He’s only played in three games so far this season, but new Winnipeg Jets goalie Stuart Skinner is quickly becoming a fan favourite amongst Winnipeggers. He has helped the Jets start the season 3-0-1, including a 32-save performance on Wednesday in a 3-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche. While he is out there stopping pucks, he is also looking stylish in a collection of new Winnipeg Jets-themed masks, and the man behind those designs is originally from Manitoba. Dave Fried is the co-owner of Friedesigns, which is located in the Calgary area, and has designed all three of Skinner’s current masks. Fried had previously designed masks for goalies in the Jets’ system, so when Skinner joined Winnipeg, the head equipment manager for the Jets asked Fried if he would be interested in designing masks for him as well. “I said, ‘Yeah, of course.’ I was super stoked to get the call,” said Fried. This was an extra special assignment for Fried, as he is originally from Swan River, Man., and grew up a Jets fan, so seeing his work hitting the ice in Winnipeg means the world to him. “It’s huge. (The Jets) have a really loyal fan base there and it spreads out all through Manitoba and elsewhere too. So yeah, it’s pretty special for sure.” Fried was a goalie by trade and started painting his own masks after high school as he said he couldn’t afford to pay someone else to do it. The work morphed into painting for some of his friends to the point where he was able to establish a bit of a portfolio and then the rest was history. He has been painting masks for about 15 years, with his artwork being featured around the NHL for about the last 10 years. “It took a good over five years to kind of build my portfolio and hit a lucky break. I painted for Adin Hill in the WHL, and he got drafted to the NHL, and he was my first guy that got the mask in the NHL with the Arizona Coyotes.” Fried said the Jets have asked him to design four masks for Skinner this season, three of which have already been showcased. The most recent is a mask for the team’s Heritage jersey. Fried said he took inspirations from the 1980s and ’90s, finally settling on a big, bold Jets logo on the top of the helmet and then jets flying around the side set to the red, blue and white backdrop. “I just kind of looked back on some kind of ’80s style, you know, Bob Essensa has a little bit of a nod there. I actually looked at a bunch of other ones that were done in that era and then kind of designed it from there and he was super happy.” As for the other two masks, Fried said Skinner wanted some sort of aviation theme for the first one, so he had old jets on one side and newer jets on the other with a Warhawk design painted around the cage. For Skinner’s white mask, Fried said he wanted to showcase the Winnipeg cold along with some of the city’s landmarks like the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and the Esplanade Riel. It also features kids playing pond hockey and a polar bear skating on the ice. “I proposed the polar bear just because there’s polar bears in northern Manitoba. So yeah, it was all things to try to make sure the fans are represented,” he said. Fried noted outside of exchanging a few ideas back and forth, Skinner left most of the design work in his hands, giving him artistic control on all fronts. He said Skinner was one of the easiest guys to work with and throughout this experience called him a “really solid guy.” “He said multiple times, ‘Thanks for the hard work and your expertise and input,’ and all that kind of stuff. He’s been a dream to work with to be honest.” As for what his favourite mask to design was, Fried said it has to be the Heritage mask, as it brings back memories of Jets 1.0 when he was a kid. “My first game was in ’96 in the old barn. My brother took me to a game. It was actually the last playoff series when they were playing Detroit and they ended up losing that and then they moved to Phoenix from there,” he said. “I’ve been a fan of the Jets ever since I was a kid. So that mask is pretty special.” There is still one more mask that Fried is working on for Skinner, which will be used for the yet to be released Hometown Remix jerseys. While he can’t say too much about the design just yet, Fried said it will have a fun Manitoba vibe. “I think the fans will dig this one.”
