Mason switches headgear

Gear sightings wise, Simon Mason has recently switched over from the helmet/cage combo he has been wearing for quite some time, back to a mask design. Mason has worn a mask style headgear previously, as with Olympic/international action during his time with England/GB back in the day, but it is of interest that he has made the switch, for the potential upgrade in protection. The mask itself is a Wall (poorly illustrated below, but you can just about make up the lettering. Interestingly, Wall is a popular ice hockey company for ice hockey masks based in Finland so how he came about to finding one such design is out there. It metaphorically makes sense given how much of a 'wall' he is for Guildford anyway!

http://www.wallmask.fi/en/

Pereira in Bauer mask?

Not exactly related to the U21's competition on its own, but it also looks like Pereira is wearing a Bauer nme7 ice hockey mask. A lot like other Canadian goalkeepers before him, he's keeping up the tradition of wearing an ice hockey specific mask to protect against the highest and most powerful level of shots in the competitive game. Antoni Kindler wears an ice hockey mask, as did Mike Mahood before him (can't remember the name of the 'keeper who took over after Mahood retired right now for the life of me!). With them more readily available in Canada (obviously, ice hockey being the national sport!), it's no wonder they're a popular choice. Dave Carter wears an Obo mask which is obviously a Rey derivative, so on technical points still counts as an ice hockey mask! And they do provide great levels of protection, which is important with the speed of shots with the new artificial sticks and changes in game evolution; the only complaints being their weight with layered kevlar and giving you a hot head (not anger wise!) as ventilation isn't always great.

game photo

And a comparison with pictures of the unpainted mask, with the vent holes, cage design and curvature the same:

http://www.hockeyworldblog.com/2011/05/05/bauer-nme-7-nc-goalie-mask-review/