in hockey, why can't they just hire some huge fat guy to just sit in front of the next as the goalie?

Question

I've always wondered.

Answer 1

Do a need a ticker for this question too?

Asked and answered a good 30 times.

Won't work. The guy in net could still never fill the whole net (it's 4' tall and 6' wide).
Besides any player close to being that big would be ineligible because he's PUP (physically unable to play). Players have to be in shape and have to pass tests to be allowed on the ice. Any player who can't pass the tests can't suit up. Teams get insurance on contracts and that insurance would not be issued for a fat blob who is a coronary waiting to happen.

Answer 2

There's actually a book that asked this question and answered it. It's very unlikely to have a huge fat guy because, teams would want someone who is in shape on the team. A huge fat guy would be a huge health risk, and most likely have a heartattack. They dressed up a goaltender in a fat suit and had him stay in the goal. He was scored on. That's because a goalie of such big girth can not move around like a goalie who is in shape can. So although having a fat goaltender seems like a good idea, it actually isn't.

Answer 3

Because the goalie needs to be pretty fit to play in the NHL. Plus, if a team put a big fat guy in front of the net, the NHL would counter by making the nets a few inches longer on both sides, pissing off the smaller goalies and making that giant goalie of yours a bad idea.

Answer 4

Goalies don't just stand there like Cartman from South Park. They're in super good shape and if some fat guy had to go down in the butterfly, he wouldn't be getting up any time soon. Bottom line, they'd lose twice - the game and the goalie would have a heart attack.

Answer 5

Well I've never been on a plane. I probably wouldn't try to talk to the passenger and that's mainly because I'm not great at talking to people and I wouldn't class myself as being social as I'm more of a private person.

Answer 6

Although the net looks very small, you cannot find a fat guy big enough to cover the ENTIRE net, so there will always be an opening for the shooters to get the puck through. The fat guy would be too slow to cover the right areas of the net at the right time. And I think you are under-estimating the accuracy with which hockey players (the good ones anyway) can shoot. I have seen a few "skills competitions" and there are some amazing players out there who can shoot and have the puck go through EXACTLY where they want it to go.

Answer 7

As everybody else has been saying, it is because there is practically no one that would be able to fill the entire net, much less a person of that size that would be able to wear skates and actually move. The net might look small but it is 6 foot wide and 4 foot tall, that is a pretty large space to fill. It would be pretty funny but not worth it in the long run because the novelty wears off after you get scored on a number of times.

Answer 8

They don't have fat guys as goaltenders because the highlight reels would be as boring as watching two teams play the neutral-zone trap. . . .

I don't know about everyone else but highlight reels of ANY goalie from ANY team robbing a guy of a sure thing is exciting, and you would never see that with a fat blob in net.

Answer 9

because theyll move slower. look at the wings, the 2 lightest goalies in the NHL, #1 team in the league. Osgood has the #1 GAA... only 2 losses, 1 in a shootout... being big isn't everything.

Answer 10

Have you seen how big the goal is? Nobody is that fat so there would be holes. Almost everybody in the NHL has enough skill to hit those holes probably 75% of the time. There are guys who could probably do it 99% of the time.