CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – IceRays goaltender Hayden Stewart brought out the roots his family has with the state of Texas in the new paint job on his helmet, which he is wearing at the 2012 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament.
“I'm really happy with this mask,” said the owner of Sungod Custom Graphics Robert Howell. “This might be my favorite one for the Rays’ so far! Hayden was really easy to work with and he knew he wanted a mask with an overall Texas theme.”
The right side of the helmet shows the Alamo along with the Texas Flag. "The mask is great because it blends a representation of my team with symbols of Texas and various things from my family,” said goaltender Hayden Stewart. “It something I am proud of and it means a lot to me." Beneath the Alamo and Texas Flag it is the Yellow Rose of Texas.
“Hayden gave me a list of things he would like to see,” added Howell. “So I did up a layout with the IceRays logo prominent on the forehead, then a skeleton gunslinger on the side, the Texas flag, along with the Alamo on the other. Both sides have the Yellow Rose of Texas and a red ray pattern coming from behind the design.”
Behind the helmet is the Texas A&M logo, where his parents attended college.
Howell talked about the other small details in the mask as well. “The mask has other details like some ghosted in ray logos that are hard to see until you have it in the right light. My partner Leigh Faith prepped and based the mask for my airbrushing. After I got the airbrushing done we put a couple heavy gloss coats of automotive clear to really make it shine under the light and protect the artwork from high speed slap shots.”
Last season, Howell created the helmet Anthony Stolarz used on his way to being drafted in the 2nd round, 45th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers.
Fans can check out the creations by Robert Howell by going to wwwsungodcustomgraphics.com, or following them on Facebook and Twitter.
“I hope Hayden loves his mask and as he moves up the hockey ranks will consider using me for his other masks in the future,” Howell concluded. “As always it’s been awesome working with Pat Dunn and the IceRays to create another custom mask.”
The IceRays are on the road this weekend as they take on the Amarillo Bulls. Puck drops at 7:00PM, coverage begins at 6:45PM with the IceRays Pregame Show on 91.1FM KSGR, ksgr.org, ustream.com, and fasthockey.com.
Stay current with the latest team news by visiting www.goicerays.com. In addition stay connected with the IceRays on Facebook (/corpuschristiicerays), Twitter (@goicerays), and the team’s Youtube channel ICERAYS TV (@goicerays)
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