Even though hockey has been around for AGES, and professional hockey for more than a century, it wasn't until relatively recently that players began wearing protective gear. Saving Face looks at one specific piece of gear, the goalie mask — which wasn't worn in an NHL game until 1959, and wasn't ubiquitous among goalies until more than a decade later — and examines the development and evolution of the mask from an uncomfortable, emasculating thing worn only to protect healing facial injuries to a nearly indestructible and essential piece of equipment, that also serves as the canvas for the best art in sports. This coffee-table book is fascinating and provides plenty of high color images to illustrate the designs that are discussed. For a big hockey fan, or for someone new to the sport, this is an excellent book.
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