How is it that the size of the NHL goalie pads increased so drastically?

Question

They were so small back in the old days, up to the 80s even. But was there something specific that caused the pads to get bigger? And why didn't the NHL do anything to prevent it?

Answer 1

It was a gradual thing..............as the weight of the materials decreased, the size of the equipment just got 'bigger'.

I did this exercize a couple of years ago with a junior prospect, and we looked at the size evolution of a goalie....we chose Patrick Roy.

Looking at pictures of Roy through the ages, you don't really notice it from one year to the next. In 1984-85 he wore the heavy leather pads, in 2002-2003, he wore the lightweight spongy thingies. But it was not only the goal pads, it is the padding under thge shirt, the size of the catching glove (Mike Vernon's last glove is almost twice the size of his rookie year's glove. The blocker is slightly larger. The helmeted masks they use nowadays make the headgear look about 10-15% bigger than what they wore in 1980.

The NHL has always done things to prevent it. There has always been a 'maximum width rule for pads......but in the leather pad era....that extra 2" would have been another 8lbs. So, it wasn't until the lighter, newer materials came in the late 80s, early 90s, did goaltenders really exploit that extra 2" (and saved 15-20lbs in the process.

Then they hired Kay Whitmore to make sure that all goalies were legal.

If you put today's blocker, pads, and glove on Ken Dryden, the difference would be hardly noticeable. Add today's pants, jerseys, and upperbody equipment, and you'd be lucky to find an open spot to shoot the puck.

Answer 2

I think that goalie got bigger pads so they can take up more space in the net.. This would help them as you can imagine..

Also the NHL has tried to prevent the bigger pads as they made a restriction.. But this has helped the goalies as when they were in the bigger and heavier pads they had to push harder to move at the same speed.. So when they put the restriction that the NHL pads (which almost no goalie was there besides a few) they moved faster so they stopped even more pucks..

They have tried to put restrictions on the pads but most NHL goalies want to stay with what they have had throughout their career but in about 5-10 years most goalies would be close to the pad limit..

Answer 3

It happened slowly, it wasn't overnight. And it wasn't just the size of the equipment. Goalies actually started putting elastic webbing between the legs of their pants and had the cloth extended under their arms like bat wings in order to trap pucks.

It got to the point that what you had in goal was a sumo wearing bomb disposal equipment with a catching glove that takes up one-quarter of the net.

Why does the NHL miss the boat on so many things? Why did clutch, hook, hold, interfere, water-ski behind the guy you are checking style hockey go on so long? Why, when they rebuilt just about every rink in the league in the last decade, did they keep the size of the ice surface to the same specs as arenas built in the 1920s for guys five feet tall who could only skate 5 miles an hour?

I'd love to see the goal pads reduced further. With what some of these guys are still wearing, you might as well have a piece of plywood across the goal with four corners cut out. Just give them enough equipment to protect themselves ... and you don't need a catching glove the size of a bushel basked for that.

Either that or throw out restrictions on the amount of curve players can have on the blade of their stick. Fair's fair.

Answer 4

It's mostly due to advancement in equipment technology. As cut and sew techniques improved, you started seeing 'cheaters' on catching gloves and ergonomically designed chest protectors.

Additionally, as LITY pointed out, the development of PU (polyurethane/synthetic leather) based materials and lightweight synthetic fillings (replaced horse hair) allowed manufacturers to experiment with the alteration of equipment dimensions without taking a weight penalty.

Outside of goal pad dimensions, not many pieces of goalie gear were regulating in any large measure. That, too, allowed tenders and equipment manufacturers to push the spirit of any regulations beyond the proverbial envelope.

For me, the tipping point came when Garth Snow was minding the nets in Philly during the mid/late 90's. He had 2"-3" cubes sewn onto the tops of his chest protector shoulders and sides of his pant kidney guards to help keep pucks from slipping past him.

While all goalies did anything and everything they could to gain any possible advantage in net, Snow's ridiculous and brazen 'innovations' escalated matters to the point where the league could no longer ignore the embarrassing situation.

Things are more regulated, if not better, today. However, wherever a loophole exists in the rulebooks, it has been exposed. Goalies have also aggressively lobbied against additional dimensional restrictions, citing their safety as a major concern when discussing the reduction of the size of protective gear.

To that point, Martin Brodeur's recent resignation from the players' advisory board can be looked at as an indication of where the league is leaning in terms of restructuring regulations.

Answer 5

There is a fine line between absurdity and safety. Also, it is not only goalies, all equipment is larger, lighter, safer etc.
The players have the union and when it is about safety, they gave them the benefit of the doubt. Of course, now they have restrictions and it is measured after some guys like Garth Snow started making it into a mockery.

Answer 6

The easy answer.... its called trying to get any advantage on the shooters.... oversized gear, any and all gear from skates to jerseys simply cover more net which equals less area to shoot at which equals less goals..... and until recently size limits werent really enforced so goalies went with every advantage they could get hence gear getting bigger and bigger!!

Answer 7

as the players get better stuff the goalies pads get lighter and they get bigger

Answer 8

The NHL power structure (Canadians) couldn't stand the fact that Jaromir Jagr was going to break every scoring record in the book.