Smaller goalie equipment vs bigger nets

[Flamescuprun2018]

Have been hearing that the process for moving toward smaller goalie equipment is taking a lot longer to sort through than planned.

Significant push back and major worries from some goalies that proposed changes are not safe with real risk of getting a puck in an unprotected area.

The transition will be slow with lots of opposition. Looks like 2017-18 before we see the equipment changes in the NHL.

NHL Network was discussing today that the year Gretzky scored 92 goals there was about 20% of the net visible on a shot if you look at all angles. Now that percent is probably half that with the larger goalie equipment.

The solution that would be quick to implement would simply be to increase the goal size slightly.

I wonder why they went with goalie equipment and risk injury when a slight increase in goal size would be free of injury risk and achieve the desired goal of a bit more scoring?

Those 2 or 3 goal post twangs we hear every game would translate to goals!

Would be interesting to calculate the proportion of visible net for every inch added to width and height of goal area?

[Redrum]

Maybe increase the size a little bit but I think bigger nets would take away from smaller more talented goalies and encourage more big blocking thugs. Maybe that's just me.

[Coach]

Smaller gear. Leave the nets. They'll figure out a way. There's no reason the pads can't be thinner and more contoured, protecting the player while not creating shot blockers that aren't actually protecting anything. Layered, like a suit of armor

[Flamescuprun2018]

Some links to the subject:
http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/is...ill-thinks-so/

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nh...223717108.html

Excerpt from Yahoo Sports favoring goalie equipment change:

"If you shrink the size of goalie equipment in the NHL, other levels of hockey aren’t all that affected. If you change the size of the goal cage, you basically have to make sure that every other level of competitive hockey in North America is down with that idea, too. There’s no sense in having a player demoted to the AHL firing on a differently-sized net.

There’s even a construction consideration, too. Creating a wider net means putting new holes in arena cement. Campbell said you’d need to x-ray the floor of arenas to make sure it doesn’t puncture a pipe or something.

But the biggest consideration for the NHL in making the nets bigger?

What if it doesn’t increase goal scoring?

It’s easy to do. You can’t tell the nets are bigger. But it’s not that easy to do because you gotta make the decision that this is going to work, and satisfy your goal scoring problems."

[calgaryblood]

If they ever made the nets bigger I would seriously consider never watching another hockey game again.

[FireGilbert]

Just shrink the equipment already. The worst culprit is the gloves. They used to be similar to a catchers mitt with a bit of additional padding on the wrist. Now they are basically a blocker with a massive glove on the end that could catch a beach ball. Shrink them so the hand is still protected but the glove part is only big enough to catch a puck.

[4X4]

The worst culprit is not just the gloves. All of the equipment is embarrassingly huge. Guys look like Optimus Prime when they're wearing their equipment.

[Apollo]

No, just no to changing the goal size. It would seriously damage the game and is totally pointless because the NHL already knows the problem is with pad size. Changing the net size would completely alter the dynamics of the ice and would require every level of hockey to make the same changes. Not to mention the impact on tracking stats and the impact on history. If changing pad sizes takes longer than expected, so be it. It's the right way to fix the problem. Changing the net size Is just a bad idea.

[Philly06Cup]

History is already altered by equipment enhancements and other rules changes. That's a poor excuse.

Fact is people inherently resist change. Increasing nets is a viable solution, yet so many act as though its a non starter.

Sadly nhl knows its fans are stubborn cods and wants to cater to them and also resists creating too much change.

[Tomas]

Look at this great video. The huge size of the golie equipment today has nothing to do with safety as you will see in the video. Shrink the pads, just get it done!

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/h...e-equipment-2/

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Philly06Cup

History is already altered by equipment enhancements and other rules changes. That's a poor excuse.

Fact is people inherently resist change. Increasing nets is a viable solution, yet so many act as though its a non starter.

Sadly nhl knows its fans are stubborn cods and wants to cater to them and also resists creating too much change.

Changing the nets changes the angles. Angles the goalies use to stay square to the shooter. Angles they have been training to know for years. Changing the nets will leave a whole generation of goaltenders quite inept IMO.

Changing the gear doesn't change their positioning. Guaranteed goalies will want smaller gear before changing the nets.

When was the last time any major sport altered the dimensions of their goal?

[Fire]

Increase the size of the nets. The fans complaining out bigger nets probably wouldn't even notice the difference if they weren't told in advance.

[MarkGio]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Changing the nets changes the angles. Angles the goalies use to stay square to the shooter. Angles they have been training to know for years. Changing the nets will leave a whole generation of goaltenders quite inept IMO.

Changing the gear doesn't change their positioning. Guaranteed goalies will want smaller gear before changing the nets.

When was the last time any major sport altered the dimensions of their goal?

Hockey did not too long ago when they made them narrow so there was more space behind the net. I believe that was 2008-09?

[Caged Great]

It is not a big deal to make the adjustment. Seriously, when you're on the ice, it's a matter of moving maybe 2-3 inches to cut the angle or go slightly further out to cut the angle. It won't take more than a month for the NHL guys to adapt.

The real problem is the chest protectors and the goalie pants. I own a pair of each and they are ridiculously big and they are the correct size for me. You don't feel a damn thing other than you've been hit by the puck.

Have the padding on the chest being tight, no more than 1-2 inches away from the body total. Not the huge width they are now. Luongo is a skinny guy and yet he looks like what you would imagine strapping goalie pads on McGrattan would be like. Just doesn't make sense.

[gilligans_off]

Put me in the equipment boat. No need for the gear to be that large. It's gotten out of control.

[MarkGio]

I support increasing the net size too. People who think it will lead to bigger goalies needs to look to basketball. Players are capped at a given size and the tallest men in the game are not the most tactile and athletic, barring a few exceptions. You're centres aren't usually you're best ball handlers, 3pt shooters and passers. They're usually good for posting up, defending and close range shooting. The centres who shoot 3's aren't 7'2", they're usually 6'10". Humans are capped as to how tall they can be.

Besides, the butterfly style caused taller goalies. The distance from the knees to shoulders determined how much space the players had above the shoulders and below the crossbar. The leg and arm span determined how much space a shooter had when a goalie shifted from one post to the other. All of which is determined by height.

[Looch City]

Increasing net size would just push the development of even larger equipment.

The equipment needs to be smaller.

[FlamesAddiction]

I say no to bigger nets. With nets, the most I would do is make the posts and crossbar narrower to increase the inside diameter slightly.

[psyang]

I agree the change should be in the equipment, not the net, but if they wanted to increase net size without changes to infrastructure, what if they said posts/crossbars are goals? Jokinen could have a resurgence!

[Flashpoint]

Goalie equipment should be for protection. Return it to that state and the problem is solved. If you are a goalie shouldn't it be about your athleticism and skill rather than your gear?