The 26-year-old revealed the mask during the NHL Player Media Tour in Nevada.
We finally have the story of how Ilya Samsonov's new mask came to be.
The 26-year-old couldn't wipe the smile off his face when speaking to the media following the first day of Maple Leafs training camp. And how could he?
Samsonov was joyful when discussing his teammates, his "too short" summer (that he laughed about), and his new goalie mask which garnered plenty of attention when it was revealed last week.
"I was talk with Dave Art (David Gunnarsson) who's doing mask for us, mostly guys in NHL and I said, 'Oh we'll do some maybe a little bit old school,' *Laughs*" Samsonov told the media. "He (Dave Art) said, 'Yeah, let's go.' And we think about and he sended me this project and said, 'Let's go, we need to do this.'"
When the 26-year-old debuted the mask, many people around the hockey world thought it was a Curtis Joseph-inspired mask. And while it was partly that, there was another Toronto goaltender who Samsonov thought of when the vision came to life.
"I like it. I see a lot of, personally, mask for Vesa Toskala, he's play here in Toronto," the 26-year-old told reporters on Wednesday.
"I see Cujo (Curtis Joseph). I was talk with Cujo couple days ago. He said it's unbelievable mask. I'm so excited. I have respect for him, he's unbelievable goalie, he's huge for Toronto."
When looking at Samsonov's new mask, you can definitely see hints of Joseph and Toskala. The biggest telling point is obviously the teeth around the actual mask, which both netminders had when they played for Toronto.
Toskala's had a more grim reaper look to it while Joseph's had the look of a dog on it. Samsonov's mask — while it does have some similar elements to the other two — has gone in its own direction.
And it looks stunning, to say the least.
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