Michal Neuvirth is doing his best to win over the fans of the Philadelphia Flyers before even playing one game in goal for the team.
Signed to a two-year, $3.25 million contract on July 1, Neuvirth elected to embrace the fictional history of the City of Brotherly Love by depicting scenes from the "Rocky" movies on his new goaltender's mask. Sylvester Stallone's mug liberally adorns the orange and black mask as the battered boxer Rocky Balboa has long been a fan favorite in Philadelphia.
Neuvirth will be in quite the battle if he expects to supplant starter Steve Mason, who posted an 18-18-11 mark with a 2.25 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in 51 games last season. Mason played well in goal for the Flyers (33-31-18), who finished in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division and missed the playoffs.
The 27-year-old Neuvirth split his time with the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders over the last two campaigns and takes a 66-63-17 career mark with seven shutouts and a 2.73 goals-against average into Philadelphia.
(h/t Philadelphia Flyers)
.@eileentweets knows what’s up. Check out Michal Neuvirth’s new mask for 2015-16... pic.twitter.com/FOX1Bz54Vk
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) August 31, 2015
