Quote:
Originally Posted by Envitro
I agree that better materials COULD be used, maybe..
You have to balance better protection with less bulk, and weight considerations.
On your other point, I don't believe there is a requirement to protect the back at all. If your back is facing the play or the shooter you're kind of doing it wrong...
Wraparound protection is not just unnecessary but it also adds weight and wouldn't even be possible with today's tech. The bulky panels of the C&A don't just provide with blocking area, they also protect vital joints from the force of the impact.
There are good ways to reduce the size of the equipment without actually altering the equipment too much (there's a reason why it looks and behaves the way it does right now).
Force the goalies to wear appropriately sized equipment and that problem will mostly be solved. A guy that's a beanpole like Ryan Miller shouldn't be wearing the same sized equipment as say Ray Emery, who probably has a good 2" and 25lbs on him.
There are other smaller changes that can be tweaked but overall I would say that pants are the biggest items that can be sized down and slightly slimmed down.
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I don't necessarily mean the whole way around. More in spots that can be exposed depending on the goalie's position. Mostly the back/side of the legs and things like the wrists and knee caps.
The pads are as high as they are because goalies claim their knees get exposed when dropping. A) this is BS, the longer pad doesn't help with this, and B) they already have small pads underneath hat protect that area. Make those small pads out of something more shaped to the knee with harder/lighter material, and you can reduce the height of the pads down to where they meet the pants, like they should be. Same with the cuffs on the gloves.