By Scott Fisher /
Kelly Kisio remembers the day when you could skate into the slot, look up, and actually see some net.
Today’s goaltender, which resemble one of the Transformers, are so big, they threaten to block out the sun.
If you can find a square inch of daylight, you’d better make the perfect shot.
“Back in the day, you could see a lot of the net,” says Kisio, the GM/head coach of the Calgary Hitmen.
“Now, you don’t see any of the net whatsoever."
“I don’t know if it’s just the different equipment or because the goalies are much better athletes now. That may make it look a lot different.”
Kisio recorded eight 20-plus goal seasons during an NHL career that spanned from 1982 to 1995.
In the mid-80s, he says, it wasn’t uncommon to see players score from the wing.
“It’s not very often anymore where you see a guy flying down the wing, and he lets one go and beats the goalie with a clean shot.
“I used to play with Johnny Ogrodnick in New York and Detroit, and that’s all he used to do. He’d score from the top of the circles a lot of the time.
“Now, the goaltenders are so well coached and they’re such good athletes, you don’t see that.”
Hitmen goaltender Dan Spence is a perfect example.
He showed up at training camp last fall in tremendous shape. In fact, he was the fittest player on the team.
He says he’s followed the debate on goaltenders’ equipment, but he’s not losing any sleep over it.
“I keep up with the NHL and how it’s changing,” Spence says. “I heard they’ll be downsizing the equipment.
“I don’t really think it affects me that much. I like the smaller gear we’re using now.
“If they want more scoring, they’re going to have to do something.”
Team Canada goaltending consultant Corey Hirsch agrees that something needs to be done.
“I think there is some excessive stuff out there,” Hirsch says of the over-sized equipment used by some of today’s NHL ‘tenders.
“One of the problems is you have rules on length but sometimes there’s no rules on the width. So you’ll have a guy who should be wearing a large (chest protector), and he’s wearing a triple-XL.
“It conforms to the rules, but you have smaller goalies who look like monsters out there. And the bigger goalies are looking even bigger.”
The NHL will look to once again shrink goaltending equipment, which some suggest has ballooned out of control over the past decade.
Hirsch said some of the gear has long since passed the point of serving solely as a protective piece of equipment. It’s now a matter of stopping pucks.
“It’s borderline ridiculous with some of the stuff,” Hirsch says.
“It’s just not doing the game any favours. I don’t blame them. It’s not illegal so they do what they have to do.
“If you look at the goalie pads, look how much thinner and lighter they are. And no one seems to be getting hurt.
“The biggest thing for me is the height of the pads. If you look back at guys like Kelly Hrudey, the pads came a little above their knees. Now they’re up to guys’ waists.
“Now you’ve gotten rid of any five-hole and the pads are covering half of the net.” |