Bigger Nets?

[HomeNugget 2]

i remember brett hull talking about the size of goalie pads during intermission of a game last season. he picked up a leg pad and i swear it was as wide as he was. leave the nets alone and make the goalie pads smaller.

[Echolalia 2,961]

Maybe if they make the nets 2feet wider then Matty can hit the net and score more than 3pp goals in a season and be worth the 5M.

Maybe if they make th nets 2 feet wider then maybe Sammy can hit the net.

But I'm not holding my breath

[Flip-check 6]

Maybe if they make th nets 2 feet wider then maybe Sammy can hit the net.

But I'm not holding my breath

Sammy is a sniper, whatcha talkin' about Echolalia?

[scotzman 29]

Does it seem weird to any of you that people like Cherry, Hull, Redmond, Shanny - - guys that played the game - - seem to agree with most of the ideas that we discuss, but Gary and the other big-wigs just don't get it?

Obviously, that is the problem with today's NHL. Those in power don't listen to the people that matter. The players and the fans. The real fans who love this game, not the potential fans or casual fans, the Fans!

Goalie equipment is huge. Guys are running people in games. What should we do? Make the nets bigger and look at new rules regarding hits to the head... or you could just make the pads smaller and remove the instigator rule.

Seems pretty easy to me.

EDIT: Spelling

Edited June 29, 2007 by scotzman

[Hank 0]

i remember brett hull talking about the size of goalie pads during intermission of a game last season. he picked up a leg pad and i swear it was as wide as he was. leave the nets alone and make the goalie pads smaller.

Not to mention they weight next to nothing.

Argh! I despise goalie gear almost as much as the Leafs! Give me a Leaf goalie with oversized pads and I am fit for rage! Serenity now!!!

[Guest nutz2u]

The goddamn goalies can't even walk their equipment is so huge. Waddle around like freaky little ducks with a cob up their ass. Downsize all their equipment not just the pads. Size it to protect the goaler not to make him so damn big that some ******* thinks we need to make the net bigger.

[DEVILSWATERBOY 10]

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO !!!!!!!!!! For godsake Bettman haven't you messed the game up enough

[NC WINGS FAN 5]

Bigger Nets? NO!! How about smaller pads. they are still too big.

In the words of our old friend George Bush:

Bigger nets? BAAD BAAD

Smaller Pads? THATS GOOD GOOD

[NC WINGS FAN 5]

Bettman is an ass who knows nothing about hockey. What more can one expect from a silver spoon sucking, Ivy League "educated" lawyer from New York to run the NHL?!

Bettman!! Pull your little fat troll shaped head out of the corporates a$$e$, grow a pair, and enforce a rule that requires goalies to wear smaller equipment!! You Waterhead! Try listening to the fans instead of your own twisted sense of logic.

Why can't this guy do that?

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Bettman is an ass who knows nothing about hockey. What more can one expect from a silver spoon sucking, Ivy League "educated" lawyer from New York to run the NHL?!

Bettman!! Pull your little fat troll shaped head out of the corporates a$$e$, grow a pair, and enforce a rule that requires goalies to wear smaller equipment!! You Waterhead! Try listening to the fans instead of your own twisted sense of logic.

Why can't this guy do that?

Get upset that much in life?

[shadow47 1]

This thread makes me sick...why does everyone crave change? You're just buying what Bettman and the money-grubbing owners are selling, trying to turn hockey into an NBA circus of goals because they think that will make fairweather idiots watch and pay for it. Have you watched hockey prior to the Crosby Era? It has been a low scoring game, as has been mentioned, forever. Of course the people that oppose bigger nets and tiny goalies are goalies and traditionalists...if you're a non-goalie, and the league brings forward a proposal that will help you score more goals, of course you'll be for it. If you're a traditionalist, you enjoy hockey for what it is, what it was, not what it can be distorted into. Goalies wear pads to block net, not to "prevent injury in collisions". Forwards use sticks to score. That IS the game. People still get 50 goals a season, games still end 2-1 and 5-3. This is still hockey and the NHL but not for long if you people have your way.

P.S. Quit messing with goalie equipment; all the goalies in the developmental leagues all the way through college and even rec leagues are forced to buy new gear because of the ridiculous NHL sizing rules...even Europe is changing. So don't be so naive to think that a radical equipment change will only affect NHLers. And as far as making the nets 8 inches wider and 6 inches higher not having a DRAMATIC effect...give me a break. It would totally change the way the position of goaltender is played. All records would be irrelevant and the game would be ruined. Goalies would be concussed regularly and groin injuries would increase even more than the switch to the 11-inch pads caused.

Reality check?

[shadow47 1]

i remember brett hull talking about the size of goalie pads during intermission of a game last season. he picked up a leg pad and i swear it was as wide as he was. leave the nets alone and make the goalie pads smaller.

Hey buddy, leg pads are the same size they've been for decades, actually, they are thinner than they have ever been, capped at 38" height...did it ever occur to you perhaps that goaltenders just became better athletes, and Hull is a goal-hungry loudmouth? I'm sure goal scorers would love to be shooting at Georges Vezina in there with his cricket pads but that would not, in fact, be, as one might say, for lack of a better word, taking all things into consideration, hockey.

Edited June 30, 2007 by shadow47

[NC WINGS FAN 5]

This thread makes me sick...why does everyone crave change? You're just buying what Bettman and the money-grubbing owners are selling, trying to turn hockey into an NBA circus of goals because they think that will make fairweather idiots watch and pay for it. Have you watched hockey prior to the Crosby Era? It has been a low scoring game, as has been mentioned, forever. Of course the people that oppose bigger nets and tiny goalies are goalies and traditionalists...if you're a non-goalie, and the league brings forward a proposal that will help you score more goals, of course you'll be for it. If you're a traditionalist, you enjoy hockey for what it is, what it was, not what it can be distorted into. Goalies wear pads to block net, not to "prevent injury in collisions". Forwards use sticks to score. That IS the game. People still get 50 goals a season, games still end 2-1 and 5-3. This is still hockey and the NHL but not for long if you people have your way.

P.S. Quit messing with goalie equipment; all the goalies in the developmental leagues all the way through college and even rec leagues are forced to buy new gear because of the ridiculous NHL sizing rules...even Europe is changing. So don't be so naive to think that a radical equipment change will only affect NHLers. And as far as making the nets 8 inches wider and 6 inches higher not having a DRAMATIC effect...give me a break. It would totally change the way the position of goaltender is played. All records would be irrelevant and the game would be ruined. Goalies would be concussed regularly and groin injuries would increase even more than the switch to the 11-inch pads caused.

Reality check?

Goalies now are way too big. Look at Giguire(spell check recommended). how good do you think he would be minus his huge pads...... and defense in front of him?

[NC WINGS FAN 5]

Get upset that much in life?

ra

Nope. I only get this way when I talk hockey. You see I live in North Carolina which is not exactly a hockey hotbed, yet I can remember 10 years ago being able to go to any sporting goods store at the mall and being able to find anything hockey related. Now I cannot find anything despite the fact that we now have a team with a championship under its belt!! How does that happen? There was a time when people were saying the popularity of the NHL might surpass the MLB and NBA and now it is behind golf, NASCAR, soccer, midget porn ... you name it. It would not be this way if it were not for Bettman and the owners being more concerned of the quick money and short term benefits over the long term well being of the league. I know it will rise again once people like Bettman, Wirtz, and Jacobs are gone and for someone like me, that day cannot come soon enough .

[vangvace 12]

This thread makes me sick...why does everyone crave change? You're just buying what Bettman and the money-grubbing owners are selling, trying to turn hockey into an NBA circus of goals because they think that will make fairweather idiots watch and pay for it. Have you watched hockey prior to the Crosby Era? It has been a low scoring game, as has been mentioned, forever. Of course the people that oppose bigger nets and tiny goalies are goalies and traditionalists...if you're a non-goalie, and the league brings forward a proposal that will help you score more goals, of course you'll be for it. If you're a traditionalist, you enjoy hockey for what it is, what it was, not what it can be distorted into. Goalies wear pads to block net, not to "prevent injury in collisions". Forwards use sticks to score. That IS the game. People still get 50 goals a season, games still end 2-1 and 5-3. This is still hockey and the NHL but not for long if you people have your way.

P.S. Quit messing with goalie equipment; all the goalies in the developmental leagues all the way through college and even rec leagues are forced to buy new gear because of the ridiculous NHL sizing rules...even Europe is changing. So don't be so naive to think that a radical equipment change will only affect NHLers. And as far as making the nets 8 inches wider and 6 inches higher not having a DRAMATIC effect...give me a break. It would totally change the way the position of goaltender is played. All records would be irrelevant and the game would be ruined. Goalies would be concussed regularly and groin injuries would increase even more than the switch to the 11-inch pads caused.

Reality check?

Yup 'cause paddy's pads never grew.

Care to provide some sources to the increased injuries due to smaller pads?

To continue this reality check... Have you watched hockey before 1995? You know, back when there was scoring and excitement to the game and not the soccer game on skates that we are dwindling down to.

[Superman54 91]

The fact is the league probably wont decrease the equipment size since they seem to focus more on making the net bigger instead. If anything changes it will be the net first.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

ra

Nope. I only get this way when I talk hockey. You see I live in North Carolina which is not exactly a hockey hotbed, yet I can remember 10 years ago being able to go to any sporting goods store at the mall and being able to find anything hockey related. Now I cannot find anything despite the fact that we now have a team with a championship under its belt!! How does that happen? There was a time when people were saying the popularity of the NHL might surpass the MLB and NBA and now it is behind golf, NASCAR, soccer, midget porn ... you name it. It would not be this way if it were not for Bettman and the owners being more concerned of the quick money and short term benefits over the long term well being of the league. I know it will rise again once people like Bettman, Wirtz, and Jacobs are gone and for someone like me, that day cannot come soon enough .

I wouldn't get too upset about it. Hockey's never going to be a main course down here where I live anytime soon, but I don't care and I don't comapre the NHL to MLB or the NBA. You like watching hockey, so do I, who cares if others think it is weird, cause we aren't going to stop watching it anytime soon.

EDIT: In terms of the pads vs. nets debate, I'd definitely like to hear/read more about shrinking pad size up a bit more first over expanding nets, but I still stand by the thought that I wouldn't be against net expansion, even if I'm the only one who thinks this.

Edited June 30, 2007 by SouthernWingsFan

[SweWings 45]

Whatever happens I hope there's a thorough trial period before anything is actually implemented. Whether it's pad sizes or goal size, it doesn't matter. If it's an off-hand change then I hope Gary get's smashed by Chara. While I do agree with most points made in the previous posts about why it would be bad to change the game I don't see how introducing a change that could make the game more dynamic could be a bad thing. I mean if it goes through some tests and perhaps even a junior league try-out and turns out to be crap then fair enough but if it introduces varied scoring while keeping it sort of balanced (I'm an idealist I know) then hell yeah!

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Hey buddy, leg pads are the same size they've been for decades, actually, they are thinner than they have ever been, capped at 38" height...did it ever occur to you perhaps that goaltenders just became better athletes, and Hull is a goal-hungry loudmouth? I'm sure goal scorers would love to be shooting at Georges Vezina in there with his cricket pads but that would not, in fact, be, as one might say, for lack of a better word, taking all things into consideration, hockey.

You're absolutely right that goaltenders are much more skilled than used to be. But the size of their pads has grown along with their talent.

Improved technology made the pads lighter and more resistant to absorbing water, so goalies could wear larger equipment without having to lift all those extra pounds.

Those picture of Roy are a great representation of the change.

[shadow47 1]

You're absolutely right that goaltenders are much more skilled than used to be. But the size of their pads has grown along with their talent.

Improved technology made the pads lighter and more resistant to absorbing water, so goalies could wear larger equipment without having to lift all those extra pounds.

Those picture of Roy are a great representation of the change.

Yeah, you mean a great distortion of reality. Would you mind using a picture of a goalie in THIS era to prove your point rather than a 10-year-old one? Roy and Snow/Giguere are probably the two or three main offenders in equipment size in a period of time when taking advantage of limited equipment regulation was the rage; not all goalies have done this. Equipment has grown but everything has changed: players are faster, stronger, better than they've ever been. You can't just pretend the 1980s are what the NHL is about. It's not like anyone looks like Roy did in 1996 now--they identified the problem and corrected it. But now that there has been a change, people think, why not a little more, a little more? Face it guys, goalies are just better. Giguere would still be a super goalie with smaller equipment, you're just in denial because the Wings keep losing to him.

Edited June 30, 2007 by shadow47

[Superman54 91]

Yeah, you mean a great distortion of reality. Would you mind using a picture of a goalie in THIS era to prove your point rather than a 10-year-old one? Roy and Snow/Giguere are probably the two or three main offenders in equipment size in a period of time when taking advantage of limited equipment regulation was the rage; not all goalies have done this. Equipment has grown but everything has changed: players are faster, stronger, better than they've ever been. You can't just pretend the 1980s are what the NHL is about. It's not like anyone looks like Roy did in 1996 now--they identified the problem and corrected it. But now that there has been a change, people think, why not a little more, a little more? Face it guys, goalies are just better. Giguere would still be a super goalie with smaller equipment, you're just in denial because the Wings keep losing to him.

Giguere is all about positioning. You need big equipment to be good at that, I think if equipment was reduced Guiguere would defiantly not be the same.

Edited June 30, 2007 by Superman54

[shadow47 1]

Giguere is all about positioning. You need big equipment to be good at that, I think if equipment was reduced Guiguere would defiantly not be the same.

I don't agree...his game excels because of it, but every goaltender's game is based on proper positioning, even Hasek's. You don't make saves in the NHL without it, the equipment is not the major issue people believe it is. People thought shrinking the equipment last time would have an effect, and it succeeded in ruining Jose Theodore's game and no one else's ...and trust me, they dramatically shrank the equipment. You don't understand unless you've tried playing goalie with an old style catcher and then a new style catcher. Or pants. Or smaller chest pad. Goaltending is just as important a skill and art as is shooting the puck into the net or clearing it off the glass...simply there are fewer goalies to defend that point of view, and sadly, they will get the shaft because of it. Anyone who can't recognize this is not looking at the facts of the situation.

[Wings_Dynasty 267]

If they do it, all records after this must have an * by them. Bigger nets equal easier goals.

[RedRockit 0]

Yeah, you mean a great distortion of reality. Would you mind using a picture of a goalie in THIS era to prove your point rather than a 10-year-old one? Roy and Snow/Giguere are probably the two or three main offenders in equipment size in a period of time when taking advantage of limited equipment regulation was the rage; not all goalies have done this. Equipment has grown but everything has changed: players are faster, stronger, better than they've ever been. You can't just pretend the 1980s are what the NHL is about. It's not like anyone looks like Roy did in 1996 now--they identified the problem and corrected it. But now that there has been a change, people think, why not a little more, a little more? Face it guys, goalies are just better. Giguere would still be a super goalie with smaller equipment, you're just in denial because the Wings keep losing to him.

Oh my achin' Roy.

If Jiggy would be the super goalie you claim he' d be, even given smaller equipment, then

why oh why ISN"T he using smaller equipment?

Being trendy, is he?

[vangvace 12]

Yeah, you mean a great distortion of reality. Would you mind using a picture of a goalie in THIS era to prove your point rather than a 10-year-old one? Roy and Snow/Giguere are probably the two or three main offenders in equipment size in a period of time when taking advantage of limited equipment regulation was the rage; not all goalies have done this. Equipment has grown but everything has changed: players are faster, stronger, better than they've ever been. You can't just pretend the 1980s are what the NHL is about. It's not like anyone looks like Roy did in 1996 now--they identified the problem and corrected it. But now that there has been a change, people think, why not a little more, a little more? Face it guys, goalies are just better. Giguere would still be a super goalie with smaller equipment, you're just in denial because the Wings keep losing to him.

Thank you for admitting that equipment has become inflated over the years.

Giguere has no doubt become a better positional goalie over the years. However, you also cannot deny that his pads have inflated also since coming to the Ducks. Throw in the fact that he is as listed smaller than Kiprusoff, Brodeur, Biron, Emery, Lalime, Luongo, and Turek. Yet wears Luongo sized pads and has shoulders that cover his ears... Goalies equipment shouldn't double as bomb squad safety gear.

Yes players are bigger. With more goalies being over 6' either the butterfly will go away or nets are going to have to get bigger. Goalies will be fine because they have more skill and much better coaching than even a decade ago.

I don't think it's just goalies pads that need to shrink to either. I also have a serious problem with skaters wearing plastic above the waist and below the neck