from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,

Goal scoring in today’s NHL is on par with what it was in the early ’60s. For all the game’s added speed, power, and flash, goal scoring today is where it was in the leather-skate and wooden-stick era. One of the game’s greatest entertainment factors has been greatly diminished.

Will the nip and tuck in goalie equipment help change that trend? Probably not.

“We have no expectations with regards to goal scoring,” said Whitmore, “and realize it could actually make the goalies quicker and better.”

He could be right. The use of lightweight, highly protective material in the manufacturing of goalie equipment over the last 30-plus years has helped revolutionize the position. Trimming back pants and various pads may take away a goalie’s bulk blocking ability, but it could allow the goalie to be faster, more agile, potentially negating whatever net gain in goal scoring might have been realized from downsized equipment

Goalies in Davidson’s playing days, for instance, wore heavy leg pads filled with horsehair. Wrapped in leather, they absorbed water, adding weight that made it more difficult to move.

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