Oh how far we’ve come. Today I wanted to just take a trip down memory lane and look back at the evolution of goalie equipment through the decades. Might as well just get right into it.
1920s
Well… definitely different than what we’re used to seeing today. The stick is essentially the same shape as it is today, but everything else is drastically different. The leg pads are so thin, and the gloves are basically player’s gloves. Obviously there is no mask, but it definitely sticks out to me that there is little to no upper body protection. Although this was back before goalies were allowed to go down to stop shots, and before guys were ripping 100 mph clappers at you.
1930s
Really not much progression from the 20s to 30s. Everything is still basically the same. The leg pads look a little bit wider, but other than that, I can’t spot any other differences.
1940s
Okay, definitely some changes from the previous decade. The only constant so far has been the stick. The leg pads are significantly wider, and may be even wider than the allowed width today. The gloves are certainly more padded, but are still more in the style of players gloves. We’ve added some upper body protection as well, and the hip pads seem to be a little thicker. Maybe guys were learning to shoot the park harder in this decade.
1950s
Some noticeable developments in the gloves between the 40s and 50s. The right hand glove is definitely starting to resemble the blocker that we know and love today, it just looks much softer. It also looks like the left hand glove can finally be used as a catching glove. It definitely resembles a baseball catcher’s mitt, just with extended forearm padding. To me, this seems to be the turning point for the glove and blocker.
1960s
So here we have our first mask, albeit a pretty minimal one. Based on the new inclusion of the mask and bulkier upper body protection, I’d say that guys have really figured out how to roof the puck by now. The blocker is the classic “waffleboard” style and even more resembles today’s blocker. The catching glove is now somewhere in between catcher’s mitt and the modern catching glove. Looks like the leg pads thinned out a bit since the 40s.
1970s
This post is a perfect encapsulation of goalie equipment in the 70s. The guy in this photo is Gerry Cheevers, and he was the first goalie to have any design on his mask (he painted stitchmarks everytime he took a puck off of the face). This cage offers a little more facial protection than the one from the 60s. At this point, the blocker and glove are definitely progressing more towards the modern styles. That being said, leg pads are still that same brown leather and have not had drastic changes since the 20s.
1980s
Leg pads are finally starting to move towards a more modern look, and by that I mean they finally have color. You can see the slow progression of the blocker and glove towards today’s design. The upper body protection and hip pads seem to be pretty similar to what we wear now. And now in the 80s, we finally have a full helmet and cage, offering full facial and cranial protection.
1990s
When I see pictures of goalies from the 90s, I always see bold patterns and colors on the leg pads. Everyone definitely wanted something with color as opposed to the predominantly white pads we see today. The mask is very similar to the one we wear today, and we even see the adoption of the modern throat protector. The leg pads are certainly wider than they are allowed to be now, but overall a very similar design to today’s gear.
2000s
Not much different from what we see in 2015. Although we still saw quite a bit of pad sets with the knee rolls shown in the above photo in the 2000s. Not too much of that is still around, unless the pads are a “vintage” style.
2010s
So while we really only saw some gradual changes from decade to decade, you can really see how far equipment has come. Pad sets today are predominantly white, and typically don’t have the knee rolls. Carey Price is seen sporting these CCM pads which are one of only a handful of pads that have the knee rolls. Most of what we see today is more of a flat front pad, specifically from companies like Bauer and Reebok (now bought out by CCM). I have to admit, I’m very happy I play goalie in the decade that I do, because our equipment looks damn good.
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