FLYERS/NHL Headlines 1. Bucks County Courier-Times The man behind the masks 2. Columbus Dispatch Recent player deaths put NHL enforcers on notice

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1 Philadelphia Flyers Daily Clips September 4, 2011 FLYERS/NHL Headlines 1. Bucks County Courier-Times The man behind the masks 2. Columbus Dispatch Recent player deaths put NHL enforcers on notice FLYERS/NHL Articles 1. Bucks County Courier-Times The man behind the masks Christian Menno _In the world of professional team sports, individuality is often discouraged. Players are told to care about the symbol on the front of the jersey and not the name on the back. But there is one position in the four major sports that not only allows for personal expression, it has spawned an entire industry around it. The ice hockey goaltender s mask has become a canvas for creativity ranging from old-style linear paint jobs to the more modern and detailed mini-murals. Middletown s Franny Drummond is the artist that more and more goaltenders including Ilya Bryzgalov, the Flyers newest addition between the pipes are turning to for a uniquely airbrushed face protector. Drummond, who runs Drummond Custom Airbrush Inc., painted one of Bryzgalov s new masks with a design that focuses on Philadelphia s rich history. It features Betsy Ross, Benjamin Franklin, the iconic steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the opening words of the U.S. Constitution and, of course, the Liberty Bell. His nickname Bryz is scrawled across the chin portion and his children s names are featured on the back. Drummond also took it upon himself to look up the actual Russian translation of Bryzgalov and added that in as well. He was pretty surprised to see that, Drummond added. He really got a kick out of it. Drummond traveled to the Flyers practice facility last week to deliver the mask to Bryzgalov, who, in spite of his Russian heritage, is a self-proclaimed U.S. history buff. I almost feel like I m part of the team when I go down there, he said Wednesday. They treat me with great respect. As for the man behind the mask, Drummond said he will fit perfectly with this town.

2 Philadelphia fans are hard-working, hard-nosed people that want to get dirty and want to win, he said. And that s what Bryz is. I found out that he hates to lose and hates to get scored on in practice. I love that. According to Drummond, some goalies make it a point to be very involved in the process, while others just provide a basic idea and let the artist do the rest. Former Flyers netminder Brian Boucher was constantly texting Drummond with input on his mask all through the sketching stage last year, he said. But for the Bryzgalov job, he was given only two words for direction: Philly history. The rest was up to him. Some initial drawings featured two well-known South Philly cheese steak joints and the famous L-O-V-E sculpture at the center of Love Park. But Drummond felt the final design should be less cluttered and more geared toward the Colonial era. Even if the player loves a mask, Drummond knows he still has to win over the fans as well, and they can be very judgmental about mask designs. We read the stuff people say online and we know that if you mess up, Philly fans will let you know, he said. I want to be known as a guy that knows about our hockey history and loves the team and the city. While he made his bones in the business airbrushing motorcycle gas tanks and hot rods, Drummond has said he s made enough connections with professional hockey players and organizations in the last year to gear his work more toward mask design. An avid hockey player and diehard Flyers fan, Drummond said his success has been a whirlwind and that he still feels swept away. I mean I m in the locker room, surrounded by these players I watch every night and I just think about how many people would die to have this opportunity, he said. And I m not even the type of person who gets star struck. I just never let myself forget how lucky I ve been and to never stop working. Growing up, Drummond was a goalie himself and said he knows just how expensive hockey equipment can be. He still does paint jobs for high school and college level athletes at a reasonable cost. They can come in and guide me through the process, he said. I treat them the same as I do an NHL player. Most of them come in with little cutout pictures they printed out and paste them directly to a (blank) helmet to show me their vision. Then I start sketching. In case people doubt Drummond s passion for his job and the sport of hockey, they need only to meet his nearly 1-year-old son, Leighton.

3 Drummond and his wife had agreed that if the Flyers reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 2010 they would name their son after Flyers goalie and friend Michael Leighton. He actually gave me a signed stick after he found out, Drummond said of Leighton, for whom he designed a mask for the outdoor Winter Classic game in He loves it and thinks it s a great honor. Drummond said he is working on a special Phillies-themed mask for Bryzgalov to be used at this year s Winter Classic, which will likely be held at Citizens Bank Park. 2. Columbus Dispatch Recent player deaths put NHL enforcers on notice Aaron Portzline NHL enforcers are paid to be fearless. With bare fists, they fight opponents to alter the momentum of a game, stand up for a teammate or avenge a dirty hit. But as another season draws near, the league s fraternity of fighters has been brought to its knees this offseason, staggered by the death of three tough guys in three months. After this last one, my wife (Mandy) and I just looked at each other like, What the hell is going on here?? said Philadelphia Flyers enforcer Jody Shelley, who spent nearly six seasons with the Blue Jackets. As Blue Jackets winger Jared Boll put it: It s definitely been scary. On Wednesday, the body of Wade Belak, 35, was found in his Toronto apartment. The married father of two young girls, who was set to join the Nashville Predators TV broadcasts for this season after ending his 12-year NHL playing career, committed suicide. According to reports, he had been fighting depression the past few years. Less than three weeks earlier, Rick Rypien, set to play for the Winnipeg Jets this season, also committed suicide after fighting depression. In May, New York Rangers fighter Derek Boogaard died from an accidental drug overdose. It s definitely alarming, Blue Jackets winger Derek Dorsett said. The first one, Boogaard, was shocking. When Ryp died, I just felt awful. And now a third guy is gone, and it s terrible. Can you draw the line from all three of these guys to them being fighters? I don t know that. I don t think anybody can say that right now. But is it just a coincidence? I don t think we can say that, either. The NHL and the players association, in a rare joint statement issued after Belak s death, vowed to investigate each of the deaths and make necessary changes to better protect players during and after their playing careers. While the circumstances of each case are unique, the statement read, these tragic events cannot be ignored.

4 As of right now, though, nobody is quite sure where to turn first. A sense of fear came over me, former NHL enforcer Todd Fedoruk told The New York Times. I did what these guys did for as long as they did, or longer. And you get the sense: Is this going to happen to me, too? No easy job The job of an enforcer is unlike that of any other job in sports. Boxing outlawed bareknuckle fighting in the 1860s, and many wonder if the NHL won t take similar steps within the next generation. The blows that hockey fighters absorb can often pale next to the demons that grow within their heads. The trio of deaths this summer has been alarming, but there is a long list of NHL fighters who have had tumultuous lives off the ice and especially after their careers have ended. Many have died untimely deaths. I don t think people understand the stress we re under, Dorsett said. People know you make a lot of money and we drive nice cars, but you don t know if you re going to make the team the next year, or if you re going to get signed after your contract is up. You take a chance with your career every time you step on to the ice, and, day to day, that can wear on you. There is growing science to suggest that repeated blows to the head even those that aren t singularly strong enough to cause concussions can eventually lead to brain damage, and the links between depression and brain trauma are becoming impossible to ignore. Because of the pain involved with fighting displaced knuckles, broken noses, bruised or fracture cheekbones, etc. pain medications become part of a daily routine for some enforcers. It can be hard to put down the need for pain relief, much less get a prescription, when a player s career has ended. Opening up Boll was putting on his gear for a voluntary practice at Chiller North on Thursday when Shelley approached him with a message. He said, Jared, if you re ever feeling confused or depressed or sad or anything, please call me,? Boll said. And I know he was serious. I ve gotten phone calls from everybody close to me, just wanting to make sure I m OK. One of those calls was from his parents. Pete and Cathy Boll live outside Chicago but come to Columbus several times a year to visit.they ve seen lots of fights. Since he joined the NHL in 2007, Boll has been in 95 fights, the most in the NHL.

5 I wish Jared wouldn t fight as much as he does, Pete said. His mom can t stand it. She turns her head. But I m torn. I m really torn. I grew up in Detroit, and I ve played hockey my whole life. I like old-school hockey, and I know fighting has its place in our sport. There s that, and the fact that Jared loves doing it. That s what got him to the NHL, and hockey is the love of his life. Shelley wants to encourage players to seek help before they get in a tunnel that s too deep and dark. We have to be more accessible as people, not just players on the ice, Shelley said. There s a lot of senseless dialogue in the run of a day in the locker room. We have to do better for each other. I had a teammate in the last couple of seasons say to me: I m not doing very good. I m not happy coming to the rink. I don t want to play. I just want to sleep. I tried to help him. He seems to be doing good. Shelley s hope is that the deaths of Boogaard, Rypien and Belak will not be in vain, that a summer of pain will lead to a season of dialogue that will break down barriers. I ve been lucky. My wife worries, but I don t worry, Shelley said. I love being part of the team, being a player, being in the game. I don t anguish. But this has definitely opened up conversation. (Depression) is a bigger problem than we know, and I hope guys not just hockey players, but people who read this understand that they can get help. We ve had three people in one sport die this summer. We have a platform. We have to be able to help each other. FLYERS