Getting new gear is always an exciting endeavour, but there is something special about a new goalie mask. The three goaltenders who will be between the pipes for Canada’s National Women’s Team at the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship – Ann-Renée Desbiens, Emerance Maschmeyer and Kristen Campbell – are living that excitement, with new looks courtesy of the Janes Design-a-Mask contest.

We caught up with the three netminders to get their reactions to the new masks and how proud they are of the winning designers.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE MASKS?

Emerance Maschmeyer (EM): The masks are very Canadian. The mask with the brick wall, that kind of brings me back to my first-ever painted mask. I had a brick wall on my mask. I think almost every goalie has had that at some point.

Ann-Renée Desbiens (AD): My favorite part about the design is how much Canada pops out. I think that the kids did a great job at really putting Canada front and centre. And I think that's really what a mask should be, representing the team, the country and all that.

Kristen Campbell (KC) – Honestly, just how proud I am to be Canadian. I would say there are a lot of important Canadian things that stick out on those masks. And I just feel like it's really symbolic of Canada.

THE MASKS WERE DESIGNED BY TWO TEENAGERS, ARE YOU IMPRESSED BY THEIR SKILLS?

AD: It's very impressive, because I don't think people realize how complicated designing a helmet can be; there are so many options nowadays and you can go crazy and do so many things. So, the fact that those teenagers that probably didn't design that many masks before were able to put something that represent the essence of Canada and hockey and just the country overall is pretty impressive.

EM: My sister is an artist and I know how hard artists work. Either you have it or you don't. And these two teenagers definitely have it. It's really awesome.

KC: It's hard for me to design masks myself. I always have the picture in my head of how I think I want it to look. And then I always have to get someone to draw it for me because I can't draw at all. So, it's really impressive to see that this is what they've designed themselves.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE DESIGN ELEMENT FROM ANY OF THE MASKS?

KC: I have to go with the designs of the maple leaves, how they have a lot of little leaves there in a row, and how the logos really blend into that whole design.

AD: My favorite element is the moose. I think being from a small town, living in the mountains, we get to see them quite often. It reminds me of home.

EM: The [black and red] mask just has a fierce look to it. It's a super dark mask, but I think that it has an intimidating look, which is really cool.