Monday, December 24, 2007

Listen to Sid the Kid

Brian Costello, of The Hockey News, reports that Sidney Crosby said that the size of goalie equipment needs to be reduced

"Like E.F. Hutton, when Sidney Crosby speaks, people listen. Crosby is the NHL’s best marketing tool: the league wants him playing in every NHL city every season and is doing what it can to balance the schedule.

So when Crosby told The Hockey News recently he thinks the NHL should take further steps to reduce the size of goalie equipment, you know the league heard the echoes over and over again."

Last week it was reported that Dallas Stars goalies made fun of Roberto Luongo because he wears an extra flap, for protection, on his pads. James Mirtle mentioned it in his blog too.

"So it was surprising to hear the news Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo is playing with two small extra knee flaps, which extend outside the allowable 11-inch width of each pad near the knee.

The fact Luongo’s getting away with this is astonishing. Even Dallas goalies Marty Turco and Mike Smith made light of the extra flaps by donning exaggerated cardboards flaps of their own in mock jest, of course."

It doesn't make sense to me why the NHL allows Luongo to exceed the stated rules. It also doesn't make sense to me why the NHL is considering making the nets bigger when it could reduce the size of goalie equipment. The technology is there to do so.
Phil Esposito also thinks the size of goalie equipment should be reduced, and specifically said the gloves of today are enormous compared to when he played.

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