NHL Giguere's pads inspired league reduction rule

Teams will be fined $25,000 if goalies use oversized pads.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
In NHL lore, Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere will be remembered as the fifth man to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP from a team that failed to win the Stanley Cup.
In NHL infamy, Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere will be remembered as the man whose large presence in net was enough to mandate change.
Though Giguere's performance in the 2003 playoffs was one of the best ever by a goalie, his much-criticized "Gigantour" pads were the biggest reason the NHL mandated pad restrictions this season.
"I mean, [New York Islanders goalie] Garth Snow looked like Darth Vader," Phoenix Coyotes coach Bobby Francis said. "You can't give goalies all of the advantage."
Throughout a regular season during which players and coaches complained privately and publicly about the size of goalie gear, Giguere brought the issue to the forefront. And though the league made some restrictions, many feel the rules will not have the desired effect and are just the beginning.
Pads were already limited to 12 inches wide. New rules limit them to being no more than 38 inches high. The league estimated one-third of current NHL goalies used pads exceeding 37 inches. The rules call for teams that violate them to be fined $25,000.
Superior protection
With technology allowing for bigger and lighter pads, NHL goalies have come to enjoy superior protection while covering a larger portion of the net than ever before.
"It's not so much about scoring as it's about making the playing field level," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. "The equipment was getting larger and larger and wider and wider. We have dealt with the wider and wider."
Goalies and shooters believe the biggest effect of the changes will have is on the five-hole, the space between the leg pads. Equipment had grown so much that a goalie's knee pads can cover the five-hole when he drops to the ice in a butterfly position.
"That will be a huge change for a lot of guys," Stars goalie Ron Tugnutt said. "A lot of guys depended on that. You are going to see pucks squirt through the five-hole because of it."
But nothing was done to open up the areas over a goalie's shoulders, which can also be reduced by oversized pads.
Giguere and others were criticized last season for wearing pants and pads that appeared to be in violation of NHL policy. Though their pads measured correctly when hanging in their lockers, when the pads were put on, they made the goalies look like Sta-Puft Marshallow Men.
"This is at least a step in the right direction," Carolina Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice said. "It's an area that needs to get under control. There is nothing to shoot at anymore. We had Trevor Kidd here before, and, in net, the man was a house. All of those [goalies] are small, and they are mammoth in net."