This has been Petr Mrazek’s first year as a professional after playing three seasons in the OHL. He started off the season with the Toledo Walleye in the ECHL and then moved to the AHL to play for the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Detroit Red Wings minor league affiliate. On Thursday night, the Red Wings 5th round pick from 2010, will make his first career NHL start. With his debut tonight, we will get to see his fantastic Superman Peter Griffin mask in action. In case you didn’t catch the reference the first time, Peter Griffin is on there because Mrazek plays for the “Griffins” when he is in the AHL. This is easily one of the more creative masks that I have ever seen, especially in Detroit where fans are used to seeing Chris Osgood and Dominik Hasek, who didn’t even wear normal goalie masks.
It’s unclear what the reasoning behind giving Mrazek the start over Jimmy Howard is, but Red Wings Head Coach Mike Babcock has confidence in him.
Mrazek’s stats show you that he has played well at every level, and he was also named the best goalie of the World Junior Under 20 Championships in 2011. It appears that the Red Wings have managed to find themselves another late round gem, who also happens to have one of the best goalie masks in the NHL.
[Thescore.com] [daveart.com]
