Ilya Bryzgalovs helmet for the 2012 Winter Classic, only for the Flyers goalie to get benched for the big game. And he sent Star Wars nerds into a frenzy when he painted Yodas lightsaber Flyers orange instead of green.Drummond has been Masons personal artist for two years.Id put his work up against anyone elses in the world, Mason said. Ive seen a lot of goaltenders masks through the years, and seeing his up close and personal, the amount of detail he puts in there, its second to none.Mason was razzed last season when his helmet failed to include any defencemen. Nicklas Grossmann and Luke Schenn made the cut this week and so did some members of the teams equipment staff. He had asked for the new helmet to change his mojo after an 0-4-1 start to the season, and he also needed a darker cage because the brightness of the new state-of-the-art lighting system at Philadelphias Wells Fargo Center has made it tougher to see the puck during a game.The helmet wasnt unveiled until Monday. Mason broke in the helmet at practice and it made its NHL debut Tuesday night against Edmonton. Mason made 35 saves to earn his first win of the season as Philadelphia beat the Oilers 4-1.Mason uses two to three masks per season and keeps a shrine of them, a timeline of his career that is capped by Drummonds glittering pieces.These are more than helmets, Drummond said, theyre keepsakes. Billy Price Jersey . -- Antoine Bibeau bought the Val-dOr Foreurs valuable time at the Memorial Cup with his 51-save shutout Friday. Billy Price Bengals Jersey . Felix Pie had an RBI double earlier in the inning, as Baltimore rallied for three runs to overcome a 3-2 deficit. J.J. Hardy had two hits and Matt Wieters chipped in with an RBI double for the Orioles, who pushed their winning streak to three games. http://www.bengalsgear.com/authentic-mark-walton-jersey.html. This weeks topics include his take on the Kevin Pillar incident, All-Star snubs, the firing of Padres general manager Josh Byrnes and more. Sam Hubbard Jersey . His fellow Finn, 21 years his junior, had just arrived in Anaheim and was hoping to stick with the Ducks. Cincinnati Bengals Jerseys . Orlando is to begin play in the MLS for the 2015 season. Kaka, who currently plays with AC Milan, is expected to be loaned out to his home club Sao Paulo for the upcoming season before joining Orlando for next season.MONTREAL -- The Montreal Impact smell blood. The clubs final group stage match in the CONCACAF Champions League on Wednesday night will come against a New York Red Bulls team that is already eliminated from contention for the quarter-finals. And the Red Bulls will likely sit out most of their best players to save them for a Major League Soccer match on Sunday that has playoff implications. It is a glittering chance for the Impact to finish the group stage with a perfect 4-0-0 record and perhaps earn one of the top four seeds for the quarter-finals. But coach Frank Klopas cautioned this week that the Impact cant expect to walk into Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J., and take the three points without any effort, even if New York opts to use mostly reserve players. The game they played here against us (a 1-0 Montreal win on Sept. 17), they played some guys that are not in their starting group, but theres a lot for all those guys to play for, said Klopas. Its the end of the season, and maybe its an opportunity to impress their coach. They have a lot to prove. Theyre playing for contracts. But regardless of who we play, we have to focus on ourselves. And its another opportunity to get a win on the road. Its not MLS, but it counts. On the downside, the Impact will be without arguably their two best players, as midfielder Ignacio Piatti is nursing tendinitis in a knee and striker Marco Di Vaio has a one-game suspension. Otherwise, they expect to field a strong lineup. The Impact have had a miserable MLS season, sitting last in the Eastern Conference thanks largely to a 0-12-5 record away from home. But they won the Canadian Championship, which put them into the Champions League group stage, where they already have an away win over CD FAS of El Salvador. Montreal clinched a quarter-final spot when the Red Bulls (1-1-1) were held to a draw by CD FAS. And the club has its 3-2 away win in San Salvador on Aug. 20 to build on. Now we can do it again, said midfielder Maxim Tissot. Itll be big for us to get momentum for next year. Weve been playing better. Maybe its because we dont have the stress of trying to make thhe playoffs, but weve been moving the ball better.dddddddddddd The fifth-place Red Bulls have made the MLS playoffs, but a win Sunday in Kansas City can move them into third place and avoid the fourth versus fifth knockout game. Or it could give them home field advantage if they come fourth and have to play the knock-out match against either Kansas City or Columbus. To finish with four wins would give Montreal a chance to play the quarter-final return leg at home. Theoretically, it would also give them a weaker opponent, although all eight teams in the quarter-finals should be tough. Tissot said Montreal hopes to draw a fellow MLS side. The quarter-finals will be played between Feb. 24 and March 5, when MLS teams are still in training camp but clubs from Mexico and Central America will be in mid-season. Id prefer to play a team from MLS, Tissot said. That may not be best for the league, but it may be best for us because well know the team were facing. No matter who we play, we have to be ready. But we want as much on our side as possible. MLS clubs D.C. United and the Portland Timbers are also 3-0-0 headed into their final group stage match. Montreal reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2009. That year, they beat Santos Laguna 2-0 at home before more than 55,000 at Olympic Stadium only to collapse in the second half of a 5-2 defeat in the return leg in Mexico. Now theyve earned another shot. Its big for the club, said Tissot, a Gatineau, Que. native who was playing youth soccer at that time. Well want to get our revenge. We lost in a pretty difficult way. I think (president) Joey Saputo and (general manager) Nick De Santis still remember. (Assistant GM) Matt Jordan played in that game, so he remembers. Well want to win for them especially. The Impact wont be in next years Champions League. That spot has already gone to the Vancouver Whitecaps. A rule change for this year only gives the 2015 CONCACAF spot to the Canadian team that finished highest in MLS standings. Normally, it goes to the club that wins the Canadian Championship trophy, the Voyageurs Cup. 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