Streamline the goalie equipment, make it form-fitting and raise the scoring.
Or at least give it a shot.
We’ve become so accustomed to seeing NHL goalies increasingly resembling human fortresses, it has become jarring to see video or photos of their counterparts from not that long ago.
On the second day of meetings in Florida — yes, Florida; funny how that works — NHL general managers Tuesday discussed adopting and enforcing the downsizing of goalie equipment in time for next season.
The change would require quick cooperation from manufacturers, ideally so goalies have the new equipment by June, and approval from the players’ association.
It’s the right thing to do.
Kay Whitmore, the league’s senior director of hockey operations, played goalie for nine seasons with five NHL teams.
Tuesday in Boca Raton, Whitmore told reporters that after a competition committee meeting last year “we and the union agreed that things needed to be done with the pants and the upper body and we’ve been working behind the scenes nonstop.”
Whitmore added, “You’re hearing from some of the best goalies in the game that they think this is what’s right. They want a level playing field within their ranks. They want to look at the other end of the rink and feel that the guy down there looks appropriate for his size.”
He said equipment companies’ design personnel “understand about rounding and contouring and wrapping things and making it fit better. They have to understand that some goalies are seven inches wider than others and we want to make that significant difference visual to everybody and the goalies will feel better because it’s a level playing field.”
The GMs also looked at tweaking the coach’s challenge, most often involving goaltender interference, and the biggest issue seems to be that coaches are using it as a what-the-heck, take-a-shot mechanism instead of an attempt to overturn a miscarriage of justice.
Coaches lose their single timeout in the case of an unsuccessful challenge, but that’s an acceptable risk if they consider it a way to buy time, regardless. That and the delay have offended some, leading to a suggestion to make an unsuccessful challenge a delay of game penalty.
In a league that has adopted regular media breaks, anyway, yet isn’t in danger of stooping to the NBA’s level of 22 timeouts in the final two minutes of close games, I’d actually be fine with giving each coach two timeouts. And you have to call a timeout to lodge a coach’s challenge — win or lose.
The great outdoors? One of the things driven home at Coors Field last month was that as fun as being a part of outdoor games can be, it can get old fast. The charm depends on that feeling of being unique, especially when — as was the case in Denver — a rink is dropped in the middle of a baseball field and the sightlines almost universally are suspect.
But the NHL will have four outdoor games next season — Edmonton at Winnipeg in the October Heritage Classic, Detroit at Toronto in the Jan. 1 Centennial Classic, Chicago at St. Louis in the Jan. 2 Winter Classic and a Philadelphia at Pittsburgh Stadium Series game Feb. 18.
The league is pushing its luck.
One tip: Wherever it is, if there isn’t real snow, skip the fake stuff. That was an embarrassment for the league in Denver, and with it whipping around in the wind during the game, it could have been worse.
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or @tfrei
Spotlight on …
Devan Dubnyk, goaltender, Wild
When: Saturday, 1 p.m., Pepsi Center.
What’s up: The Avalanche and Wild meet for the final time this season.
Background: Dubnyk was lackluster recently heading into this weekend, so there’s no guarantee he will be in the Minnesota net against the Avalanche. Darcy Kuemper might get the call.
Frei’s take: One of the keys to the Avalanche-Wild battle down the stretch for the second wild-card playoff berth in the Western Conference will be whether a goaltender gets hot and plays consistently well in the three weeks remaining. That places the onus on, most likely, Dubnyk and Colorado’s Semyon Varlamov. Dubnyk, Minnesota’s successful reclamation project last season after he was acquired from the Coyotes in January for a third-round draft pick, is 4-1 against the Avalanche since he joined the Wild.
