11" Pad Question

[Gummer12 134]

Has anyone heard any info on if or when either USA Hockey or MHSAA is going to adopt the new 11" rule? I ask mainly out of curiosity, but also I'm going to be buying some new pads in the near future, and just curious what route to take.

Edit: Follow up Q, if USA Hockey adopts it, to what extent are they going to apply it? Will it just be Midget and under? Or will it work it's way into the Adult Leagues as well?

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

I believe it has passed. Couple of the HS goalies around here are getting new gear to be up to spec.

[Gummer12 134]

If so, how Closely do you think they are going to be checking this? I know it's more of a request type of measurement like sticks, but how enforcive are they gonna be, esp early in the year, and once again come playoffs?

One of our HS tenders just got a complete custom set of Itechs for last year. Spent a Big chunk of change for it. Doubt his parents are going to be happy if they gotta turn around and replace them.

[cook22 0]

wait does that mean gloves too, or does it just mean 11 inch pads, and about the pads does that mean that the landing gear has to be nhl spec too?

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

Everything - pads, glove/blocker, C/A

[eddyo57 0]

i am from michigan, i have never heard one thing about them switching this coming year, i know most junior leagues are making it a rule this year but i beleive high school still has one more year with the 12 in pads.

[thehighlife 0]

I beleive that all sanctioned USA hockey will have to comply with the new equipment sizing for the 2008 2009 season. That leaves one more full season before the switch. Last I checked all of the equipment manufactures are currently producing NHL spec equipment for retail and no longer make 12" pads unless they are custom. All equipment will fall under this rule, pads, gloves, blocker, goalie pants and chest protectors

[Law Goalie 147]

It should be pointed out that the visual difference between 11" and 12" pads is only immediately apparent in flat, squared-off pads. I continually get asked whether my pads are 12", and they're a Bauer Supreme set J.S. Aubin used last year with the Marlies - necessarily NHL legal.

[jimmy 194]

The pads are hard to tell the difference, but the catch glove is very noticable, it is SOOOOO small. Next season, pretty much everyone but beer leagues will be 11". ANd don't believe those folks who say you have better maneuverability with the 11's. They suck, you will let in more goals, period. Duh, that's why the NHL went to them.

[vision 0]

jimmy,

Speculation or have you played in 11 inch pads?

Law,

Visually it is just the opposite. It is the more traditional pads, see ryan miller, that appear narrower then their 11 inches.

::m

[Law Goalie 147]

Shrug. My Supremes are actually narrower than 11" at the boot and thigh, and I continually get complaints; another guy who wears full 38" x 11" pads and plays almost entirely in the fly, and nobody ever says a word about his gear. Probably has something to do with the fact that he switched down from 12" wide RBKs this year, and I switched up from 10.5" antique Brown pads.

I think what's really going on in this subjective determination of width has more to do with height and thickness than measurable width: a tall, thin 11"-wide pad looks 'skinny', while a shorter (say, 36") and thicker (traditional) pad looks 'fat'.

[eddyo57 0]

completely agree, shorter goalies get the low end of that because every pad they buy looks 15 inches wide.... look at jeff lerg those things look like squares. But again on the rule change i am near 100% positive that the rules don't happen until the season after this coming one.

[jimmy 194]

jimmy,

Speculation or have you played in 11 inch pads?

Law,

Visually it is just the opposite. It is the more traditional pads, see ryan miller, that appear narrower then their 11 inches.

::m

Ah, ya. And 10" too. And when I went to 12" my GAA went down. This isn't rocket science folks, more width equals more blocking area and more net covered with angles. Duh. why do you think the NHL and all others are mandating the smaller pads, so goalies can be more maneuverable? Stop drinking the cool-aid, it's to let more goals in, no other reason at al.

[vision 0]

Do 12" pads have more blocking area then 11" pads of the same height? Sure. Does that automatically mean fewer goals? Nope. The NHL's reasons for mandating the change are immaterial. If there had been a single change in the NHL, ie the pad width, then we could make an extrapolation on the effect on a goaltender but it is NOT. NHL-caliber goalies have embraced the change and, almost to a man, have praised the increases in mobility that the narrower pads have brought.

::m

[jimmy 194]

Make it optional in the NHL, 11 or 12. Let's see how many pick the 11's.

[hockeyplaya97 0]

Then the goalies will adapt to having 11" pads. Do you think they will then mandate it to be 10"pads? And so forth?

[Netminder32 32]

Can you imagine how the retailers would absolutely loose their minds if after bringing in the 11" pads the NHL then switched to 10". :o

MOST retailers still have a number of 12" pads on the shelf which will be harder to sell now and have an all new inventory of 11" pads as well. If those become obsolete also I'm pretty sure there will be a retailer uprising.

Not to mention all the end users caught in the middle of the spec changes.

[Gummer12 134]

One of the goalie mom's this mornin said she heard someone say they won't be Completely enforcing the 11" until '09, at least in the USA Hockey realm. But she is a bit of a nut, so who knows for sure.

[vision 0]

Why is that a bad decision? USAH has a history of putting rule changes out every two years and that would make 09 the next year that we would expect it. On the plus side, it gives all the parents of goalies plenty of warning about when they will need to make the expenditure and if they are going to need to replace/upgrade between then and now, looking at new-spec gear might make sense.

::m

[sogaduch 0]

Why is that a bad decision? USAH has a history of putting rule changes out every two years and that would make 09 the next year that we would expect it. On the plus side, it gives all the parents of goalies plenty of warning about when they will need to make the expenditure and if they are going to need to replace/upgrade between then and now, looking at new-spec gear might make sense.

::m

only downside is I think hockey canada is having the rule come into play in 08 from what ive heard so not sure if this will mean that american teams coming up will need nhl regulation sized stuff

[vision 0]

While it would have been nice for the two sanctioning bodies to have put the rule in place simultaneously, I'm sure that there are reasons that they didn't, none of which will make sense to a normal person, or even a forward.

My guess is that any US team traveling north for a hockey canada event will have to comply with their rules.

::m