Chad Johnson’s Flames mask is here, and it’s awesome

A new team calls for a new goalie mask. Here’s Chad Johnson’s.

If any team won in the goaltending position this offseason, it was the Calgary Flames. They parted ways with everyone who suited up for them previously, which made sense; no longer content to go with league-worst goaltending is a very good thing to strive for.

Strive and accomplish are two different things, though. And while the latter hasn’t happened yet, it looks like it’s well on its way thanks to the drive of the former. The Flames picked up former Blues goalie Brian Elliott to be their starter, and former Sabres goalie Chad Johnson to be the backup.

It’s a good fit, because Elliott has never really proven himself a full-time starter, maxing out at 55 games for the Ottawa Senators back in 2009-10 (and, more recently, 46 games for the Blues in 2014-15). Johnson, meanwhile, played 45 games for a not-great Buffalo Sabres team just this past season – and he put up a .920 save percentage while doing it.

Perfect backup material, quite frankly.

It’s also nice that he’s from Calgary, and he’s now got an extremely awesome new helmet to match his new team.

The Flames will be Johnson’s sixth NHL team in his career. Let’s take a stroll through the masks he’s worn for the others.

Just last season, it was the Buffalo Sabres.

Before them, he was with the New York Islanders.

The Boston Bruins…

… And the Phoenix Coyotes.

His NHL debut? The New York Rangers.

Johnson’s masks have a pretty clear theme going: let his team do the talking. His team’s logo tends to dominate his masks (Coyotes aside, where they ended up with lettering), and the Flames are no exception.

Hell, his new mask might even have more logos on it than all of his previous ones combined. Throw that in with the element of fire giving him a lot to play with, and his newest mask is definitely up there in badassery, especially with the streaks of fire going with the flow the big logos set out for them.

It’ll be great to see it, whether on the bench or on the ice – not just because it looks good, but because it probably carries the promise of stopping way more pucks, too.