Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck recently stopped a puck near his collarbone. It was a shot that
Mathieu Perreault Jersey , in years past, he might not have thought about twice.This time, it hurt.“Didn’t feel very good,” Hellebuyck said.He and his
fellow NHL goalies will be wearing a smaller chest protector this season as the
league continues to reduce the size of equipment, following recent reductions
for pads and pants. The overall aim is to boost scoring while at the same time
rewarding athletic ability in the crease by eliminating unnecessary padding that
wasn’t protecting goalies, but instead simply helping them block pucks.A
190-pound goalie and a 240-pound goalie will no longer cut the same figure on
the ice.“Three or four years ago, talking to some of the best goalies in hockey
… they wanted us to try to find a way to make goalies look closer to the size
they were,” Kay Whitmore, NHL vice president of hockey operations, told The
Canadian Press. “The biggest complaint was, ‘If I weigh 50 pounds more than
another guy, why do we look the same?'”The league, working in conjunction with
the NHL Players’ Association, has focused on reducing the size of the shoulders
on chest protectors by roughly an inch to make them less boxy and more
form-fitting. The same goes for the padding on a goalie’s arms.Getting the new
equipment has taken longer because of delays with manufacturers, but Whitmore
said the league is close to what will become the “new normal.”“We wanted to get
it right once and for all,” he said. “It was a more complicated piece of
equipment than when we introduced the new pants or pads. We can ask companies to
make changes
Nikolaj Ehlers Jersey , but things didn’t move very fast until we created a standard, gave them specifics and asked them to build to it.”Whitmore, who
played the position for 155 games with four NHL teams in his 15-year pro career,
said safety remains a top priority.“There’s no expectation that a goalie should
have to do his job getting bruised daily,” he said. “I don’t want to see guys go
on the ice fearful of getting hit with pucks, because that’s what they do for a
living.”Mathieu Schneider, special assistant to NHLPA executive director Donald
Fehr, said the personal nature of chest protectors has been a challenge. Some
goalies had worn their old ones for a decade or more.“The irony is each time
we’ve made equipment smaller, it’s gotten lighter and goalies have gotten
better,” said Schneider, a former NHL defenseman. “It’s not like this snuck up
on us.”Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen said he is fine with the changes, adding
that an inch of missing shoulder coverage shouldn’t make a difference in terms
of results if he’s on his game.“It’s about being square,” Andersen said. “If I’m
relying on that extra inch, I’m in trouble already.”Fellow Maple Leafs goalie
Garret Sparks said he thinks the change could eventually help raise the skill
level at the position.“It just pushes me to be better,” he said. “I’m open to
the challenge as long as everybody’s covered.”NHL shooters scored more times in
2017-18 than in any season since 2005-06, averaging nearly six goals per
game.With that in mind
http://www.jetsshoppro.com/authentic-patrik-laine-jersey , Hellebuyck said he doesn’t see a need to change — for any reason.“I’m not happy
about it because it’s my job,” he said. “And really what they want is me to be
worse.”With the process underway since 2016, Whitmore said, recent history gives
him confidence the new gear will provide the game an overall benefit.“It makes
the job a little more difficult,” he said. “We changed other things to make
goaltenders more mobile. At first they didn’t agree with it, but once they
started playing they felt faster, quicker and actually got better. I don’t
expect anything different from this once they adapt.” CHICAGO (AP) — After John
Tavares went off and Auston Matthews and Patrick Kane staged a memorable duel,
Morgan Rielly got the last word on a wild Sunday night.Rielly scored 19 seconds
into overtime, Tavares had three goals and the Toronto Maple Leafs spoiled
Chicago’s home opener with a 7-6 victory over the Blackhawks.“Top to bottom we
had contribution everywhere,” Tavares said.Matthews had two goals and two
assists for Toronto in the opener of a four-game trip. Rielly also had two
assists and Kasperi Kapanen finished with a goal and an assist, helping the
Maple Leafs bounce back from Saturday night’s 5-3 loss to Ottawa.Garret Sparks,
who is from the Chicago suburb of Elmhurst, made 25 saves to get the win in his
first NHL game since 2016.“I went up against my childhood heroes tonight and
there’s nothing cooler than that,” the 25-year-old Sparks said.Chicago was
looking for its first 3-0 start since the 2012-13 season, but it was unable to
clamp down on Toronto’s high-scoring lines. Kane scored twice in the final two
minutes of regulation, and defensemen Duncan Keith and rookie Henri Jokiharju
each had three assists.“It was a pretty crazy game
Brian Gibbons Jersey Womens ,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “The quality of chances, the quantity of goals, the way it ended was a different
level of unpredictability.”It was Tavares’ first hat trick since he agreed to a
$77 million, seven-year contract with Toronto in July, choosing his hometown
team over several other suitors in free agency. The contract ramped up
expectations for the Leafs, and the talented center is already having an effect
on his new franchise.“(I) want to be as consistent as I can so I prepare myself
and expect a lot of myself on a nightly basis, with and without the puck,”
Tavares said.Tavares’ last goal made it 5-4 midway through the third, but the
Maple Leafs and Blackhawks were just getting started. Especially Matthews and
Kane.Kane tied it again from a bad angle with 1:24 remaining, shooting it past a
screened Sparks. Then Matthews put the Maple Leafs back in front just 22 seconds
later, beating Cam Ward from between the circles before holding his glove to his
ear as if he was asking for more noise from the United Center crowd.With the
third period winding down, Kane wasn’t done quite yet. He one-timed a big slap
shot by Sparks with 29 seconds left, and then held his glove to his ear in
response to Matthews.“I wasn’t really happy when he did it, so it was nice to
get a chance to score and kinda give it back to him,” Kane said. “Wish we could
have got another one in overtime.”But Rielly closed it out quickly in OT,
sending a low wrist shot past Ward on the glove side.“Obviously a strange night
with the way it finished
Jaroslav Halak Jersey Womens ,” he said. “We don’t want to be in those games too often, but obviously we’re happy with the outcome.”Jonathan Toews, Alex
DeBrincat, John Hayden and Brandon Manning also scored for the Blackhawks, who
opened the season with two overtime wins. Ward finished with 27 stops.Chicago
got off to a fast start after an emotional pregame tribute to Hall of Fame
forward Stan Mikita, who spent his entire 22-year NHL career with the franchise
and died in August at age 78. Mikita’s wife, Jill, wiped away tears after a
video of Mikita highlights was shown on the videoboard, and she was joined by
Tavares and Toews for a ceremonial puck drop.The Blackhawks wore patches with
Mikita’s No. 21 on their jerseys, and No. 21 was painted on the ice behind each
goal.Toews then put Chicago in front when he tipped home Dominik Kahun’s shot,
and DeBrincat made it 2-0 when he finished off a pretty passing sequence 12:02
into the first. It was Toews’ fifth goal in three games; he needed 19 games to
score five times last season.Toronto responded with two goals in a 34-second
span on plays by Kapanen and Matthews. First, Matthews made a perfect pass ahead
to Kapanen for a breakaway at 14:09. Then Kapanen stripped Keith behind the net
and found Matthews for the tying score.NOTES: Tavares got his ninth career hat
trick. … It was Hayden’s first game of the season. F Andreas Martinsen was out
of the lineup. … D Martin Marincin replaced Igor Ozhiganov in Toronto’s lineup.
It was Marincin’s first appearance this season.UP NEXTMaple Leafs: Visit Dallas
on Tuesday night.Blackhawks: Visit Minnesota on Thursday night.
