football-style shoulder pads

[cause4alarm 6]

Did they just go out of style?

I noticed Douglas recently stopped making hockey shoulder pads. And I haven't seen Jones in years. Easton and Louisville were two other companies that had models too.

[johnson74 0]

Yeah I used to wear those white and navy blue Douglas shoulders in high school in the late eighties and early nineties. I loved those things. Felt invincible in them!

[jjtt99 0]

Don Cherry doesn't like them. The reason is the same as the hard capped elbow pads. There is a such thing as too much protection, then guys who feel invincible are running around trying to take the heads of others. Same rationale goes for cages.

And you know what, to a certain extent I agree. If everyone is equally vulnerable, there's more respect out there.

[cause4alarm 6]

So what's the fundamental difference between the football-style and the other style? The main thing I notice is that the caps are "exposed," which, as far as I can tell, only means that nobody bothered covering the the plastic bits with fabric.

Although it might be true that people are more mindful of highsticks in leagues that don't require full facial, I don't think most people would agree that it's safer to play with it. Here's an interesting analogy--if car manufacturers started installing the driver's seat on the front bumper, people would probably drive more carefully. That increase in driver mindfulness probably wouldn't offset the danger of sitting on your front bumper though.

[JR Boucicaut 3760]

Christian used to have them as well. Easton's Donzis weren't as padded as the other ones listed.

The padding is thicker in the football-style ones than regular shoulder pads. Basically, if you wear a pair, you can hurt someone who is wearing less than you are.

[cause4alarm 6]

So is the football-style truly, significantly more protective or does it just look that way?

Some things I was considering:

You'd think there's still be some demand for the most protective SPs available. So what would be the current equivalent of football-style level of protection since those type pads don't exist on the market today?

Jofas presumably make some of the most protective gear out there and their SPs look fairly lightweight.

[Edge 0]

kid on my team has some. They're just kind of heavy.

[SR27 0]

I used to have some of those Easton ones at a time. They were mainly of an orange material (like the pads in their old gloves) and lots of plastic all around. You could´t really move so I sold them after a year.

[Joker518 0]

I think Edge hit the main issue on the head: weight. With hockey gear weight is often the primary concern, for better or worse. Players need to find a balance of equipment that is light and allows for agility but also gives good protection.

I wore a set of Louisville hard plastics in high school but I was a stay at home defenseman who blocked a lot of shots... Look at Gretzky, I mean the man wore a scary excuse for a helmet and hardly any upper body protection despite having a featherweight physique.

With "modern technology" the benefit to weight ratio for hard plastic shoulder pads just isn't there.

[Chadd 916]

So is the football-style truly, significantly more protective or does it just look that way?

Some things I was considering:

You'd think there's still be some demand for the most protective SPs available. So what would be the current equivalent of football-style level of protection since those type pads don't exist on the market today?

Jofas presumably make some of the most protective gear out there and their SPs look fairly lightweight.

As with sticks and skates, weight is the primary factor in a lot of purchasing decisions now. It's a lot easier for someone with very little real product knowledge to sell something that is lighter, you can feel weight. Otherwise it takes some product knowledge to show features and properly fit a customer for products.