Would you rather have a skilled tiny goalie or a average giant goalie?

Question

if youre an NHL gm, which goalie would you prefer start a season for you? a 5'5 150 lb skilled guy or a 6'10 300 lb net clogger?

and how would the possible changes to net size affect your choice if at all?

Answer 1

Taller goalies are always preferable. I am assuming that the 300lb clogger is a big guy, and if he's a butterfly style goalie, he's the man most scouts would pick.

Short goalies are not favourable as they leave too much room up high, and at 5'5", it would be an unnatural arm angle to cover the top of the net unless he/she had lightning reflexes.

Bigger goalies also carry bigger equipment.

6'10" would be a great size for a goalie. Think of Chara with a little bit more meat. Chara covers MOST of the net. As cyrenaica pointed out earlier, 6'10" 300lbs is huge, and as a scout, I would take an average goalie like that anyday over a highly skilled short goalie.

If the short goalie was 6'0", I may change my tune. But 5'5" is VERY short, regardless of the skill level. At 150lbs, almost fragile too.

Also, the fact that an NHL GM would be forced to think about the two tells me that the average giant has some skills that make it worth my while to look at him!

Answer 2

I don't think that bringing in Desjardins from the minors is an awful idea because he has shown that he can play well at a lower level, but he has no NHL experience, so who knows how well he can do? Giving him the backup job is sort of a risky move IMO because of this. Carey Price has not shown a level of consistency in his play since maybe the start of the 2008-09 season, and this should also be a reason why bringing in a solid veteran backup would be the best option. With that being said, I think Martin Biron is the best fit right now because well, he is a francophone from Quebec, and I think he can still handle a decent workload of 30-40 games if needed. Chris Mason would be a good option too, but his price tag would be too high because he wants the starting job. Other than that, I do not see any really good fits with the Habs. If they really want to bring in Desjardins as the backup, then they could always sign a goalie to a two-way contract as they have done the past two years with Marc Denis and Curtis Sanford and bring him up should Desjardins falter at any point. The key right now is giving Price the right amount of pressure. He should not sit on the bench for 20 games straight and he should also not start 20 games in a row. Price is better than any UFA option, even Nabokov, so they really need him to do well.

Answer 3

If you get average, run-of the mill NHL talent into a 6'10" giant, I'll take Andre the Giant over Tiny Archibald in goal.

Average is average, but add some unprecedented size in there and I think I'll have a Stanley Cup if my giant has a defense amount of goals to work with.

Answer 4

For now i would deffinantly go with a 5'5" 150 lb skilled goaltender than an ovesized fool. lol.

Because anytime theres maybe a 5 on 3, or any powerplay, or a breakaway, in the shootouts the oversized goalie wouldnt be able to handle the situation most of the time, therefore i would go with the smaller, skilled goaltender.


If the nets do increase in size, that might alter my decision to think about getting a bigger goaltender, but idk.

Answer 5

I'd much rather have a small skilled goalie than an average giant goalie. Check out Jeff Lerg at MSU. He is MAYBE 5'4', 5'5"...he is TINY but excellent...there are a lot of little guys out there who are really great goalies.

Answer 6

The bigger guy almost always wins

The size difference in your particular case would be immense, and in order for the smaller skilled goalie to compete, he would have to be God.

The stride difference between a 6'10" man and a 5'5" man is huge.

The arm span of a 6'10" man is wider than the net
The arm span of a 5'5" man is NOT

When a 6'10" man is on his knees, his head will be higher than the crossbar
When a 5'5" man is on his knees, his head is BELOW the crossbar.

I'll take the average giant every day!

Answer 7

If you can get average talent out of a 6-10 300-pounder, then you will have a Vezina winner every freaking year.

Giant people don't play goalie very well, normally. They aren't that quick, and they have plenty of holes, etc. So if you get one that plays average, he's really the next Brodeur. Only much larger.

Answer 8

I'd take the small one. When I was a kid there was a season where a real small kid was goalie and we came out in second place. He and his brother were best on the team.

Answer 9

The smaller skilled goalie any day of the week! He'll stone the opponent almost every time.

Answer 10

I would want the highly skilled, smaller goaltender. Bigger goaltenders all have the same weakness: Shoot low. If you keep making that bigger goaltender go down on the shots, he will eventually get tired, no doubt. Smaller goaltenders tend to have more energy, their potential is so much greater and they are naturally quicker.