The coolest hockey mask

Christopher Hathaway, a 13-year-old hockey goalie on the Island, arrived at hockey camp last week in Oak Bluffs with a new mask that left his teammates in awe.

The custom design was created by Sean McHale, a professional goalie mask painter who works with college and professional players and lives on-Island in the summer. Hathaway, who plays for the Martha’s Vineyard Mariners Under-12 travel hockey team, said he had a clear vision for the mask.

The mask features the Edgartown Lighthouse on the top, the Mariners logo on the side of the helmet, an outline of Martha’s Vineyard on the backplate, and the former Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School logo above the Island’s outline. But most notably, Hathaway wanted to have a Louis Vuitton-inspired pattern that replaced the company’s signature “LV” with “MV” for Martha’s Vineyard.

“I was scrolling through the custom masks, and I saw a Louis Vuitton custom one, and I thought we could take the ‘LV’ and make it an ‘MV’ and that’s what I wanted for the mask,” Hathaway said in an interview with The Times. “I asked him to add some sparkles to it to make it shine, and we redid the back of it, so that it faded from purple into gold.” 

Hathaway said he wouldn’t have changed a thing about the finished mask, and when he showed his friends at hockey camp, they loved it. 

His teammates said it was the coolest mask they have ever seen, Hathaway said. 

McHale, who’s spent the last 13 summers on Martha’s Vineyard, maintains a studio in Katama.

“It’s the first time I got to paint Martha’s Vineyard,” McHale said. “Chris had some interesting ideas. He wanted a gold flake. He wanted the mask to sparkle on ice, and he had an idea of using a Louis Vuitton pattern.”

McHale grew up playing goalie himself and began painting his own masks because he couldn’t afford multiple new ones a year. An engineer by trade, McHale said he turned his love for hockey and art into a business about four years ago after his wife encouraged him to chase his dream. 

McHale said a mask usually takes two to three weeks to finish. He said one thing he loves about his job is collaborating with people and families who love hockey. 

“I love it when it comes together at the end. To take some ideas, put them on paper first and turn them into reality,” he said. “It’s not like they just picked it off the shelf. It’s very unique to them.”

McHale said that finding other elements of joy in sports is valuable, especially for young athletes, because it’s a new reason to love the sport. 

“I think things like equipment can add to that,” McHale said. 

Hathaway’s father, Chris Hathaway, who also played goalie throughout his life and is a regular in the local men’s league, said the position offers a rare chance for self-expression through unique equipment, unlike other sports. Chris said he never had a custom goalie mask of his own, and he wanted to give his son a chance to experience it. 

“He took [the reins] of the whole design, and all I did was make the emails,” said Chris in an interview with The Times. “It came out absolutely amazing, way more than I ever expected.”

The younger Hathaway said he fell in love with the goalie position after volunteering to play when his team needed one. Attending camps regularly throughout the summer, Hathaway said the new mask adds to the fun, and he wouldn’t have changed a thing about the final product. 

“He made it perfect, just how I wanted it,” Hathaway said.