NHL goalies caught using illegal equipment will be given a two-game suspension, writes the CBC’s Elliotte Friedman in his weekly “30 Thoughts” column. In addition, the goalie’s team will be fined $25,000 and the equipment manager will get dinged for $1,000.
This is not a new penalty, but it’s worth knowing/remembering after the maximum allowable height of goalie pads was reduced for the 2013-14 season.
From NHL.com:
The previous rule, instituted prior to the 2010-11 season, was that a goalie’s leg pads could not go higher on his leg than 55 percent of the distance between the center of his knee and his pelvis. If a goalie’s upper-leg measurement was 20 inches, roughly the average number in the NHL, the pad could not go higher than 11 inches above the center of his knee.
That number is now be 45 percent, so the same goalie will be able to wear a pad that goes no higher than 9 inches above his knee.
Friedman reports that former NHL netminder Kay Whitmore, now employed by the league as its goalie supervisor, will be traveling more this season to make inspections.
“It was made very clear that is going to be a priority,” Whitmore said.