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Connor Hellebuyck gets a fishing Dustin Byfuglien painted on new mask

kyle cantlon
Writer
(Twitter/Winnipeg Jets)
(Twitter/Winnipeg Jets)

Dustin Byfuglien and his love of fishing has earned a spot on his star goaltender’s newest mask.

Connor Hellebuyck unveiled his fresh helmet design for the 2018-19 season, which features a toothless, grinning Big Buff with a rod in hand, angling himself a big ol’ pike, or something.

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It’s no small picture of Byfuglien plastered on the left ear piece of the helmet, either, no no no. It takes up a solid chunk of real estate and is essentially the focal point of the design. And it’s glorious.

Hellebuyck was asked Friday to explain the inspiration behind the art.

“This summer I got a new boat — Buff’s old boat — so I did a lot more fishing than in past summers,” he told reporters. “Buff actually turned me on to ice fishing last year and I absolutely loved it, so my theme was a lot more fish in this one and then we had the idea of doing something old school on the sides. And so instead of just having like a guy ice fishing we’ll just throw Buff ice fishing on there, and it turned out great.”

Opposing forwards will now have to deal with two Byfugliens whenever they crash the Jets’ crease. One just looks a lot friendlier than the other.

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