John Gibson’s classic Donkey Kong-inspired mask is awesome

Anaheim Ducks netminder John Gibson is a fan of classic video games, and the rookie netminder put the original Donkey Kong game on display on his brand new mask.

Anaheim Ducks goaltender

John Gibson has a love for classic video games, and while other netminders put art from bands, movies or music on their helmets, Gibson has made his lid a place to show off his love for old school video games. On his masks, Gibson has already paid tribute to the likes of Pac-Man, Duck Hunter and Space Invaders, but he had an idea for a new mask. This time, he’s paying tribute to the original Donkey Kong, which gamers may recall was also one of the very first appearances of Super Mario, the iconic Nintendo character and mascot. Check it out:

The mask, which was created by DaveArt’s David Gunnarsson, has been designed to show off some of the art from the original Donkey Kong game. It has the same slanted beams that Mario was required to climb up in order to rescue the princess, the same barrels rolling down those beams and it even features a few exploding barrels along the way. “His goal is to get that Stanley Cup, you can find it behind him, of course in a pixelated style,”

Gunnarsson wrote about the mask. “Donkey Duck is throwing barrels just like in the classic game. He throws at the ones trying to grab the Cup!” It’s not the classic Donkey Kong appearing up top, however. Instead, it’s the updated, unpixelated, 3D version, the one which appeared in cartoons and later games such as Donkey Kong Country. Gunnarsson did keep with the pixelated, classic feel in the backdrop, though. The barrels and, most importantly, the Stanley Cup are still in pixelated form.