Potential game-changing innovation

[Law Goalie 147]

I'll let the man speak for himself.

I have received a 12 month provisional patent ( patent pending status) on my design innovation related to goalie pads.

I would dare say that it is simple yet elegant in its design and solves one of the largest problems with previous designs.

It is NHL legal and in development as we speak.

It will change goaltending to a greater degree than the profly did.

It works for all levels of goaltending.

If you understand my philosophy on the goaltender's true job you will be heading in the right direction regarding my innovation.

To my friends who are aware of the concept please keep details under wraps until I release the photos, prototype videos and full descriptions.

I will be shortly entering into an exclusive agreement with one manufacturer to use my proprietary design.

We have a very ironclad patent description and because of the design simplicity the patent can be easily enforced and will be vigorously protected from the those that enjoy the copy route. It isn't one of those ideas where you can't change the idea a little to get around the patent. That is the beauty of the design.

As many of you know most pad changes are copied and never really patented because of the BS involved and the expense of defending a patent. This won't be the case here.

One thing I can promise you, there won't be clones or cheaper versions. There will be one major company with exclusive rights. In the case a company that will protect that exclusivity.

To the curious. It will be a game changer that drops GAA at least a goal a game.

At the end of the day you will shake your head at the simplicity and the effectiveness of it. ...and ask yourself " Why didn't I think of that?"

Future Pro Live - Hockey Goalie Resources

Provisional Patent Application Summary : Rebound Control Pads

Description of the Problem

Ice Hockey goaltending pads are currently designed with an inherent flaw. The goaltender’s skill in using them to make successful saves, causes an inordinate amount of unpreventable lucrative rebounds. While in the butterfly position, shots off the shin and boot break area of the pads are returned out into play softly, flat on the ice and in prime secondary scoring areas.

Description of the Solution

My innovative design alters the purpose of the pad by altering 3 core areas of the pads design in a substantial, yet cosmetically similar manner and fulfilling the legal pad requirements as per the NHL rulebook. They do not in any manner improve the ability of the goaltender to stop the puck.

This design creates a pad that will allow all levels of goaltenders to virtually control all rebounds automatically while in the butterfly position by automatically elevating and directing rebounds out of danger.

These pads control the puck rather than the historically flawed purpose of stopping the puck.

Details of the Solution

The proprietary nature of my design involves 3 core elements working synergistically:

1) An 8 – 10 degree tilt back of the face of the pad in the shin and boot break area (viewed while in the butterfly) will create elevation in the rebound making the puck difficult to handle for the attackers. ( the provisional patent covers ANY angle past vertical up to 45 degrees tilt back so no one else pads EVER in the future can have ANY tilt back.)

2) A hyper rebound consistency in the materials used on the face of the pad in the shin and boot break area. This will create a high coefficient of restitution so that initial velocity of the puck will be retained as much as possible. As a result the rebound off the pad will now not only be elevated, it will have a high degree of initial velocity making the resulting rebound even more impossible to handle for the attackers.

3) The final core element is a fundamental redesign of the edge of the pad that contacts the ice while in the butterfly. My design incorporates a relatively sharp edge making a well sealed contact with the ice from the knee to the end of the boot break break. This feature aids in getting the puck up on the face of the pad.

Summary

My design will improve goaltenders of all levels immensely by altering the purpose and deployment of the pad while they maintain original optics and are fully legal according to current NHL regulations.

They are cosmetically and graphically very similar to normal pads and the tilt back is so subtle it is quite unnoticeable unless you are looking for it.

These pads make any rebounds off the shin or boot break unmanageable because they add three key elements into the rebound; elevation, direction and velocity maintenance.

Provisional patent (ie. patent pending) in the U.S. and application filed in Canada; presumably EU is just a matter of time, although it may not be financially worthwhile.

Contrary to the statement that he's in talks with one manufacturer for exclusive rights, he's meeting with both Vaughn and Reebok; TPS/Sherwood was "too small" to get into it.

Keeks' guesstimate is one goal-per-game reduction, or roughly 18%. That probably makes this both a brilliant idea and something that Bettman will have Whitmore ban in about ten seconds. On the other hand, having Reebok backing him could make Bettman think twice; Reebok is a lot bigger than the NHL, and they might not take kindly to his interference. One of the reasons John McLeod's OverDrive blades were squashed so quickly is that he had no backing, apart form a few individual players.

For a rough idea of how the lower edge (engaged with the ice) *might* behave, here's a similar idea in execution - but please bear in mind, this is somebody else' design, not a prototype of the pads under discussion:

Now, these pads do not appear to constitute prior art (and they were designed and built by a lawyer, so if they do, Keeks will hear about it! :) ), however, there have been a couple of suggestions that the old Vaughn Legacy pads with the 'O' design had an elevated/angled shin that *might* qualify as prior art, as might the pads of the now-defunct Sever Goaltending. Neither of those had patents filed.

[LivHockey84 0]

great idea...but Betman wants MORE scoring not LESS

[K9 Unit 1]

i'm still waiting for your pad designs law

anyways, the "groundbreaking" thing is that he's tilting the pad a bit? i could've done that if i knew anything about pads other than how to make them look good :P

[McDougalfaschnitzer 32]

I think the pad face will have to be extremely rigid for that idea to work. If the material gives a little bit, it seems like the puck impact would just compress the pad face at the area of impact and make the upward angle not as effective as promised.

[IniNew 53]

I think the pad face will have to be extremely rigid for that idea to work. If the material gives a little bit, it seems like the puck impact would just compress the pad face at the area of impact and make the upward angle not as effective as promised.

That's why they are filling the pads with materials designed to keep the initial velocity of the puk.

[Gummer12 134]

I think the pad face will have to be extremely rigid for that idea to work. If the material gives a little bit, it seems like the puck impact would just compress the pad face at the area of impact and make the upward angle not as effective as promised.

Which is why RBK could be a decent fit for this design.

[Law Goalie 147]

Very true, wex, although my understanding is that the design that is being shown to Vaughn and Reebok includes material specifications. Prototypes have been tested in Stratford for some time now.

I think the pad face will have to be extremely rigid for that idea to work. If the material gives a little bit, it seems like the puck impact would just compress the pad face at the area of impact and make the upward angle not as effective as promised.

That's why they are filling the pads with materials designed to keep the initial velocity of the puk.

It's definitely intended to be rigid. The whole idea is to keep the speed of the puck as high as possible as it comes off the face of the pad. The idea (basically) is to use an L-shaped piece of hard, dense foam (my speculation would be EPP) for the body, and another sheet of very high density foam to connect the sides of the L together, roughly like so -- L\ -- and the interior space is filled in. I suspect the sheet in the face will be HD110, or a lamination of foam and very thin plastic.

Ideally, even shots that are dead-flat to the ice should be ramped up - that's the biggest advantage of this design by far, since those shots generate the easiest rebounds to pot.

My sole present concern about this design, from a construction and durability standpoint, is that an edge of foam as hard and sharp as Keeks intends would be very likely to slice through the Jenpro on the face of the pad along the medial edge quite quickly. More to the point, any of the tricks commonly employed to stop edges from cutting through with time and abrasion - rounding and bevelling the foam, using multiple layers of nylon and thin LD foam (like headliner) - will all decrease the effectiveness of that edge as it presses to the ice in the butterfly, since they all work to blunt it. Having said that, I'd fairly confident, given who he's been consulting with, that this was a problem they have already figured out, and found the right combination to keep the edge as sharp as possible without sacrificing durability.

I'm also a little uneasy about the economics of this for smaller pad-builders who would have to pay to license this, but that's a pretty speculative concern.

great idea...but Betman wants MORE scoring not LESS

Like I said in the original post... if and when it's adopted, there certainly will be a move to suppress it, which is exactly why having Reebok on board is such a big deal, as I said.

i'm still waiting for your pad designs law

anyways, the "groundbreaking" thing is that he's tilting the pad a bit? i could've done that if i knew anything about pads other than how to make them look good :P

Haha - I don't have the wherewithal. I'm strictly an appreciative critic. :)

It's an incredibly simple idea. It's also going to work beautifully.

[DCott 0]

Think Bettman's only shot at sinking this is the safety issue. If the rebounds are (nearly) as fast as the shot itself and will intentionally be directed up toward at player's faces, I could see an issue.

[GimpIndustries 1]

There are many other markets besides the NHL.

[Law Goalie 147]

I'm really not seeing the safety issue. An 8 to 10 degree tilt is going to put pucks to groin height at maximum. A ramped stick is still going to be the only way to get a shot up into somebody's teeth. And, in any event, the pads will never be as hard as a composite stick blade.

If Bettman wants, he can easily have this banned. Copy and paste the language of the patent describing the specific of the invention, and qualify it as illegal. Done and done. This is exactly what the "contrivance" catch-all is there for. Goalies are allowed a certain number of contrivances beyond protection to help them control the puck (glove webbing, glove cuff, blocker board, about 60% of a pad's width, and the paddle and oversized blade of the stick), and anything beyond those that can help them in any way, the league can ban.

Frankly, Reebok would probably love them for enforcing a flat-faced pad rule, because flat-faced pads are far and away the easiest kind to construct. For one, they wouldn't have to make Ryan Miller his H10 chimera-pads any more. Brodeur would be grandfathered, of course.

[Gwyren 0]

Now, these pads do not appear to constitute prior art (and they were designed and built by a lawyer, so if they do, Keeks will hear about it! :) ), however, there have been a couple of suggestions that the old Vaughn Legacy pads with the 'O' design had an elevated/angled shin that *might* qualify as prior art, as might the pads of the now-defunct Sever Goaltending. Neither of those had patents filed.

I do not know anything about the pads you are referring to, but a prior art does not require a patent.

Keek's concept is pretty interesting and I really look forward to seeing testing/demonstration videos.

[shooter27 116]

To me (a non-goalie) it really just looks like the thin strip that they have always put on the outside of pads now placed on the inside. And, to be honest, I've always wondered if putting that strip on the inside of the pad would ever make any difference. If it does what it says it does I certainly see the benefit, but if it truly performs as well as its said to then I have no doubt the NHL will ban it. Given the attempt to increase scoring then my guess is they will ban any addition to goaltending equipment that is meant to be a "contrivance" and not directly related to safety, Reebok behind it or not. While Reebok is bigger than the NHL as a business, the NHL can survive without Reebok in hockey, while if Reebok really wants to be in hockey (a separate discussion altogether) they won't survive without the NHL.

I also wouldn't be surprised to see equipment scaled back even further in the future, most likely to the dimensions that tenders from the early-mid '80's wore.

[Law Goalie 147]

Exactly - that contrivance clause lets them ban anything they want to. Hell, they could decide to ban the T-web or the blocker board tomorrow.

By no means am I saying this will fly. If, however, it does, I think the goal-per-game reduction is probably about right.

Now, these pads do not appear to constitute prior art (and they were designed and built by a lawyer, so if they do, Keeks will hear about it! :) ), however, there have been a couple of suggestions that the old Vaughn Legacy pads with the 'O' design had an elevated/angled shin that *might* qualify as prior art, as might the pads of the now-defunct Sever Goaltending. Neither of those had patents filed.

I do not know anything about the pads you are referring to, but a prior art does not require a patent.

That's true, but the above pads don't have the face angled, nor, in fact did the Legacies or the Sever pads, in the way that the invention describes. The lack of a filing just helps to illustrate that these were, at best, partial inventions.

To me (a non-goalie) it really just looks like the thin strip that they have always put on the outside of pads now placed on the inside. And, to be honest, I've always wondered if putting that strip on the inside of the pad would ever make any difference.

Not to quibble, but you're looking at the pictures, not the text. The pictures are of somebody else's experimental pads, which I just posted to illustrate what the lower/inside edge would look like.

[Law Goalie 147]

Doubled.

[srv2miker 0]

I think boasting that it will drop at least 1 gaa from every goalie is a little much. I can see how this will prevent some goal-scoring opportunities; those nice cushy rebounds 3-4 feet from the crease. But, I can also see more goals hitting the pads, hitting a player in front, and deflecting in. Normally the velocity of the puck is low enough that it would hit the player and then die, but if pucks are coming off the pads as hard as he says they are, directly in shin pads or pants, I could see more bad bounces going in.

[Law Goalie 147]

Where the 1 GAA comes from is the NHL specifically; he's basically just counting the number of low shots that come off the pad - especially off the boot - right back out along the ice into a prime scoring area, if not right onto the stick of an attacker. I'd say there's at least one per game like that on average.

What he's still playing around with is primarily the angle of the pad-face. The ideal arrangement would, I imagine, put the majority of rebounds above the height of a normal player's skate (which would also, of course, be above the height of a stick-blade), but below the thigh (ie. below where the pant-legs stop). By doing that, you keep rebounds away from the two most likely scoring means (off a stick-blade, or off a skate turned sideways), but below the bulk of the player's core body. While it's certainly fun to bag player with rebounds (deflected passes are great for this), you are absolutely right that raising the rebounds that high would result in a large increase in the number of goals going in off bodies.

It's hard to speculate, but I suspect the pads will end up on the lower end of that 8-10 degree range.

Rebounds are nasty things. My current pro-return Bauer pads really soak them up, which I love, but every once in a while a very hard shot generate one of those brutal 3-4' sitting-ducks. Conversely, the RBKs I've tried have a habit of booting most of those harder shots away far and fast enough to keep most beer-leaguers off their trail; a quick snapshot or a chip in close, however, often produces a big, fat rebound in that 3-4' zone that would have stuck to my pads.

IME, you either have to really go to one extreme and try to create a pad that actually absorbs pucks, or find one that blasts them out as hard as possible, in order to make any big improvement.

[shooter27 116]

Not to quibble, but you're looking at the pictures, not the text. The pictures are of somebody else's experimental pads, which I just posted to illustrate what the lower/inside edge would look like.

Fair enough, my point was more about the fact that I've always wondered what the effect would be of putting something like this on the inside of the pad.

Secondary question, if the NHL rejects the pad (which would most likely lead to - at the very least - the NCAA and Junior leagues to reject it, possibly all of USA Hockey) will they still put the idea into production for goalies that fall outside the jurisdiction of those governing bodies or will it die on the drawing board?

[Law Goalie 147]

As of now, his plan if a ban goes into effect would be to offer it at least as a custom option, and more than likely at retail. It doesn't cost anything extra to build. As a beer-leaguer, I'd seriously consider it, and I know a ton of guys who would order it in a heartbeat.

[adam14 182]

But wont players just adapt there shooting technique if they need to? Instead of keeping it on the ice, life it 3 inches and its over the ramp and will still bounce out flat on the ice, sure it'll come out faster but the rebounds will still be there. Unless I'm missing something else.

[Law Goalie 147]

Adam, I think you may be missing the same thing I pointed out to shooter27: the pictures I posted, by way of illustration, are NOT a prototype of this design under discussion. The pictures are of a totally unrelated pair of pads that someone else cobbled together some time ago. The only reason I posted them was to illustrate what the bottom edge of the described design *might* look like, since I didn't think the description was terribly clear in this respect.

Keeks' idea is to angle the *entire* face of the pad backwards and to make it generate much harder rebounds, rather than trying to absorb that energy. This will add elevation and remove minimal velocity from any shot, whether right along the ice or 9" high. The whole idea is to generate rebounds that won't touch the ice anywhere near the net.

[Jordan 13]

Where the 1 GAA comes from is the NHL specifically; he's basically just counting the number of low shots that come off the pad - especially off the boot - right back out along the ice into a prime scoring area, if not right onto the stick of an attacker. I'd say there's at least one per game like that on average.

Yes...but on the other side of the scoring/non-scoring ledger he isn't counting the number rebounds that the defence can currently handle that get harmlessly removed from the slot.

[Law Goalie 147]

Yes...but on the other side of the scoring/non-scoring ledger he isn't counting the number rebounds that the defence can currently handle that get harmlessly removed from the slot.

He is, in fact. Those would be classed as "not right onto the stick of an attacker," or "not into a prime scoring area."

My guess (and this is just a guess) is that a defenceman's effective save-percentage (that is, how many times he can cleanly handle and clear a rebound in these situations) is a lot less than .900 - and thus, not up to standards.

The only goalie I've ever seen who can reliably pass a rebound of a pad to his defence during a real scoring chance - and I'm not talking about a dump-in from outside the blueline that happens to hit the net - is Marty Brodeur. Almost every other goalie will need a longer read and a less threatening shot, for which they can usually catch the puck in front of their pads or get the blocker down to direct it.

[sh0ck3d 0]

This discussion prompted me to dig around for nhl stats of goals from rebounds as percentage of total goals. I found nothing useful, just a vauge reference here.

Anyone know of a good resource for this?

[OmegaGoalie 9]

They remind me of Aeroflex pads lol