Did Bill Belichick get love on both Winter Classic goalie masks?

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Part of the Winter Classic experience the players love is the orgy of new gear they receive.

There are bags of swag in both locker rooms. There are the sweet new jerseys. And for Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask and Montreal Canadiens goalie Mike Condon, there was the chance to create new masks for the Jan. 1 outdoor game.

They both decided to honor their hosts at Gillette Stadium: The New England Patriots.

Condon, a native of Needham, Mass., put quarterback Tom Brady, four Super Bowl trophies and coach Bill Belichick, captured at his surliest in a hooded sweatshirt.

Said mask artist Dave Gunnarsson: 

On the backplate Mike had a cool idea. He wanted it to be a little tribute to the New England Patriots, with Tom Brady and coah Bill Belichick. To continue with the old school theme of the mask I created the paintings as old school drawings with a sketch pen.

Condon said he didn’t get a chance to meet the coach, despite the fact that he took a spin on the Winter Classic ice earlier on Thursday. “No, no interaction with those guys today. Just keeping it strictly Montreal stuff today,” he said.

Rask’s mask, designed by Sylvie Marsolais, is also Patriots-centric. But is it Belichick-centric?

The mask features several Patriots players, including Rob Gronkowski, Steven Gostkowski and Brady.

“Yeah, it came out nice,” said Tuukka Rask.

“Our trainer, Matt Falconer, designed it. He just had to approve it by me and a couple Patriots players who are in it. But, yeah, we wanted to pay tribute to their success and some of their players and make the biggest part of the mask about the Pats, I guess, with the Bruins colors. So I’m pretty happy with the result, and it’s been a secret for months now, and now you guys see it.”

Rask doesn’t normally like to change his mask.

“No, no, it’s a special event so we wanted to do something special, kind of a souvenir or memory you can keep for yourself after,” he said. “The reason I don’t change them often is just because I like the mask I have. That’s about it. But definitely in an occasion like this, you want something special.”

The question about the mask lingers, however: Is that supposed to be Bill Belichick as Pat Patriot on Rask’s mask, considering he doesn’t appear anywhere else on it? Or is the coach relegated to only getting love from the visiting team?

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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