By Matt Schickling
Wire Staff Writer
Over the last week, things have settled down at Franny Drummond’s PaintZoo studios, located just behind his home in Langhorne.
On Sept. 14, PaintZoo hosted the unveiling of Flyers goalie Steve Mason’s mask for the upcoming season with a party for a few hundred people, including Mason and former Flyers enforcer Riley Cote.
Drummond designed and painted the mask, as he did last year, and for several of Mason’s predecessors between the pipes.
“We started with Ray Emery back in 2010,” Drummond said. “From that point on, we did, basically, all of the Flyers.”
That list includes Brian Boucher, Michael Leighton, Johan Backlund, Sergei Bobrovsky and Ilya Bryzgalov. Drummond even painted masks for Flyers veterans Neil Little and Bernie Parent for practice before the 2012 Winter Classic Game against the New York Rangers.
In the 2013–14 season, Mason’s mask drew a lot of attention from fans. Drummond designed it to be a zombie apocalypse set during the signing of the Declaration of Independence, featuring zombie versions of Benjamin Franklin, Betsy Ross and George Washington.
Later that season, Mason wore Drummond’s second design, which included zombified images of teammates Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek.
Apparently, Mason really likes zombies. He’s a fan of the AMC TV series “The Walking Dead,” and generally horror-themed movies and designs, Drummond said.
When the time came to design the mask for this season, Mason wanted zombies again, but with one caveat: it had to include an image of his bulldog, George. And, yes, that makes his dog’s name George Mason.
Other than that, Drummond was given free reign of the design. He learned that one of Mason’s first stops after being signed to the Flyers was at Eastern State Penitentiary. He decided to use that as the main inspiration for the design and featured notorious bank robbers and onetime Eastern State prisoners Frank Nitti and Al Capone as zombies.
George, the bulldog, is airbrushed on the back of the mask above a sign that reads “beware of bullies.”
“(Mason) wants artwork where you can see it up close. He’s just all about detail,” Drummond said. “And it’s got to mean something.”
Drummond has lived in Langhorne for most of his life. He played goalie himself at Neshaminy High School, where he graduated in 1992. He turned down an opportunity to play hockey for the University of Southern Maine to attend Miami International University of Art and Design. Eventually, he moved back to Langhorne, where he’s been designing and airbrushing independently from his shop for about 18 years.
Drummond first landed on the Flyers’ radar when he designed and painted an aluminum panel for an event Riley Cote was running to benefit people with multiple sclerosis.
“We just hit it off and became good friends,” Drummond said.
From his shop, he does everything from T-shirts to hotrods and motorcycles, but his specialty has become goalie masks. In his workshop, there are several masks prepped and waiting for goalies from all levels of play. He has clients who are pros and some just getting started. He mentioned an 8-year-old goalie who requested an Iron Maiden-themed mask.
Though his main priority is with the Flyers, Drummond has designed and painted masks for other NHL players, including Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask and Brian Boucher after he was signed by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2011. He already has a backup mask in the works for Mason, who will probably total at around three for the year, each taking about 60 hours to paint.
But, for Drummond, the time is worth it.
“You have to do a lot of research, because you don’t want to do something wrong in Philadelphia,” he said. “But Mase is my client, so as long as he’s happy with it, whatever happens happens.”
