Big Goalies...new trend?

[Puckhead]

Why do you think most NHL teams have been drafting the bigger goalies? Other than the obvious, to take up space.

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[DaveyCrockett]

The switch towards butterfly as the preferred style lends itself to goalies with long legs and wide upper bodies. On a lighter note, I'm even seeing more bigger goalies when I go out to shinny.

 

[shveik]

Well, right now the NHL is allowing a lot of interference, clutching and grabbing. Because of that, there is not a lot of puck movement, and the goalies success is mostly determined by playing the angles (positioning). Bigger goalies have advantage here. If the hockey was more wide open, the stress would be more on the mobility, and not the size.

 

[Terrier]

Every damn goalie is big anyway because of their humongous equipment. Goalies in the 80's look like stick figures compared to today.

http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080...sp?mem=p199304&page=gallery&pic=2&list=ByName

 

[Mizral]

Consider the 2004 draft:

Al Montoya - Good-sized keeper
Devyn Dubnyk - massive goaltender
Marek Schwarz - Small by today's standards
Cory Schneider - Pretty big too

Only one guy in Schwarz who is 6'0 or under, and all of them (including Schwarz) have wide upper-bodies.

There is clearly a trend towards bigger guys. This is why you are seeing guys like Irbe and Charpantier simply not getting shots any longer, they are too small. There are still several small guys (Thibault comes to mind), but most goaltenders in the league now are 6'1 or taller I think.

 

[HuskyFlames]

How about the fact that better athletes are usually bigger, stronger, faster? Look at the starst today in the NHL. Most of them are 6' or bigger. It is rare to find the top % full of small guys. Yes, there are a few but there are a lot mroe bigger forwards or defenseman than smaller elite ones. The same goes for goalies. Hockey has alot to do with size and power. It is just a direct relation.

 

[Anthony*]

How about the fact that better athletes are usually bigger, stronger, faster? Look at the starst today in the NHL. Most of them are 6' or bigger. It is rare to find the top % full of small guys. Yes, there are a few but there are a lot mroe bigger forwards or defenseman than smaller elite ones. The same goes for goalies. Hockey has alot to do with size and power. It is just a direct relation.

exactly what i was going to say

everything is getting bigger and faster

its not just one particular position or anything

 

[Puckhead]

exactly what i was going to say

everything is getting bigger and faster

its not just one particular position or anything

I understand that players in general are much bigger, and their equipment lends to that fact, however, bigger goalies were few and far between up until just 5-7 years ago, and since the '02 draft have become the hot commodity. Mike Liut, and Tom Barasso were very big for their era, and Dryden was huge in the 70's. I am curious why when Dryden had all that success, that other teams didn't just look for that huge keeper to try and duplicate his way of playing. The NHL has always been a league where everyone tries to do what the winners do. New Jersey Devils win the the cup using Lemaire's suffocating trap techniques, and the next thing you know, the whole league has started using it and given it a name too. My point here is that not only are the goalies bigger, but they are much more mobile and are very quick side to side and up and down. Highly touted Lehtonen, and now Dubnyk, and Schneider, and even Montoya are all 1st rounders.

Do you think that Schwarz being smaller than the others, could have had something to do with why he fell so far in the draft? If thats true, then whatever happened to taking the best player at that spot? It just stands to reason that if you want a big guy, then you choose a big guy. But not over a smaller guy who is a much better player. How many small players over the last decade have been overlooked, just because the league got in their collective heads that you have to be big to play this game and have success? Now with the likes of Sullivan and St. Louis among others, the little guy is standing up and saying let me show you what I can do. Is size all that matters in the NHL today?

 

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Do you think that Schwarz being smaller than the others, could have had something to do with why he fell so far in the draft? If thats true, then whatever happened to taking the best player at that spot? It just stands to reason that if you want a big guy, then you choose a big guy. But not over a smaller guy who is a much better player. How many small players over the last decade have been overlooked, just because the league got in their collective heads that you have to be big to play this game and have success? Now with the likes of Sullivan and St. Louis among others, the little guy is standing up and saying let me show you what I can do. Is size all that matters in the NHL today?

What do Sullivan and St. Louis have to do with small goaltenders? They are completely irrelevant to the discussion.

Size with goaltenders is a very different thing than with skaters because a smaller goalie leaves bigger holes to shoot at when he's in the butterfly. With a skater size can make a difference if they use their size to their advantage. With goaltenders size is an inherent advantage as they take up more of the net.

Obviously quickness, fundamentals, positioning, etc play a role. But if they are close then it's quite easy to see why scouts would lean towards the bigger guy. And as always projection is required. Schwarz may be quicker and better fundamentally than Dubnyk right now but they may be pretty close 5-6 years down the line after Dubnyk has received some excellent goalie coaching. If that's the case then he should be the better goalie because his size will give him the advantage.

 

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Do you think that Schwarz being smaller than the others, could have had something to do with why he fell so far in the draft? If thats true, then whatever happened to taking the best player at that spot? It just stands to reason that if you want a big guy, then you choose a big guy. But not over a smaller guy who is a much better player. How many small players over the last decade have been overlooked, just because the league got in their collective heads that you have to be big to play this game and have success? Now with the likes of Sullivan and St. Louis among others, the little guy is standing up and saying let me show you what I can do. Is size all that matters in the NHL today?

What do Sullivan and St. Louis have to do with small goaltenders? They are completely irrelevant to the discussion.

Size with goaltenders is a very different thing than with skaters because a smaller goalie leaves bigger holes to shoot at when he's in the butterfly. With a skater size can make a difference if they use their size to their advantage. With goaltenders size is an inherent advantage as they take up more of the net.

Obviously quickness, fundamentals, positioning, etc play a role. But if they are close then it's quite easy to see why scouts would lean towards the bigger guy. And as always projection is required. Schwarz may be quicker and better fundamentally than Dubnyk right now but they may be pretty close 5-6 years down the line after Dubnyk has received some excellent goalie coaching. If that's the case then he should be the better goalie because his size will give him the advantage.

 

[User571]

Why do you think most NHL teams have been drafting the bigger goalies? Other than the obvious, to take up space.

I frankly think the big goalie trend sucks considering most all the good goalies are around 6-1, not that thats considered small, but a team shouldnt take a 6-4 guy over a 6-0 guy just cause of size.

 

[Puckhead]

What do Sullivan and St. Louis have to do with small goaltenders? They are completely irrelevant to the discussion.

Size with goaltenders is a very different thing than with skaters because a smaller goalie leaves bigger holes to shoot at when he's in the butterfly. With a skater size can make a difference if they use their size to their advantage. With goaltenders size is an inherent advantage as they take up more of the net.

Obviously quickness, fundamentals, positioning, etc play a role. But if they are close then it's quite easy to see why scouts would lean towards the bigger guy. And as always projection is required. Schwarz may be quicker and better fundamentally than Dubnyk right now but they may be pretty close 5-6 years down the line after Dubnyk has received some excellent goalie coaching. If that's the case then he should be the better goalie because his size will give him the advantage.

I understand that Sullivan and St. Louis have nothing to do with big goalies, but if you actually read my entire post, then you would have seen that I was bringing up popular trends around the league, such as bigger goalies being drafted and now possibly some smaller guys getting a chance on draft day due to the work of the aforementioned speedsters. But thanks for pointing out the obvious to all of us anyways.