Hockey moms rule, says local mask artist

recorder ^ | October 28, 2008 | DEANNA CLARK

[Berlin_Freeper]

It may make a mess of her now famous up-do, but this is one hockey mask Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin will want to don.

Brockville’s own Frank Cipra, who has designed more than 3,000 hockey masks for some of the NHL’s top goaltenders over his career, is the man behind the colourful “hockey mom” mask being presented to Palin at a rally this week.

“I would have loved to hand it to her in person,” Cipra explained last week at his Cipra Designs office on Brockville’s waterfront while hatching the plan to get the mask to Palin. He ended up sending it to a colleague in the U.S., who had connections with Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, a friend of Palin’s.

The remarkable mask, which has a smiling Palin complete with her suddenly-famous rimless glasses on one side and a comical pit bull on the other, is a direct result of the comments made by the Alaska governor at her nomination acceptance speech in late August.

Palin described herself as “your average hockey mom,” a mother who got her political start at PTA meetings.

“I love those hockey moms. You know, they say, what is the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?” Palin asked.

“Lipstick,” was Palin’s punch line.

Cipra’s mask shows a comical pit bull with a broken hockey stick in its mouth. The dog’s collar is adorned with lipstick studs. The mask also features the red, white and blue of the American flag, an Alaskan mountain range, including the Northern Star, and the state’s flag. On the chin is the McCain-Palin ticket.

“I hope that she likes it,” said Cipra, who spent about 40 hours designing the one-of-a-kind piece.

[The G Man]

[mikrofon]

“The Puck Stops HERE.”