Above: Tim Thomas (left) and Alexander Ovechkin. I chose Thomas because he always appears to be smiling like that.

As you know I love LEGO about as much as I love hockey. Oddly enough, I only have one LEGO item in my possession: a hockey player minifig from a few years back. As you can see, that figure looks more like a football player, with the cage mask and shoulder pads.

LEGO could’ve done better with that minifig. It just needed a simple helmet and clear plastic visor, like LEGOvechkin up there. It would be like a car racer or astronaut helmet sans chin strap. In LEGO’s defense, they probably felt compelled to add accessories, hence the football shoulder pads.

Saying that, I feel a line of minifigs based on NHL players would be awesome. Of all the sports, hockey would translate best to LEGO. Because at a passing glance, a minifig with a helmet and stick is so readily identifiable as a hockey player.

I’m sure you are currently saying something along the lines “What are you rambling on for, Dave? WANT. Gimme gimme gimme!” I would love nothing more than to make these toys a reality for you. While you could probably make a skater easily enough with existing parts, a goalie would require many unique parts:

Unique hand pieces, stick, helmet, and pads. So LEGO or a third party company would have to make these molds.

One thing I should mention, is that actual LEGO NHL minifigs wouldn’t look this detailed. They usually just apply a decal to the front and back of the torso, and that’s it. No wraparound graphics. At least you’d have the team logo on the front, and name/number on the back. Additional decals could be added to the arms and legs.

Also if you check out that goalie stick, I made a bend so the hand can grasp it. An actual NHL goalie did this as well (just 2 bends not 3, looked like this), which was genius because he didn’t have to turn his wrist to hold onto the stick. This was an 80’s/90’s goalie. Anyone recall who?

So how can we get these made? Write a letter to LEGO? The NHL? The NHLPA? I’d say none of the above. I believe the answer is McDonald’s Canada, which has done many promotions with LEGO toys and released numerous NHL collectibles over the years. Sadly they don’t have an e-mail contact but you can call them or send snail-mail. Details here.

Here is hoping these see the light of day eventually.