Diskussionen » Stanley Cup finals

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck recently stopped a puck near his collarbone. It was a shot that Shayne Gostisbehere 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 Andrej Sustr Jersey Womens , ‘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, 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 http://www.flyersshoponline.com/authentic-nolan-patrick-jersey ,” 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 http://www.flyersshoponline.com/authentic-travis-konecny-jersey ,” 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, 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.” LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Kings accomplished something they haven’t done much during the first month of the season — play a complete game.The Kings got just their second win in the last nine games as they defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 on Saturday night.“Like the way we came out and played,” Los Angeles coach John Stevens said. “We played faster with the puck. We also checked faster and had support of the puck when we regained possession.”Dustin Brown Barrett Hayton Jersey Womens , who had a goal and two assists, thought that playing with the lead — which the Kings have done rarely this season — also did wonders.“We did exactly what we are known for. They had a lot of puck movement but we kind of bent but didn’t break and that was a big part of our success,” he said. “We got a lot of traffic in front of the net and pucks there. You are going to get a lot of goals when you get guys there.”Alex Iafallo’s goal at 12:03 of the first period marked the first time in nine games (Oct. 11 at Montreal) that Los Angeles scored the first goal. It also was the first contest since Oct. 18 against the Islanders (six games) that the Kings scored in the first 20 minutes.“It definitely gives you a spark. We played the right way defensively and that led to a really strong offense,” said goaltender Jack Campbell, who made 26 saves. “We won a lot of puck battles which eliminated their offensive zone time and shots on goal.”Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter also scored for the Kings, who are 4-0 when scoring three or more goals.Zach Werenski had the Blue Jackets’ lone goal and Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves.The Kings led 2-1 in the third period when they put the game away with a pair of short-handed goals 57 seconds apart. Kopitar got his own rebound and went top shelf on Sergei Bobrovsky at 7:46 for the right wing’s fourth goal of the season. Brown put it away less than a minute later on a penalty shot, for his second. The penalty shot, which was Los Angeles’ first, was the result of Ryan Murray hooking Brown on the breakaway attempt.“We’ve been inconsistent, quite honestly Michael Grabner Jersey Womens ,” Columbus coach John Tortorella said. “You get the game straightened out and find a way to crawl back into it and we just didn’t pull up on our power play.”Iafallo put Los Angeles on the board first with his third. The left wing’s shot from the left faceoff circle trickled underneath Bobrovsky’s pads. It is the first time in six games (Oct. 18 against the Islanders) the Kings scored in the first period.The Kings went up by two on a power-play goal in the second period when Carter took a cross-ice pass from Ilya Kovalchuk and fired a wrist shot for his fourth.Werenski scored for Columbus 29 seconds into the third when he beat Campbell after getting a centering pass from Boone Jenner.NOTES: Kovalchuk has two goals and four assists over the past three games. … Kopitar also extended his point streak to three straight and has a goal and two assists in that span. … Los Angeles’ Matt Luff made his NHL debut. The 21-year old right wing was on the third line. He is the first player in franchise history to wear number 64. … Columbus has scored a goal in the first period in 10 straight games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau that is three games shy of the franchise record. … RW Josh Anderson, who also assisted on Warenski’s goal, has a point in three straight games (two goals, one assist).UP NEXTBlue Jackets: Conclude their California swing at Anaheim on Sunday.Kings: Host Anaheim on Tuesday in the first Freeway Series matchup of the season.