A Canadian man with a special connection to Joey Moss
has created a unique tribute to the Edmonton legend.
Curtis Schwartz was commissioned by the Edmonton
Oilers to paint a goalie mask to honour the late locker
room attendant.
“I was very happy with it, very happy,” Schwartz told CTV
News Edmonton.
“It’s to commemorate a man that was an amazing
individual, so you want to make sure it’s the best possible
product that I ever put out.”
The Swift Current, Sask. man is the cousin of Oilers goalie
coach Dustin Schwartz, and he’s also the father of a
young son with Down syndrome.
“Reading the stories about Joey, and how he grew up, and
the things that he did, and his mannerisms, and then you
look at your own son, and you can see a lot of that in him,
and just that inspiration,” he told CTV News Edmonton.
He said his five-year-old son was a big influence for him
when designing the mask.
“To show people with Down syndrome, that it’s a beautiful
thing, and you can do so much with it.”
“When I was painting it, he’d come in and poke me and
bug me while I was doing it, like ‘OK, what is that?’ and I’d
kind of talk to him about it, it was kind of a neat little side
process through the whole thing too.”
Schwartz said that while the mask is suitable for game
wear, he’s been told the team plans to use it as a
commemorative display piece.
“It didn’t really matter to me how it was shown or what they
were doing with it, it was just that honour, and that
responsibility to be able to show him the way I could.”
He has previously painted for Oilers' prospect Stuart
Skinner while he was a member of the Swift Current
Broncos, but this is the first mask he’s ever made for the
NHL. He said he’d love the opportunity to work on future
projects for league members.
“If the opportunity ever came, and someone came to me
for a mask from the NHL, I would jump all over it for
them.”