Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
No, you're not imagining things. The issue is that goalie equipment is so big right now, that if a goalie has time to get set up in front of puck, he'll stop it with his wall of pad. Pads have become giant and square pieces designed to fit together to form a wall.
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The biggest reasons by a significant margin for goaltenders consistently stopping the first shot are athleticism, a focus on mobility and positioning. Secondary reasons are changes in defensive strategy that focus on keeping pucks to the outside.
Unless you fundamentally change goaltending equipment (i.e. make the leg pads like what lacrosse goalies wear, take away the paddle of the stick) or change something in the game itself (i.e. making the nets larger, don't allow a goalie to leave the crease, don't allow shot blocking)... none of these changes are going to result in any meaningful change in scoring.
Henrik Karlsson was a guy who maximized his equipment. Guy had a hell of a thigh rise, beefed up chest protector and was a big man. It didn't help him. Why? Poor athleticism, terrible mobility and a positioning strategy that only covered the bottom half of the net. Same deal with McElhinney. Oversized equipment will only take a guy so far.
But Miikka? Lol. Small thighrise, crappy knee pads, thinned out glove and blocker... the list is endless. How he wasn't consistently hurt by shots is beyond me.
I'm also blown away by people who suggest reducing the protection of the chest protector. Ever get hit by a beer league 50-70 MPH slapshot? Well, it never feels great. Technique (of which I have little) helps mitigate that, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere near a 90+ MPH Shea Weber slapshot wearing one of these things (of which Brodeur wore for a number of years until a couple seasons ago):
Here's a new chest protector he's wearing (and he's way too happy about it):
These rule changes might slightly hurt a handful of guys like Gigeure, Emery, maybe Luongo. But it's not going to magically disable a goalie to not make a first save with his feet set, challenging and being in position.
