While the New York Rangers are looking to lock up goaltender Henrik Lundqvist with a long-term deal, the Swedish native and the team haven't agreed to anything just yet. The contract situation didn't stop Lundqvist, 30, from revealing his new goalie mask for this upcoming season and his hoping talks continue with the Rangers this week.
Lundqvist's mask doesn't change too much from year-to-year, but his newest one is mostly blue and has the Statue of Liberty decked out on both sides of it and also has razors on the front of it. Lundqvist's crown logo with his number '30' etched in the middle also appears near the chin.
Lundqvist's mask designer and artist, Dave Gunnarsson, took to Facebook to share what goes into the design.
"Me and Henrik always brainstorm a lot for every new artwork, it's a very exciting and creative process," Gunnarsson said on his Facebook page, according to CBS Sports. "I love to always come up with new ideas. This design crystallized and came to us during summer and I started to paint."
Continued Gunnarsson: "It's a classic 2 in 1 design. Old school and crisp looking on a distance, and when you come closer a new dimension opens up and the design transforms in front of your eyes."
Lundqvist's love for New York is symbolized in his helmet, and the Rangers are actively working on trying to get him signed past the 2013-14 season, when his deal runs out. Lundqvist told ESPN last Friday that he's very hopeful something will be worked out between the two sides to keep the netminder in between the pipes in a Rangers jersey for the rest of his career.
"We're working on it right now," Lundqvist said Friday during an interview with ESPN.com. "If we don't have it done when the season starts, I think we'll have a discussion how to move forward, if we wait or not. Because the most important thing here is that I'm focused on playing and nothing else."
Lundqvist won the Vezina Award handed out to the NHL's best goalie for his spectacular play in the 2011-12 season. That year, Lundqvist posted a 39-18-5 record through 62 games with a stingy 1.97 goals-against average and .926 save percentage while being a rock in net and leading the Rangers to an Atlantic Division title. New York went all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals and was just two games shy of the teams' first Stanley Cup appearance since 1994 before falling to the New Jersey Devils in six games.
Last season, Lundqvist posted a 24-16-3 record in 43 games during the 48-game lockout-shortened season, with a 2.05 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage as the Rangers finished sixth in the Eastern Conference and fell to the Boston Bruins in five games in the second round of the playoffs.
The Rangers open up training camp Wednesday and then begin the preseason with a game against the Devils in New Jersey on Sept. 16. The regular-season kicks off for the Rangers Oct. 3 with a road game against the Phoenix Coyotes.
While contract talks and a new mask are all off-the-ice activities for Lundqvist, the goalie is just excited for hockey to almost be back so he can put everything behind him and focus on leading the Rangers to a successful season.
"I'm just really excited right now, the camp is around the corner, it's a really good feeling," Lundqvist told ESPN. "I don't want any distractions, I just want to go out and play as well as possible. That's why you have an agent, they're talking, we're hopeful of figuring something out. There's no pressure to get it done this summer, because we do have another year on the contract. But yeah, of course it would be nice to have it done."
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