I lost any respect I had in Doug Risebrough when I read these statements of
his, which were ignorant at best if not just stupid. I do not remember him
either being a good goalie, nor do I remember him scoring much against any
goalie. I suppose he has some hockey expertise, but obviously this is not
it.

If they are cheating, I would like to know what rule they are breaking.
Goalie equipment has been measured for years and I know of no goalie who has
been suspended, fined, or otherwise punished for breaking equipment-size
rules in the NHL. Hockey goalies do not look like indoor lacrosse goalies
nor the Michelin tire-man. Blaming their high level of performance on
anything besides better training and improved athleticism is ignorant.
Scoring in the NHL would be raised more by eliminating the trap defense (and
the NBA punishes zone defenses) than by restricting goalie equipment.

But the stupidity of his statement happened when he went on to say that
goalie skills have been deteriorating because of the larger equipment. And
that was said after he recognized that every team has a goalie coach. It
seems according to Risebrough all the goalie coaches do is tell the players
to make their equipment bigger, and nothing more. No wonder the Wild is
nothing more than a .500 team.

Nathan Hampton


On 6/22/05 6:38 PM, "Carol S. White" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Here is an interesting tidbit from Charlie Walter's column (6/22/05)
>  in the St Paul Pioneer Press:
>
> Minnesota Wild president-general manager Doug Risebrough, speaking
> Tuesday at the Minnesota Associated Press Sports Association annual
> meeting in Minneapolis, on the possibility of the National Hockey League
> reducing the size of goaltenders' equipment: "Everyone's got a goalie
> coach now. They don't need bigger equipment, except all the goalie
> coaches are telling them how to make their equipment bigger.
>
> "Goalies have been cheating for years. Nobody wanted to confront them.
> First of all, they're temperamental. They're the spoiled child right
> down to the 'T.' I understand that they're the ones who get blamed when
> the (other) team scores a goal, so it's a combination of their
> temperament and the position they play. But they've been cheating for
> years."
>
> Any comments?
>
> I have heard lots of complaints of the pads being too big, but not
> knowing exactly how big/large they are supposed to be, I have no
> idea.... some goalie's pads do "look" bigger than others....
>
> Carol
> GO Gophers!!!