The Chicago Blackhawks are going through a lot of changes. They’ve had major changes in their front office and just fired Jeremy Colliton yesterday. Now, aesthetically, Marc-André Fleury is going through a change of his own. On Sunday morning, Fleury hit the ice for morning skate in a brand-new mask, with a much better Blackhawks-inspired design than his original mask.
https://twitter.com/NHLBlackhawks/status/1457371213865570305?s=20
Working with Ojibwe artist Patrick Hunter, Fleury’s new look is in honor of Native American Heritage month and features indigenous imagery that is inclusive to more than just the local tribes to the Chicago and Great Lakes area.
You’ll maybe remember prior to this season starting, Fleury’s mask design came under scrutiny when the artist he has worked with for his entire career, Stephane Bergeron, said that three different designs were nixed because of “racial tensions” and that his creativity was limited because of it.
Marc-André Fleury’s Mask Designer Had Three Designs Denied By The Blackhawks Over “Racial Tensions”https://t.co/3auRhMHG8d
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) September 17, 2021
Well, it turns out when you actually get creative and use the proper imagery, you can have a beautiful mask. Here’s more on Fleury’s new design, the meaning behind the imagery, and the family and community connections represented.
Family. Heritage. Tradition. pic.twitter.com/a8cSnms7RM
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 7, 2021
We’ll have to wait to see the new mask in proper action as Fleury is set to be the backup to Kevin Lankinen tonight as the Blackhawks take on the Nashville Predators at home.