For years, the NHL has been fixated on finding ways to increase scoring.
The league has done everything from moving the blue line to allowing two-line passes to making goalies cut down what used to be insanely large pads.
By the numbers
Well, the next tweak is upon us, with the league finally enforcing a rule it enacted last off-season that forces goalies to wear pants that are proportional to each player’s size.
All teams must be in compliance by Saturday, Feb. 4.
“They all look big to me,” smiling Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell said of the league’s netminders. “It’s good. They should be chopping their gear down even more.”
The biggest difference with the new pants is the padding on the inside isn’t as thick and they aren’t as flat in front.
“Before the pucks would go to the corner,” said Tampa Bay’s Ben Bishop, who has been wearing them since about mid-November. “But now they’re more contoured, so they kind of glance off into the net.”
Whether this is going to make a big difference is open for debate, but Bishop is as good a test candidate as there is considering how long he’s been wearing them.
In Bishop’s first three seasons as the Lightning’s starter, his save percentages were .924, .916 and .926, and he allowed 2.23, 2.32 and 2.06 goals per game.
This year? Those numbers are .905 and 2.78.
Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford wore the new pants for the first time in Washington on Jan. 13, and he gave up 5 goals in a 6-0 loss. Scott Darling, meanwhile, wore them for the first time during last Tuesday’s morning skate before the Hawks played Tampa Bay.
He did not wear them Thursday when he started the Hawks’ 5-3 loss Youwin to Winnipeg.
Crawford doesn’t believe the new pants will do much to increase scoring, but Darling isn’t so sure.
“It’s going to affect a lot of goalies,” Darling said. “Guys are going to have noticeably smaller pants on because you see a smaller guy, or a really skinny guy, wearing the biggest pants he can find. And now he’s not going to be able to do that.
“I’m interested to see how it affects some guys, but me personally — and Corey too — we haven’t worn oversized pants so it’s really not that big of a difference.”
There have been some complaints about the league mandating the change midseason because some teams have played 4-5 fewer games than others.
Arizona’s Mike Smith certainly voiced his displeasure to the entire process during all-star weekend when he told NHL. com: “I tried them once. That’s as far as I got. To have an equipment change midseason is crazy, especially in the goaltending position.
“It’s like five, 10 years ago, when it was the True Religion jeans, really baggy. It’s like going from those to skinny jeans. You can’t bend over. I tried it one time, and it felt like it was really restrictive.”
After that morning skate last week, Darling said he got hit twice in spots that has less padding and “the puck hurts more. … It’s not excruciating. It hit the leg, you know? But you’re used to having protection, so you’re not expecting it and you feel it.”
As for Bishop, he liked how the new pants felt, and that’s why he stuck with them. He also said his fellow netminders “won’t be able to tell the difference” after a couple weeks.
The question is, will the league be able to tell a difference on the scoreboards in the seasons ahead?
• Follow John on Twitter @johndietzdh
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