The JOFA 390

The JOFA 390 is the most widely known and available JOFA helmet ever made. It was first manufactured in the early 1990's, as a redesign of the JOFA 280; sculpting a new, rounder, front piece, with aerodynamic intakes. I have mentioned this helmet before; the JOFA 390 has ear protection, molded into the back piece of the helmet, differentiating it from the JOFA 366 pro model. This design makes it quicker and easier to manufacture; research suggests that JOFA produced this helmet more than any other model. The helmet was most commonly sold with a JOFA 381 cage like the photo above.

NHL Pros, such as Jaromir Jagr made this helmet extremely popular during the 1990's.  Many of you may have worn a JOFA helmet when you were little during this time; chances are that helmet was a JOFA 395 (size 6-1/2 - 7-1/4), which is the junior version of the JOFA 390, sold exclusively with ear protection and a JOFA 386 junior cage.

Mats Sundin, the highest scoring Swedish player in the history of the NHL, is another pro who wore the JOFA 390 helmet during his professional career. He wore the JOFA 390 while he played for the Quebec Nordiques from 1990-94, as well as his early years playing for the Swedish National Team.

The JOFA 390 was also worn by Peter Forsberg during the early 1990's, during his play for Team Sweden as illustrated. I believe he wore a JOFA 390 on and off throughout his early career, switching it out with a JOFA 366, which is most definitely the more comfortable and exclusive of the two helmets.

Here is Forsberg wearing a JOFA 390 helmet with what is likely a JOFA 998 visor/cage combo (right); this must have been extremely early in his career to have worn a full face mask.

Saku Koivu is another NHL star who wore a JOFA 390, however, he did not wear one in the NHL; only in his early Finnish SM-Liiga and Olympic and World Championship play with Team Finland in the early 1990's.

In recent years, JOFA has changed their logo, somewhat modernizing it (left), and continued producting the JOFA 390 model well into the 2000's; until they were bought by RBK/Reebok Hockey in 2004. Reebok continues to manufacture this model (right), replacing the JOFA graphics and removing the front bumper displaying "390"; appropriate, since they now call this model the RBK 3K. Unfortunately, the RBK 3K is currently only being sold over seas; probably as not to conflict with Reebok's marketing of their new line of helmets, worn by many pros today, notably Sidney Crosby, Pavel Datsyuk, and The Sedin Brothers.