Mackenzie Blackwood has a sweet new Avs mask, honors a legend

The Colorado Avalanche have their goalie for a while and he finally has a mask to match his new team.

The Avs shipped out struggling backstop Alexandar Georgiev to the San Jose Sharks. They swapped out the three-season member of the Avalanche for the also 28-year-old Mackenzie Blackwood. The former top prospect has bounced around a bit but seems to have found a home in Denver, already signing him to a big five-year extension.

Blackwood has played in five games with the Avs since the trade earlier this month, stopping 142 of the 151 shots he’s faced. That’s a 94% save percentage which has led Colorado to a 4-1 record.

But the new goalie has done all of this while still rocking a Sharks mask. A strange quirk of the NHL is that goalies customize their own equipment, which means they’ll match it to the team they play for. So if there’s a midseason move, the player often doesn’t have enough time to get new gear before playing for his new team. That leaves the goalie on a new team with old gear.

Blackwood will finally be switching out the green for burgundy and blue when he next plays for the Avs.

The mask, shared on social media, is “The Rocky Mountains Reckoning” with burgundy peaks on a wintery blue background. There’s also a Howler-looking figure on the side, which is in tribute to Patrick Roy,

Mackenzie Blackwood has an Avalanche mask, and it’s pretty awesome.

Painted by @daveartofficial pic.twitter.com/gl2bgNQuim

— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) December 30, 2024

Roy rocked a similar look when he starred for the Avs, helping the team to two Stanley Cups. So shoutout Blackwood, that’s a solid way to endear himself to Colorado fans. Which maybe shouldn’t be so surprising since he grew up a fan of the Avalanche.

LOL

It’s an homage to Roy, but with an even angrier mountain pic.twitter.com/i3kL1iDjEU

— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) December 30, 2024