Tony Esposito had NOTHING to do with wire on masks ! Russian Goalie TRETIAK in 1972 was the first to show and wear a wire mask attached to his helmut ! Before Espo was Phil Myre and a few other NHL goalies were the first to then attach the wire mask to the regular fibre glass masks that we see and are used by every goalie today !
My first 'pro' goalie pads were Cooper GP59s, cow leather stuffed with deer hair. Chest-arm pads were wool felt with little rubber patches sewn onto elbows. They were heavy, got soaked and smelly from sweat but would last a century. First mask was a catcher's cage. No foam, no plastic, no carbon fiber sticks with varying flex. Couldn't believe the difference in weight from the Cooper to the Vaughn foam. Better living through chemistry!
You forgot to to indicate that the first proper cage mask where the helmet masks introduced by Soviet Goalie Tretiak when they played against Montreal in 1975 they were more primitive; goalies wearing this masks was mike Vernon, ken wregget among others, then the mask became the fibre glass modern styles we see today
It was the WHA that started the cage era. Needing talent the WHA brought European players. That is when I first saw goalies with helmets and cages. Much safer.
Curved goalie sticks were in the NHL by the late 60's- early 70's. I went to a small day hockey camp in 1973 that was run by Billy and Gordie Smith. Billy (yes THAT Billy Smith) had a curved goalie stick.
A couple of corrections 1) plastic wasn't invented till 1907, so it couldn't have been used in goalie eq prior to that as stated, 2) the correct name is "Gerry Cheevers" not Eddie, 3) Teiji Honma, of the 1936 Japanese Olympic Ice Hockey team, wore a goalie mask with a cage over his face and eyes. However, it is a nice overview. I started playing goal in 1970 and still play today. I've been more of a "Gump Worsley" model of a goalie, rather than a Ben Bishop model.
You did not mention,that Vaughn,and Brown,and others,made a super light arm and chest protecter! I used the old felt and wool arm pads and chest protecter,and when these came out in the early 80s they were a god send.I had many a bruise,some would bleed ,the equipment I used in the 1960s compared to the 1980s was so much better,lighter,and protective.The Micron goalie skates were heavy,buy very protective!
I get wanting larger pads, however personally I wear one size smaller. My style requires as much movement as possible so I need as little bulk as possible. My only complaint about my leg pads is they need to add more cushioning to the landing area for your knees. I get really bad bruising on my knee caps from dropping unless I have volleyball knee pads on under my leg pads. I'm sure they could come up with some type of internal system that cradles and cushions the knee cap area.
still think equipment is to big . i miss the old pads from the 80,s todays goalies look like robots they all look the same in the 80s you could tell a goalie from a distance depending on helmet or mask and equipment
i don't mind the thick goalie pads but these pads are way too wide and covers too much, isn't there a way to reduce the width of the pads while not making then thinner for protection?
much incorrect information here , 1st plastic was not invented in 1896, the goalie glove was introduced in 1939 to 1940 when the Rangers won the cup , shortly following the win the Goalie glove became more developed into the bear paw glove . Need to do better research !
In the 70's, our upper body protection was mostly thick cheese cloth, with a baseball chest protector. About every other shot, to the arms, hurt and frequently left a bruise. Modern goalie gear is so protective, that you no longer think of blinking, because you don't expect anything to hurt.
I put on my first pair of goalie pads in 1981........And YES, gear has come a long way. ......BUT........I kind of miss the 1980's and 1990's goalies. Today everyone moves the same, look's the same, is about the same size. Equipment is the same. Everyone wear's mask's instead of some with mask's some with helmet/cage. You almost never see poke's check's, pad stack's , kick saves of Hasek style roll's. Where are the unique character's? Anyway, as far as actual gear, I would say the leg pad's are the biggest difference, Not just in construction but the fact that they used to be strapped so they would more or less stay in line with your knee and foot. (better for pad stack's) Today they are so loose. They rotate around the leg at the slightest bend. THAT , plus chesties getting much better changed the entire movement pattern's of the position.......Just my 2 cents.....thanks for listening.
