| Long time hockey fans know that over the past four | | | | burden on a goalie’s arm. Composite sticks, more |
| or five decades, there have been some massive | | | | durable than wood, are becoming more and more |
| changes when it comes to all the equipment in the | | | | prominent among goalies at all levels. |
| game. Perhaps no equipment changes are quite as | | | | Sizes |
| obvious as the pieces used by goalies; when hockey | | | | If you have followed hockey much since the strike and |
| first began to be televised the goaltenders played with | | | | lockout of 2005, you know that the size of goaltender |
| no face protection, hard as that is to believe! Today, of | | | | equipment has been the subject of a lot of debate. |
| course, all goalies wear masks (or helmets, if you | | | | There are now official rules about how wide and long |
| prefer) but even the style of these basic pieces of | | | | a goalie’s pads in particular can be, in order to |
| equipment has changed a lot over the past couple of | | | | increase the shooting space at the net for players. |
| decades. Let’s take a quick look at some of the | | | | The idea is to focus on the athleticism of the goalies |
| big changes when it comes to goaltending equipment | | | | rather than the equipment advantage. |
| in ice hockey. | | | | The Mask! |
| Materials | | | | We started out talking about goalie masks, and it’s |
| Strides in manufacturing and newly invented materials | | | | a good way to end too, because nothing really defines |
| have made a huge difference in the types of | | | | a goalie and her or his equipment like the mask. As |
| goaltending equipment that is available. Pads, for | | | | mentioned, there was a time when masks were not |
| example, used to be made just from leather that was | | | | used at all, but today they are standard. And what an |
| stuffed with hair. Pads have always had to be light | | | | evolution masks have undergone! The original metal |
| enough for goalies to maintain their flexibility, yet not so | | | | with eye holes model was replace in the ‘70s and |
| light that a deflection causes a costly rebound. A good | | | | ‘80s with a cage and helmet style, but after the |
| balance is found in today’s use of synthetic leather | | | | ‘90s goalies began showing a preference for the |
| and nylon on the outside of goalie pads and cell foams | | | | full helmet again, incorporating the full mask style. Only |
| and plastic inside the pads. | | | | a few goalies in the game today still use cage and |
| Pads aren’t the only piece of equipment to undergo | | | | helmet models. |
| some major changes over the years in terms of | | | | The game of hockey may stay the same in its |
| materials, either. Goalie sticks today are usually | | | | essence, but the equipment used by the players |
| reinforced with synthetic materials and fibreglass, while | | | | undergoes a constant evolution. Nowhere is this more |
| they may be injected with foam in order to lighten the | | | | evident than in the dress of the net minders. |