THE GOALIE EQUIPMENT. PADS, HELMETS, STICKS

The next position I will be focusing on is the Goalie. The Goalie Pads is a suitable title since that is all this post will focus on. A word of warning, if you are thinking of getting into the goalie position, it can be the most expensive position in hockey. Goalies need to be very well protected. You don't want to buy cheap equipment when you are playing in the net. Notable companies that make good goalie gear are Sherwood, Bauer, TPS, CCM, Reebok RBK, Nike and a few others.

First things first, I was never actually a good goalie. I was terrible at it. I never liked the idea of pucks flying at my face going 100mph even if I had the best equipment and pads in the world. I usually played forward. Sometimes I was center, because I was quick at faceoffs. I also played winger alot too. So, I'll have to share with you the opinions of friend who was goalie.

Goalies like to be protected so they can do their job. The helmet is a key ingredient in that. A buddy of mine used to use a helmet with a very short neck area. That means that the helmet left the neck exposed. He liked this because he was able to move his head around more freely. He was fine with this, until he got hit in the neck hard. At this point, he decided to switch to an I-Tech goalie helmet. The only problem he saw with the I-tech helmet was that the neck piece came down real low and often got in his way. He even talked about sanding it down. I'm guessing a normal neck protector for goalies would be good for most people though.

Now, lets get on to what everyone wants to hear about most, the leg pads. I remember when he first started out, he used the brand that most kids used when starting out playing street hockey. This brand was Franklin. They used velcro straps. These pads were ok, but they did begin to rip when he started to play more aggressively in goal. The next brand he got is what most kids have when they start playing in hockey leagues, Mylec. Mylec goalie pads were better. They had a foam on the inside, but a hard plastic covering on the outside. He really liked these pads, but always complained about the buckles pinching his legs. They did last long though.

The next items I won't be able to go into too much detail about, because I can't remember all the brands that he used. He used a Franklin waffle for the longest time, but then switched over to a leather Cooper waffle. He also went from a Franklin glove, to a leather Cooper glove. He used a chest protector as well that was for ice hockey goalies. One odd thing he liked was using regular ice hockey player pants, instead of goalie pants.

Another thing you will see when playing street hockey, is that the goalies always used to play in their shoes. I think my friend was one of the only people who almost exclusively played in skates. For the longest time he used CCM buckle skates. This posed problems for him, because these skates weren't meant for hockey players let alone goalies. The buckles on the skates would always flip open when he went down to make a save. Eventually he decided to buy trick skates, the kind skaters would use to grind down railings. The reason he chose these, were because they were low to the ground just like goalie skates. It was actually hard to find goalie inline skates back in the day.



The last thing I should mention is the stick he used. For a long time, he used a Mylec goalie stick. This was a wooden stick, with a plastic blade. I would never recommend these sticks if you plan to play seriously, weather your a goalie or normal player. They break and wear down easily. My friend eventually settled on a wooden Cooper stick that lasted awhile, but eventually broke. Since Cooper was no longer around and was bought out by another company, he decided to go with a Sherwood goalie stick. The Sherwood is still in use to this day. Hope this has been informative on the hockey equipment known as goalie pads.