What legal or illegal cheats do you all use to gain an advantage?

[35RoloSmith41]

I’ve heard of nhl goalies wearing 2 pairs of pants, sewing their pant legs together to create less of a hole between their legs, massive jersey to catch pucks in their armpits, untucked chestie, Garth snows 35+11 goalie pads…

 

what do you do to gain an advantage? 

[seagoal]

All my gear has gotten smaller and lighter over the years which gives me better mobility and makes me less tired.  Huge advantage

I moved past the "more gear means more saves" mindset several years ago.

[jerd31]

I've been systematically adding to my girth over a number of years to give me more net coverage.  

[johncho]

This is kinda timely, I just saw a youth goalie last night with a pair of Itech pants. It had ridges on the sidewall that looked like it added a few inches. 

https://www.hockeyworld.com/Itech-HP-4-8-Goal-Pants-Junior

[35RoloSmith41]

32 minutes ago, johncho said:

This is kinda timely, I just saw a youth goalie last night with a pair of Itech pants. It had ridges on the sidewall that looked like it added a few inches. 

https://www.hockeyworld.com/Itech-HP-4-8-Goal-Pants-Junior

Yeah I know brown makes pants that you can add those side ridges to. 

[ThatCarGuy]

3 hours ago, seagoal said:

All my gear has gotten smaller and lighter over the years which gives me better mobility and makes me less tired.  Huge advantage

I moved past the "more gear means more saves" mindset several years ago.

Same here. In the past few years I've gone down 2 sizes in leg pads and a size smaller in chest protectors.

That said I'll probably go up to a 32+2 or 32+2.5 and just get a softer pad. 32+1.5 is a little too short in the thigh rise and the warrior stock pad stiffness is too stiff for my taste. Going to switch to medium/medium stiffness.

In addition to sizing up my leg pads I've been thinking about going back to warrior pants since they're as wide as ccm but have the side cutout for less interference

[seagoal]

13 minutes ago, ThatCarGuy said:

Same here. In the past few years I've gone down 2 sizes in leg pads and a size smaller in chest protectors.

That said I'll probably go up to a 32+2 or 32+2.5 and just get a softer pad. 32+1.5 is a little too short in the thigh rise and the warrior stock pad stiffness is too stiff for my taste. Going to switch to medium/medium stiffness.

In addition to sizing up my leg pads I've been thinking about going back to warrior pants since they're as wide as ccm but have the side cutout for less interference

Yeah, for me sizing down and stiffer was so good for me with leg pads.  Pretty sure I dropped a size in my chestie too like 2 or 3 ago.  My pants have gone up a size but the internal belt on SLR pants was a huge bonus for me as a smaller guy.  Definitely went from 26 to 25 with my Warrior sticks which was a huge improvement as well.

The thing about adding stiffness or rigidity to custom Vaughn gear is that it adds so much weight and that made playing in it dreadful. 

Vaughn to Bauer Mach was exactly the evolution I needed....minus the glove wrist strap drama.  Ugh.  Custom Shadow here I come.

[35RoloSmith41]

1 hour ago, seagoal said:

Yeah, for me sizing down and stiffer was so good for me with leg pads.  Pretty sure I dropped a size in my chestie too like 2 or 3 ago.  My pants have gone up a size but the internal belt on SLR pants was a huge bonus for me as a smaller guy.  Definitely went from 26 to 25 with my Warrior sticks which was a huge improvement as well.

The thing about adding stiffness or rigidity to custom Vaughn gear is that it adds so much weight and that made playing in it dreadful. 

Vaughn to Bauer Mach was exactly the evolution I needed....minus the glove wrist strap drama.  Ugh.  Custom Shadow here I come.

What’s the glove wrist strap drama? 

[coopaloop1234]

11 minutes ago, 35RoloSmith41 said:

What’s the glove wrist strap drama? 

 

[seagoal]

39 minutes ago, 35RoloSmith41 said:

What’s the glove wrist strap drama? 

The drama is there is none and I wanted one.   ^ see above

 

[keeperton]

4 hours ago, 35RoloSmith41 said:

Yeah I know brown makes pants that you can add those side ridges to. 

I do not recommend this. That ridge can negatively impact seal/rotation in RVH sort of situations where one leans a bit more. Of course, it depends on the construction of the pad and the pant, but it's something I have experienced and was pretty annoyed when the ankle of my pad came up due to a forced under-rotation by the pant.

[ethanallen]

I have seen all sorts of cheats at stick and puck with older goalies. One guy had two sets of floaters on his chesty. He couldn't move that well so I thought it was a useless cheat.

[ser33]

I am big myself (190 cm) and all my equipment is size XL. and I can definitely say that it doesn't work much without playing technique. I have never used any cheats, I try to improve my technique and reaction. this is what really works

[IpaddyTECH]

7 hours ago, ser33 said:

I am big myself (190 cm) and all my equipment is size XL. and I can definitely say that it doesn't work much without playing technique. I have never used any cheats, I try to improve my technique and reaction. this is what really works

This is really interesting to know. ALMOST makes things seem more fair to this smaller goalie.  

I definitely second all of the "too big of gear = hindered mobility = more goals against" talk going on here. I have been sizing down throughout the years from 34" down to 32" pads and now I'm even toying with intermediate M5's which are 10.5 inches wide. For what it's worth, I think this topic is especially important for smaller goalies. I used to be tempted to make up for my smaller size with bulk, but the more I chisel my gear down,  the more I focus on technique (movement and quiet eyes) the faster and better I get, even without the bulk. 

But after all that I do admit I'm a cheater. I still use an old Vaughn Velocity V4 unit with these lovely armpit triangle cheaters. Muhaha. Can't really say if they make a huge difference, but how could they not help?

[Wonder35]

I too began to lighten my load by reducing the size of some gear. John Brown was good in making me a smaller C/A with short arms. With my arms extended any previous C/A's still pushed down into my gloves so I asked for a C/A that ended at the cuff of my gloves.

My BROWN pants were a harder sell. John believes in big, baggy Goal Pants, "extra stopping bulk". When I ordered mine with a smaller surface it never occurred that this overall reduction in size rendered his patterns useless, thus additional work for his staff.

I did though go for his advice in switching to 12" pads (2015). Being a 5'7" 'tender I found the additional width awkward. My body and goaltending style couldn't take advantage of the extra stopping area. I now use a set of 11" Vaughnn V3's, 32+2, well used.

So, my secret advantage over the shooters is to out think these mere mortals. Rather than adapt to the butterfly standard stances for each potential scoring opportunity I make use of my superior intellect and baffle these Gretzky wannabe's. I yell at them, throw the odd deke or begin to sing a favourite campfire song as they prepare to shoot. It works! Sure, they think I'm nuts but isn't that a goalies prerogative?

 

There, all my secrets revealed.

[mr_shifty1982]

XL pants, and I make my ccm premium pro chesty wings as wide as I can... those save pucks let me tell you. 

[ser33]

16 hours ago, IpaddyTECH said:

This is really interesting to know. ALMOST makes things seem more fair to this smaller goalie.  

I definitely second all of the "too big of gear = hindered mobility = more goals against" talk going on here. I have been sizing down throughout the years from 34" down to 32" pads and now I'm even toying with intermediate M5's which are 10.5 inches wide. For what it's worth, I think this topic is especially important for smaller goalies. I used to be tempted to make up for my smaller size with bulk, but the more I chisel my gear down,  the more I focus on technique (movement and quiet eyes) the faster and better I get, even without the bulk. 

But after all that I do admit I'm a cheater. I still use an old Vaughn Velocity V4 unit with these lovely armpit triangle cheaters. Muhaha. Can't really say if they make a huge difference, but how could they not help?

I agree with you because I think that the “advantage” of big goalkeepers is greatly exaggerated and, if it works, it only works in professional leagues. We have a different hockey for non-professionals. We have a guy who is, at most, as tall as Saros, and his height and weight (also small, respectively) make him incredibly mobile. With the exception of gloves, all his equipment is intermediate size. The dude is incredibly productive.

I can’t change the size of my equipment due to anthropometric data, pants of a smaller size simply won’t fit and the pads will no longer cover the 5th hole. However, I remembered that I still have one constant cheat. legal. On all my gloves I always enlarge the pocket, bringing the perimeter to legal sizes. many probably don’t know, but almost all retail gloves have a perimeter less than the legal one, which gives an additional 2-3 cm to increase the pocket

[IpaddyTECH]

12 hours ago, ser33 said:

I agree with you because I think that the “advantage” of big goalkeepers is greatly exaggerated and, if it works, it only works in professional leagues. We have a different hockey for non-professionals. We have a guy who is, at most, as tall as Saros, and his height and weight (also small, respectively) make him incredibly mobile. With the exception of gloves, all his equipment is intermediate size. The dude is incredibly productive.

I can’t change the size of my equipment due to anthropometric data, pants of a smaller size simply won’t fit and the pads will no longer cover the 5th hole. However, I remembered that I still have one constant cheat. legal. On all my gloves I always enlarge the pocket, bringing the perimeter to legal sizes. many probably don’t know, but almost all retail gloves have a perimeter less than the legal one, which gives an additional 2-3 cm to increase the pocket

That all makes a lot of sense. Honestly thank you for saying that. As I'm reflecting on this I feel more motivated to push myself to be a better goalie. Instead of looking at bigger goalies and sort of thinking "It's not physically possible for me to be as good as he is".

And another thing, technically bigger goalie's gear does weigh more. Whether that is negligible when you factor in proportions and strength I don't know, but all I can say is that's why I'm tempted to try some intermediate Bauer M5 pads. The senior pad weighs in at 5.1 lbs (2.3 kg) while the intermediate is 3.7 (1.7). That's more than 25% lighter. Not sure if I'll feel that difference very much but I'll take advantage of what I can.

I have to confess I don't really watch NHL hockey much. I had no idea Soros was only 5'11. I always loved Lundqvist partly because he's only 6'1 in a sea of 6'5 guys, but now I have a new hero haha! I might mess around with the pocket thing too sometime, but I have a G6.1 and it has the largest visual pocket of any on the market that I'm aware of. Not a single pop out yet... feels like cheating compared to my last glove haha

[coopaloop1234]

1 minute ago, IpaddyTECH said:

I have to confess I don't really watch NHL hockey much. I had no idea Soros was only 5'11. I always loved Lundqvist partly because he's only 6'1 in a sea of 6'5 guys, but now I have a new hero haha! I might mess around with the pocket thing too sometime, but I have a G6.1 and it has the largest visual pocket of any on the market that I'm aware of. Not a single pop out yet... feels like cheating compared to my last glove haha

Always subtract 2-3" from the official height listing of any pro athlete. Especially NHL goalies. 

Soros is my height at 5'9"

[creasecollector]

On 10/31/2023 at 2:03 PM, johncho said:

This is kinda timely, I just saw a youth goalie last night with a pair of Itech pants. It had ridges on the sidewall that looked like it added a few inches. 

https://www.hockeyworld.com/Itech-HP-4-8-Goal-Pants-Junior

Wore these when I was younger. Those ridges on the side defintely saved a few goals over the years...  

[johncho]

2 hours ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Always subtract 2-3" from the official height listing of any pro athlete. Especially NHL goalies. 

Soros is my height at 5'9"

Jake Allen's height is accurate, 6'1.5 and Price's probably correct too 6'3 having stood near them at 6'

[coopaloop1234]

3 minutes ago, johncho said:

Jake Allen's height is accurate, 6'1.5 and Price's probably correct too 6'3 having stood near them at 6'

Ok DeSantis 

[Chenner29]

[IpaddyTECH]

19 hours ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Always subtract 2-3" from the official height listing of any pro athlete. Especially NHL goalies. 

Soros is my height at 5'9"

Seriously? That's crazy to me. I'm 5'8.5 ... guess I shoulda tried harder haha!

[tubby34]

33+4