DetDannyWilliams
09-11-2013, 07:46 PM
With NHL training camps opening up across North America, forwards and defenseman are getting their first look at the smaller goalie pads
Specifically, it's the leg pads of Marc-Andre Fleury, Tomas Vokoun and the rest of the league's netminders that are shrinking, by about two inches. That means larger five holes and that, theoretically, means more goals in a league that has seen scoring decline in each of the past four seasons. In 2013, there was an average of 5.44 goals per game. That's down from a post-lockout high of 6.16 in 2005-06.
The easiest thing to do? Enforce the rules. Call more penalties. The frequency of those is down even more drastically. The second easiest thing to do? Shrink the pads. Sorry, fellas. Your Stay-Puft marshmallow man costumes will have to be a bit smaller.
another less expected tweak — not a change, technically — is the rewording of the rule governing illegal checks to the head. Before, Rule 48.1 read: "A hit resulting in contact with an opponent's head where the head is targeted and the principal point of contact is not permitted." Now: "(A) hit resulting in contact with an opponent's head where the head was the main point of contact and such contact to the head was avoidable."
http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/story/2013-09-11/sidney-crosby-penguins-nhl-illegal-hit-rule-changes-48-goalie-pad-size
Specifically, it's the leg pads of Marc-Andre Fleury, Tomas Vokoun and the rest of the league's netminders that are shrinking, by about two inches. That means larger five holes and that, theoretically, means more goals in a league that has seen scoring decline in each of the past four seasons. In 2013, there was an average of 5.44 goals per game. That's down from a post-lockout high of 6.16 in 2005-06.
The easiest thing to do? Enforce the rules. Call more penalties. The frequency of those is down even more drastically. The second easiest thing to do? Shrink the pads. Sorry, fellas. Your Stay-Puft marshmallow man costumes will have to be a bit smaller.
another less expected tweak — not a change, technically — is the rewording of the rule governing illegal checks to the head. Before, Rule 48.1 read: "A hit resulting in contact with an opponent's head where the head is targeted and the principal point of contact is not permitted." Now: "(A) hit resulting in contact with an opponent's head where the head was the main point of contact and such contact to the head was avoidable."
http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/story/2013-09-11/sidney-crosby-penguins-nhl-illegal-hit-rule-changes-48-goalie-pad-size