Penguins' prospect honors friend with cartoon mask
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby (87) celebrates with teammates David Perron (39), Chris Kunitz (14), Bryan Rust (36) and Evgeni Malkin after scoring against the Montreal Canadiens in overtime of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015, in Montreal. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)
Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Tristan Jarry honored the nickname given to him by a fallen former teammate by having it brought to life on his new goaltender's mask.
Dubbed "Tom and Jarry" by ex-teammate Kristian Pelss, the 20-year-old Jarry made certain to have the legendary cartoon cat and mouse playing pond hockey on a mask painted by artist Jason Bartziokas.
"'Jars' wanted to keep his a Tom and Jarry theme but have them playing outside," Bartziokas wrote in an email to InGoal. "When I mentioned the mask I was about to work on, my nephew suggested I watch 'The Penguins of Madagascar'. I did and thought the characters would make perfect reinforcements for Tom and Jerry's pick-up game."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}While the cartoon cat and mouse are wearing home-and-away Pittsburgh jerseys, the Penguins of Madagascar are in their more natural black-and-white attire. Jarry will have the mask in tow in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton when he serves as the backup to Matt Murray, who was named the American Hockey League Goaltender of the Year Award last season.
A second-round pick of the 2013 draft, Jarry posted a 44-14-3 mark with a 2.24 goals-against average with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League in 2013-14. The British Columbia native was a teammate of Pelss before the latter passed away in his native Latvia in 2013.
(h/t InGoal Magazine)