Oh Fuck.
It started with a stupid comment from Martin Brodeur, lone star player of the New Jersey Devils, and - for an unknown reason - all goalies' representative to the league when it's time to change something in a sport that in itself is the fastest and requires the most endurance on the face of the earth - and doesn't really require much change.
A year or two ago, he suggested owners should think about using goaltenders' jerseys to sell advertizing space to increase revenue, citing soccer (European and South American 'football') as an example of jerseys being used for ads.
But the idiots who bought the Tampa Bay Lightning (who apparently have 15 pretty good fowards - all on a scoring drought - no worthy goalie and barely one proven defenseman) have taken it a little further this year - by forcing their goalies to paint their masks to advertise a movie they've produced... Saw V.
It's funny that the only form of self-expression allowed in the NHL regarding uniforms is if a player wants to tuck in half his jersey; goalies have it a bit better, as they're allowed to have their masks painted to reflect their personality, usually still meshing with the team's colours. Here's where the funny kicks in: if anyone in the league gets a feeling that it's unethical to use that right to self-expression as an advertiizng tool, the league will turn to its 'changes commitee' and Martin Brodeur, of all people, to see if it's right or wrong. Oh boy.
Mike Smith's mask, at the top, doesn't even fit with his team's colours. How far are we from having Budweiser buy the Toronto Maple Leafs, whose nickname is actually the Buds, just for the advertizing space?
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