HEAD TRIPS

When Manny Fernandez wears his custom-designed goalie mask, his head looks as if it’s about to be swallowed.

His face is surrounded by razor-sharp teeth and fangs, and manic eyes peer from atop the helmet, suggesting the beast Fernandez wants to be when he’s in net for the Minnesota Wild.

“It’s pretty mean. It’s part of me when my game’s on and that’s how I feel inside,” Fernandez says. “My teeth are out and ready to go.”

Highly detailed masks like Fernandez’s have become the norm in hockey, and not just in the NHL. Even high school kids--or their parents--are willing to cough up $300 to $800 for a mask that makes a statement.

“It adds a lot of personality,” said Mike Cody, a goaltender for the Westonka High School team in Mound, a Twin Cities suburb.

Painted on Cody’s mask is a white hawk--the school’s mascot--wrapping its wings and claws around the helmet to make it look as if it’s tearing the mask.

“If your helmet’s more original, you’re more into it,” Cody said.

Cody’s and Fernandez’s helmets were painted by Todd Miska, who produces about five masks a week from his studio in Spring Lake Park, another Twin Cities suburb.

Miska paints signs, murals and billboards, but his passion is goalie masks.

“There’s been so much focus on these goalies,” he said. “Everybody loves the image these guys are creating.”

Miska has worked with several NHL goalies who wanted to personalize their masks, including Dallas’ Ed Belfour, the Mighty Ducks’ Steve Shields and the New York Rangers’ Dan Blackburn.

The goalies often bring an idea to Miska and he works with them to pull it off. He and Fernandez spent about five hours discussing the mask.

Sometimes, the goalie’s vision has little or nothing to do with a team’s logo.

Blackburn’s mask, which was made after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, shows the New York City skyline minus the World Trade Center towers, with the Statue of Liberty on each side. On the back is a red, white and blue ribbon and the letters ‘EMS,’ ‘DNY,’ and ‘NYPD.’

University of Minnesota goaltender Adam Hauser wanted a more scholastic theme. His mask features pillars wrapped with ivy, the Minnesota “M” and a gargoyle called the “Guardian of Hopes and Dreams.”

“It’s nothing really crazy. It’s really stately and classical,” Hauser said.

Greg Harrison, an Ontario artist who also paints goalie masks, charges up to $800 for the most elaborate jobs.

“And that’s still really not enough,” said Harrison, who’s credited with creating the cage-combination mask used by goalies today. “Most people don’t realize the amount of time it takes to do these things. You can never really charge what it’s worth.”

Harrison’s NHL customers include Atlanta’s Damian Rhodes, the Kings’ Felix Potvin and Calgary’s Kay Whitmore.

A mask maker and designer for 30 years, Harrison remembers watching hockey when goalies didn’t even wear masks. Now, NHL games on television have made the flamboyant masks a desired item for younger players like Cody.

“It’s a lot of fun, watching the kid’s face when he grabs his mask,” Miska said. “The parents are just lit. They’re smiling and they can’t wait for their kid to hit the ice.”

Fernandez said the masks have become a spectacle at games.

“I think the parents come to see stuff like that, the kids like to see it, too,” Fernandez said. “It takes a little piece of your personality and people get the feeling of how you feel inside.”

Harrison added: “They’re almost like a gladiator. Back in Roman times, guys would decorate their helmets. This has that same kind of feel.”