Darren Haynes has some interesting tidbits on goalie equipment, including masks and the apparent lack of standards in the KHL:
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“Everything has to go through the league. I’ve got to measure him, I’ve got to sit there and tell him what we were doing,” DePasquale said. “Even the helmet that he came with, it’s not approved by the league. He can’t wear it at all, it’s not safe enough.
“I had three different helmets. I had one similar to his from the same company, but he went with a Vaughn one, which is something that he’s never even seen before.”
But a blank helmet means even more instructions because there are detailed rules around that and what you can and can’t have painted on a mask.
“He’s going to actually take it home and get it painted by a friend, but I had to have the translator say there’s league rules about paint — you can’t have girls on there, you can’t have guns, you can’t have violence. I’ll have to take pictures of the mask and the league has to see it.”
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I remember Ramo having blood stains painted on one of his Raven masks, which ended up getting painted over.
Quote:
“Our first thought was that he was going to show up with zero gear. Zero. Because it happens,” said DePasquale. “When Ritter came over, he showed up with nothing. He shows up and goes ‘I’m here’ and I’m like, ‘uh, where’s your stuff?'”
Seems that in Europe, the team or league will sometimes keep the gear locked up and won’t release it. However, this wasn’t the case with Zagidulin, who did bring over all of his gear.
Good news, right? Well, except for one small detail.
“Every piece of his equipment, except for his skates, was illegal. Every piece,” said DePasquale.
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I think that explains why Zagidulin was wearing completely new gear at development camp this year...
Full Athletic article (paywall):
https://theathletic.com/1071027/2019...ts-assimilate/