The Art Of Goaltending: What Is With Ex Viper Darion Hanson's Mask?

Here is an article on former Vernon Vipers goaltender Darion Hanson.

Hanson played one season in Vernon (2016-17) after coming over in a trade with Youngstown. The Youngstown Phantoms traded Hanson to Vernon November 18 2016 (No details on the trade were announced). Hanson is in his first season at Union College. In 21 games last season with the Vipers Hanson recorded a 14-4-2 record with 2 shutouts and a 1.84 GAA

Darion Hanson's Player Profile:

http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=288916

This was in the Daily Gazette:

The art of goaltending: What is with that mask?

Union College freshman goalie Darion Hanson tells the story behind the custom artwork on his facemask

Mike MacAdam @Mike_MacAdam | December 21, 2017

SCHENECTADY — If Allen Iverson is The Answer, the question is ... "Huh?"

The basketball Hall of Famer got that nickname when he was a rookie for the Philadelphia 76ers in 1996-97. He was named NBA rookie of the year on May 2 of 1997, and 17 days later Darion Hanson was born in East Bethel, Minn., just north of Minneapolis.

Almost seven years after Iverson played his last NBA game, the 42-year-old continues to be a sports icon in the city of Philadelphia, where he threw his (maybe) 6-foot frame into games with a ferocity that far outweighed his physical stature.

But that's a Philadelphia story. In Minneapolis, they play hockey, they root for the local university with a Gopher for a mascot and the NFL team represented by a blond, bearded, seafaring Norse warrior. And they play hockey, even during breaks from playing hockey.

So why in the world did the 20-year-old Hanson, Union College's 6-foot-3 freshman goalie, have an image of Iverson custom-painted — at substantial expense — on the back of his facemask just in time for this season?

It says a little bit about goalies in general and a lot, specifically, about Hanson, who has been one of the pleasant surprises on a young team while splitting time with junior Jake Kupsky.

"We bust his chops," junior center Ryan Walker said. "Obviously, goalies are a little weird."

Weird, because they embrace the job of absorbing vulcanized pucks at 100 miles an hour. So your equipment better be just right, and the facemask, a helmet with chinguard and backplate affectionately called the "bucket" by those who wear them, is as important as any other piece of armor.

Goalies have been getting creative with their masks since Gerry Cheevers of the Boston Bruins had stitches printed on his in the late 1960s to represent every spot where a puck blasted him in the face. At the top of Hanson's bucket list was the Iverson image. It's partially a basketball thing — he's a huge NBA fan — but mostly an Iverson thing, and distilled even further to the moment captured on his mask.

If you look closely, it's not just a generic picture of Iverson, but a reproduction of one of his defining moments, against the Los Angeles Lakers during the NBA Finals in 2001, when Iverson was league MVP. In Game 1, with current Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue guarding Iverson nose-to-nose, the Sixers guard nailed a three from the corner, right in front of the Lakers bench, in what would be a 48-point performance in the only game the Sixers would win in the series.

It was an ankle-breaker of a move to get free for the shot, so much so that Lue lost his balance and fell to the floor. Looking for a path back upcourt, Iverson stepped over Lue's carcass and looked down in disdain, instead of sidestepping around him. The moment so captured the Iverson mystique, a quality Hanson admires, that he had to get that picture on his mask.

"He was just a warrior," Hanson said. "He came out every day with a competitive edge, and just willed his way to win. As an under-6-foot guy in the NBA, you've got to respect that. He was always the little guy his whole life, and he wasn't afraid of anybody. And lastly, him stepping over Tyronn Lue there was just the epitome of Allen Iverson and his career."

"And, it's different."

And Hanson's teammates love it. When the subject was brought up with head coach Rick Bennett, he admitted he didn't know anything about the helmet.

Not quite on his radar, perhaps, but it has drawn raves from the players.

"I think it's sick. We love it," defenseman Vas Kolias said. "I don't know if people still know what happened on that play, where he stepped over Tyronn Lue."

"He's a big basketball guy, and I think it's an awesome mask," Walker said. "Everyone seems to love it. It's really cool, and if he likes it, we like it."

The Dutchmen certainly like what Hanson has done on the ice so far.

Kupsky was the obvious heir to the graduated Alex Sakellaropoulos' job, but the Union coaches were eager to see what Hanson, the top goalie in the British Columbia Hockey League last season in juniors, could do.

After an 0-5 start to the season, they gave him a shot against RIT, and Union won 4-1. In 19 games, he has started eight and is 7-1-0 with the best save percentage (.926) of any freshman goalie in the country. "I didn't think it [playing time this season] would be a ton," Hanson said. "I think I've already played more than I thought I would."

Speaking of freshmen, Bennett had imposed a media blackout on much of the team this season, in particular shielding the first-year players from interviews until they got their academic legs under them and had adjusted to life in Division I. He lifted the embargo two weekends ago.

"This team has a different identity," he said, referring to the veteran-laden team of last season.

An emerging part of the new identity is the freshman goalie with the cool mask, which has been lauded on a variety of national sports websites, after Hanson tweeted "New bucket for the year!" and a photo on Sept. 7.

"What a great moment, to capture that, and I thought, to put that on the back of my helmet could kind of reflect that maybe I can have that attitude going out," Hanson said.

"Because he was scared of nobody."