from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

The National Hockey League and its Players’ Association have failed to agree on the new, streamlined goalie equipment, and it seems almost certain that the new gear will not be worn for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

Worse yet, insiders are openly questioning whether the new gear, promised to be in use for the 2016-17 season, will be used at all this coming season.

“It’s still a work in progress,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said at a WCOH news conference Wednesday. “I know our people in hockey operations are working very hard with the players’ association. I am hopeful that we can get it in place because I think it’s important.”...

Sources tell Sportsnet that despite unprecedented cooperation by the NHLPA, a small cadre of NHL goalies have managed to stall the process long enough that not a single NHL goalie has received gear fitting the hoped-for standards for the coming season.

The World Cup appears out of question, and it is believed enough goalies will make a case that they will be unable to adjust to the new equipment without a summer to assimilate, that the new standard could well be pushed back to September of 2017.

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