Teen goalie designs pads to trick shooters

[titanium2 867]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachus...k_shots?mode=PF

Teen goalie designs pads to trick shots

By David Rattigan, Globe Correspondent | January 25, 2009

SOUTH HAMILTON - While daydreaming in his high school chemistry class, hockey goaltender Trevor Leahy began to think about the opposing forwards who buzz around him when Pingree School hits the ice.

What are they looking for, he asked himself.

Open net.

But why does he wear dark blue pads that let shooters zero in on a target?

Using computer skills he learned in a graphic design class at the private school in South Hamilton, Leahy sketched out new leg pads that blend into the goal netting behind him. He wanted pads, a trapper, and a blocker that are white with a raised double-stitched design, just like the goal. He applied for a design patent and had them custom-made by a Canada-based pad maker.

"When the shooter comes down and only has a split second to shoot the puck, they're looking for net," said Leahy, a senior from Hampton, N.H., who grew up in Byfield. "If you put the net on the pad, they'll shoot at the pad instead of the goal."

Since the days when Boston Bruins' goaltender Gerry Cheevers started inking stitches onto his mask each time the equipment protected his face, many goalies have expressed their individuality with designs and paintings on their mask or other pieces of equipment. But Leahy's design - essentially a camouflage for a goal that is 4 feet high and 6 feet wide - has hockey players and coaches amazed and impressed.

Darren Stomp, the custom pad maker from Kingsville, Ontario, who designed Leahy's equipment, has had other goaltenders ask him to add orange and black tiger stripes and other designs. But those changes were cosmetic. "It might be the most clever idea," Stomp said. "I don't think there's any question it will work, although to what degree depends on the shooter and the situation."

So far, Leahy has logged two shutouts with the pads. In practice, two of Pingree's top scorers say, the illusion is particularly effective when there's a scramble in front of the net and they need to shoot quickly.

"When you're in close and you don't have a lot of time to think, it does catch your eye, and you do shoot toward it sometimes," said Matt MacDonald, a cocaptain from Byfield.

Both MacDonald and senior Tony Sardo of Gloucester say they have fired the puck directly into Leahy's pads. The illusion diminishes if they are farther from the net, with more time to shoot.

"I've never seen anything like them," Sardo said of the pads.

Not everyone is as sold on the theory. In the locker room after a recent 4-3 overtime loss, players from Dexter School of Brookline said that they barely noticed the design on the pads and that it didn't attract their attention - or their shots.

"I noticed it, but just thought it was a design on the pads," said senior forward Robert Lerro. "It just looked like squares."

John Gardner, the longtime hockey coach at Avon Old Farms School in Connecticut and president of the New England Prep School Ice Hockey Association, said the association has received no complaints about the pads. The association follows National Collegiate Athletic Association rules, he said, and regulations regarding goalie pads are basically confined to the size of the equipment and not the design.

"It's a novel idea," said Gardner.

Leahy applied for the design patent last February, and it is pending. He and his mother, Judie, flew to Canada and met with Stomp on Oct. 13 to discuss ideas for implementing the design. He received the pads Nov. 29, and began using them in practice and then in games.

At the Pingree Holiday Tournament in late December, Leahy backstopped Pingree to two shutouts in one day - a 1-0 win over Northwood School from Lake Placid in the morning and a 3-0 win over Kents Hill School of Maine that night. For the season he has a goals-against average under 2.00, and he has had some memorable nights with more than 40 saves against some of the prep school elite teams.

Longtime Pingree coach Buddy Taft won't give all the credit to the pads - the 5-foot-6-inch Leahy is very quick and has worked on his game, he says - but thinks the theory Leahy used to develop the pads has merit.

"It all makes sense," he said. "I'm not sure if there's any effective way to test their success, but he's played pretty well."

Leahy wrote a paper about the process as part of his application to the University of New Hampshire (the paper referenced Darwinism and creatures that adapt to their habitat via camouflage), and received notice of early acceptance. He has also applied to Northeastern, Providence College, Emerson College, and Boston University.

"We really encourage our kids to think outside of the box," Taft said. "Trevor is a good example of that."

Exactly what will happen to the pads after this season is unclear. Leahy said he would like to play hockey in college, probably at the club level, and wants to market the idea.

"It would definitely be cool to get it out there and get other guys in the future wearing it," he said.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

Simple, yet smart as hell. Good on that kid for daydreaming about hockey while in class and coming up with an innovative idea!

[lb3000 1]

Thats pretty cool. I think it would fake me out a bit before I was able to distinguish them from the real net.

[esteef 2,679]

He's right! I can barely see his pads!

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

^ :rotflmao:

[06TJSport 0]

All that matters is that they give him the confidence that he is a better goalie. Hockey is just a game of confidence and knowing that you are better than the other guy. The more you believe you can do, the more you can do.

[DyingAlive 27]

Definitely clever stuff. Whether it works great or just minimally it's a pretty sweet idea.

I wish the article would have given more pictures than just his blocker though. I want to see him in the net to see if works!

[seeinred 1,488]

Just like players thinking that black tape will make the puck harder to see for the goalie, if you're a shooter who falls for this, you have no business shooting a puck.

[GoalieManPat 1,007]

Great idea. I did something similar with my soccer jersey when I was a kid. I had a big bullseye put on all my jerseys on the chest. The theory being the mind is trained to see a bullseye and to think "hit the middle". I dont think it really mattered much in full outdoor games but it did seemd to have a lot more chest saves playing the indoor game where scrambles in front fo the net are frequent. I thought it looked pretty damn spiffy to.

[TheCaptain19 49]

wasn't the idea the same for Patrick Roy's KOHO pads that made the 5-hole appear bigger?

[sjradio 0]

Gary Bettman just suspended the kid for 10 games plus he sent the kid to detention for 2 weeks because of them.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

Just like players thinking that black tape will make the puck harder to see for the goalie, if you're a shooter who falls for this, you have no business shooting a puck.

This isn't about "falling" for something....this is about a shooter needing to make split-second decision and having to unload the puck immediately. If a player only has a split-second to cash in (which happens alot) and these pads resemble the net, it could be a useful tool for the goaltender.

Peripheral vision is far from the clearest, and sometimes that's the only view you have around the net.

[redwing_sparty 0]

i've heard of other goalies using white pads for that reason.

[BlakChamber 8]

Just like players thinking that black tape will make the puck harder to see for the goalie, if you're a shooter who falls for this, you have no business shooting a puck.

If you have a clear shot with plenty of time to wind up and pick your target, yeah, you shouldn't fall for this. But if its a scramble in front of the net and you see what looks like the net out of the corner of your eye and shoot at it, and its the pads. Well, then that's exactly the point. In the split second you have to do something with the puck, you probably won't have time to determine if its the pad or the net, and the instinct of shooting at the net will take over.

Edit: I see NFM beat me to it.

[wingsnut25 10]

Just like players thinking that black tape will make the puck harder to see for the goalie, if you're a shooter who falls for this, you have no business shooting a puck.

A fair amount of pros think that black tape makes the puck harder for goalies to pick up on... os maybe they have no business shooting the puck either..

Im not suggesting that it makes a difference, as a goalie it makes no difference to me what color the tape is.

[Mac is Back 0]

heres the photo gallery

http://www.boston.com/sports/schools/extras/schools_blog/

[j.hoop 64]

heres the photo gallery

http://www.boston.com/sports/schools/extras/schools_blog/

epic

[Dabura 12,206]

Equipment over talent. Hurrah!

[titanium2 867]

Hey that kind of novel idea is a talent in itself. Don't playa hate, congratulate.

[seeinred 1,488]

If you have a clear shot with plenty of time to wind up and pick your target, yeah, you shouldn't fall for this. But if its a scramble in front of the net and you see what looks like the net out of the corner of your eye and shoot at it, and its the pads. Well, then that's exactly the point. In the split second you have to do something with the puck, you probably won't have time to determine if its the pad or the net, and the instinct of shooting at the net will take over.

Edit: I see NFM beat me to it.

If it's a pure instinct of shooting during a scramble in front for example, you're either roofing it or you're just blasting it. These dumb pads aren't gonna cause good players to shoot at them even once.

A fair amount of pros think that black tape makes the puck harder for goalies to pick up on... os maybe they have no business shooting the puck either..

Im not suggesting that it makes a difference, as a goalie it makes no difference to me what color the tape is.

I think most of those pros know that they're wrong and it just comes down to superstition. That's why I still use black tape anyway.

Edited January 27, 2009 by SeeinRed

[hillbillywingsfan 792]

Hey that kind of novel idea is a talent in itself. Don't playa hate, congratulate.

you wont get that from some. they like to argue about everything.

[zets40 0]

Its all in his head, Marc-Andre Fleury used the same reasoning in why he switched from his yellow pads to white ones because they blended in with the boards. His GAA went down but whether or not they actually help is debateable

[mannysBETTER3434 1]

Must of cost a pretty penny to buy/design those...plus the flight to the designer. I wouldn't mind them sending some it my way (:

[rick zombo 3,739]

Definitely a good story.

But, most NHL caliber goal scores know where the corners and five holes are regardless of pad color/design. They generally shoot for those spots.

[Cern 0]

Just like players thinking that black tape will make the puck harder to see for the goalie, if you're a shooter who falls for this, you have no business shooting a puck.

Psychological experiments like these depends largely on a degree of unconscious - or at least distracted thought. It's easy to sit behind the computer screen, think it over, and declare it has zero effect. Quite a bit different when you're in a scramble on the ice where you're in the process of thinking on your feet and details like that are far from your mind. In those circumstances adrenaline and instinct are likely to create automatic associations like twine = net, or black = puck. This is why, like it says in the article, it works better in a scramble rather than with a further shot, where you're a little more open and you get that extra fraction of a second to interpret visual messages instead of merely acting upon them. To say that it's little more than a matter of being gullible is a little naive.

Edited January 27, 2009 by Cern