Recent events are making it quite clear that goaltenders are now clearly in the NHL's sights. Not only regarding rule changes that would disallow them to handle the puck, but a lot of talk has focused on goalie equipment. It doesn't talk much to see that what a goalie wore 30, 20, and even 10 years ago was a lot 'less' than today. Pads, blockers, trappers, pads, etc have all grown to a point where goalies are usually wearing XXXL jerseys and seem like behemoths.

But one has to ask why this change in equipment has taken place? One possible reason could be a change in style. Back in the day when goalies were standing up, their upper body wasn't really a means to make saves. That is, a stand up goalie will most likely see shots that were either low or for the corners, not towards the shoulders. With the butterfly style that sees goalies going down, the upper body (chest, arms, shoulders) are now an intricate part of making the save.

High shots to the top corners are much easier to defend if they just deflect off your shoulders, than using the blocker and trapper. Another thing we need to consider is the strenght and equioment used by the other 10 players on the ice. Not only are players bigger and stronger, but they have much better equipment. Their protective gear is lighter and the sticks are more high-tech than ever before. Gone are the days of the wooden hockey stick, which were pretty much replaced a few years ago with the aluminum shafts and have now again been replaced by composite sticks.

So if the players are shooting it much harder, then goalies do need more protection. If the NHL wants to roll back the goalie equipment to what we had years ago, they will also have to look at the sticks being used.