He’s an iconic figure in and around the NHL, inspiring many players. Gretzky? Lemieux? No, we’re talking about Eddie. Chris Mason, now backup goalie for the Nashville Predators, has unveiled his mask for the new season. And much like his mask for last season, it features the eternally pissed off mascot of Iron Maiden, Eddie. Like last year’s, when he played for the Winnipeg Jets, the mask was custom-designed by Steve Nash of  Eyecandyair, and it’s inspired by 1984′s Powerslave. Whereas last year’s featured Eddie as the pilot from the “Aces High” artwork, this year’s looks more like the pharaoh that was on the album cover itself.

And Mason isn’t the only puck stopper with Eddie The Head on his head. Roman Turek also featured a much more cartoonish-looking Eddie on his mask a decade ago. While that Eddie looked a bit like the one from Number of the Beast (y’know, back when he had hair), he somehow has Gene Simmons’ tongue. No offense to whoever the artist was for that one, but we’ll take Steve Nash’s design any day.

[InGoal Mag via Blabbermouth]