This beautiful goalie mask by Itech was painted by Frank Cipra in 1997 for Sean Burke while playing for the Carolina Hurricanes. The New Jersey Devils selected Burke in the 2nd round of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. Burke’s career began in New Jersey back in the late 1980’s, and spanned 18 seasons. As a rookie in 1987-88, Burke led his Devils to their first ever Stanley Cup playoffs. The upstart club would make it all the way to the Semi-Finals behind the spectacular goaltending of Burke. After playing his first 4 seasons with New Jersey, Sean ventured onto Hartford where he remained with the franchise into their first season in Carolina for a total of 6 years in all. Other stops included Vancouver, Philadelphia, Florida, 5 seasons in Phoenix, Tampa and Los Angeles. Sean played in 3 NHL All Star games. His career Wins total of 324 ranks Sean in the top 20 of all-time in that category.

This beautiful Itech mask has the player name “Burke” on the backplate. It was painted for Burke in 1997 by Frank Cipra when the Whalers relocated to Carolina, but we cannot find a photo of him wearing it in a game. Frank Cipra has signed and dated the inside of the mask. Our consignor received the mask directly from the Hurricanes equipment manager Wally Tatomir. The mask shows light use on the chin so we are calling it either game issued or practice worn.