Shrink to Grow: NHL GMs Discuss Goaltender Equipment

In late February, the NHL’s collection of general managers gathered in Naples, Florida to discuss the state of the game. Many items were addressed, but the most important was the size of goaltender equipment.

This is not a new discussion as many fans and NHL executives have wondered whether things have gotten out of hand.

Scoring zones that existed for nearly 80 years have all but dried up and gone the way of the maskless netminder.

Many factors have contributed to the demise of the Mike Bossy-shot along the wall or the 15-foot Wendel Clark snapshot: better players, better coaching, better defensive systems and of course, better and larger goalies.

But it’s no secret that the shooters of today have half as much space to score on as players of old.

It’s true that the science of goaltending has soared since the emergence of Patrick Roy.

More and more children began to emulate goaltenders over offensive stars. Many of today’s top netminders have been quoted as saying Roy was the reason they wanted to become a goalie.

The average size of players has also grown considerably since the days where anyone who stood over 5’10” was considered a behemoth. To put it simply, goaltenders are larger, stronger and more agile than the men who minded the nets in years past.

It is for that reason that the goalie equipment of today must be tapered to allow more offense into the game.

Most goalies will rally behind the word "safety." They believe that without such large equipment, they will be more susceptible to injury.

This is an issue and one that can’t be ignored.

However, one of the greatest goalies to strap on the pads also wears the smallest equipment in relation to his physical size.

Martin Brodeur has been minding New Jersey’s net for over a decade. In the past 11 years, he has played in no less than 70 games per season.

During that time span he has won three Stanley Cups, one Olympic Gold Medal, three Vezina Trophies (awarded to the best goalie as voted by the 30 NHL general managers), three William M. Jennings Trophies (Lowest goals-against on the season), and appeared in eight all-star games.

How is it that the goalie that wears the smallest equipment is also the least injured and most productive?

Brodeur stands 6’2” and weighs 215 pounds and yet he wears 35” pads. Compare that to St. Louis goaltender Manny Legace, who stands 5’9” and uses 38” pads, the same size pads that 6’4” Washington goalie Olaf Kolzig wears.

Unfortunately, the issue doesn’t stop at the length of leg pads. The upper body protection that many goalies wear today is beyond ridiculous.

Watch an Anaheim Ducks contest and observe the equipment that J.S. Giguere adorns. His shoulder pads extend well beyond where his shoulders stop. He’s been known to have special attachments to his shoulder pads that "flap-out" (pardon the pun) when he assumes the butterfly position.

How is adding equipment that doesn’t protect any part of the body a matter of safety?

Another interesting question is this: If adding larger equipment is essential to a goaltender's safety, how is it that the equipment is square in shape and not rounded like the natural shape of the human body?

Why do more and more goalkeepers resemble a rectangle, the same shape as the net?

I don’t think it’s a healthy coincidence.

In an age where the advances in technology have allowed equipment to become both stronger and smaller in size, goaltending equipment has become larger.

There is no reason that a belly pad should extend 18” from the player’s stomach. Similarly, players with thin waists should not have any reason to wear pants sized for much larger men.

Martin Brodeur agrees.

"From my point of view, and I hope they think about this, they need to make the effort to size everyone individually," he said in an interview from New Jersey.

"If they do that, they'll see a big difference. They have to reduce the little guys to being little guys and the skinny guys to being skinny guys. Those guys are taking advantage of the system.

"There's no reason why anyone under six feet should be wearing 38" pads, but everybody is wearing them," he said. "It's like if you have a 33" waist, you shouldn't be allowed to wear XXL pants."[i]

The issue extends beyond the physical implications of larger gear but also psychological.

Hall of Fame goaltender Ken Dryden commented to Sports Illustrated writer E.M. Swift, "You can't really beat a goalie with a shot anymore. The goals now are almost all scored off redirections.

"The shooter sees a whole lot less space now, which changes the psychology of the contest between the goalie and the shooter. The goalie's equipment has gone from being an instrument to protect the body to being an instrument to protect the net."[ii]

After reading that quote, I made a conscience effort to observe if this was true. It didn’t take long to realize that the former Montreal Canadiens great was right.

I have seen countless times, in many games, where a player will have possession of the puck, in a prime scoring area, only to pass it off to a teammate who is both farther away and at a more disadvantageous angle.

The reasoning is simple: the player didn’t see any net, and found that passing was a higher percentage play than shooting.

Scoring zones aren’t the only casualty of inflated goalie gear. The art of goaltending is also dying along with it.

There are only a handful of goalies that are worth the price of admission these days. Almost every goalie repeats the same mantra over and over: “Square to the shooter and make yourself big.”

This certainly wasn’t the case many years ago. I realize that today’s netminders are far better in their positioning with defensive systems assisting this strategy. However, in many cases, the equipment is doing more work than it should.

Again, to pick on Giguere, when is the last time anyone witnessed him making a dramatic glove or blocker save? It rarely, if ever, happens for the Anaheim goalkeeper.

He’s all but admitted that he lacks any kind of athleticism and he bases his entire game around sound positioning and making himself big.

In a time where the consumer has several entertainment options, this hardly sounds worthy of someone’s hard-earned money. Why on earth would anyone invest their time and money when the League allows a ridiculous standard to suck any kind of entertainment value from the product?

Most goals today are scored from rebounds, screens or deflections. And the majority of the time, the only way to score during five-on-five play occurs off the initial rush.

The NHL desperately needs to resurrect scoring zones that existed for decades. If the NHL is to improve its product and compete for consumer dollars against the other major sports, it needs to shrink in order for it to grow.

Henry Dyck

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[i]  The Toronto Star, Damien Cox, Feb 20^th, 2008, http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/305184

[ii] Sports Illustrated, E.M. Swift, Jan 16, 2007, http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/em_swift/01/16/bigger.goals/index.html