Watching some old Perreault highlights---wow--goalies were PATHETIC then...

[matter2003]

I couldn't believe just how bad these goalies were. I mean, flailing helplessly at shots that today would be easy stops, not going down at all to stop the puck---trying to kick it out with their leg. I know the players would have adjusted to it, but the goalies of that era are just so slow and un-athletic that I think an average to below average goalie today playing during that time period would have been as good as Dryden and Parent, or possibly even better. When I say these guys are bad, I mean they are just pathetic...they would be giving up 8-10 goals per game at least in today's game.

 

Anyways, here is the link to the highlights---try not to laugh as you watch the goalies looking about as fast as an 80 year old man moving around in goal...

 

 

Also, Perrault looks like a gazelle out there with a bunch of turtles and when the turtles are trying to cut him off, he just changes the direction and you see them go right past...its pretty funny to see just how "man against boys" Perrault was against these players...

[ofiba]

I always thought it would be much easier to score 30 years ago than it would be now. I mean, those goalies barely wore any pads. There's no way they could stop as many shots as these heavily padded goalies today.

[matter2003]

I always thought it would be much easier to score 30 years ago than it would be now. I mean, those goalies barely wore any pads. There's no way they could stop as many shots as these heavily padded goalies today.

 

IMHO, they could wear 3 pairs of goalie pads and it wouldn't matter---they are just so unathletic looking and slow to react that they would get shellacked today

[FogBat]

IMHO, they could wear 3 pairs of goalie pads and it wouldn't matter---they are just so unathletic looking and slow to react that they would get shellacked today

Gump Worsley was a prime example of the stereotypical un-athletic old school goalie. Pot belly, scotch, coffin nails, and a fear of flying to boot. How Worsley even got inducted into the HHOF is beyond my understanding, but he did. My, how times have changed... <_<

[ReneRobert]

OK... time for a grandpa moment.....

 

 

The game was WAY different back then, kids: much more physical, and clear shots were hard to come by. Seeing Gilbert's highlights, and I have always been a huge fan, don't forget that he only scored 40 goals in a season twice in his career, and he had to work extremely hard to get a couple of those great rushes in a game. Whether he always worked hard enough is, of course, a controversial subject to this day. Also, goalie styles emphasized standing up--"flopping" was actually still pretty exotic into the late 80s, though now it is common.

 

The point is not that the good old days were better, but before one goes around saying "man those old geezers sucked" one should consider the many differences between then and now--from padding to conditioning to overall style of play. It's like going back and looking at QB completion percentages from the 1960s--during a time when they hardly ever threw to running backs and DB's could play bump and run all the way down the field--and concluding that Johnny Unitas was a hack.

 

Now I will go back to my rocking chair. :D

 

 

I couldn't believe just how bad these goalies were. I mean, flailing helplessly at shots that today would be easy stops, not going down at all to stop the puck---trying to kick it out with their leg. I know the players would have adjusted to it, but the goalies of that era are just so slow and un-athletic that I think an average to below average goalie today playing during that time period would have been as good as Dryden and Parent, or possibly even better. When I say these guys are bad, I mean they are just pathetic...they would be giving up 8-10 goals per game at least in today's game.

 

Anyways, here is the link to the highlights---try not to laugh as you watch the goalies looking about as fast as an 80 year old man moving around in goal...

 

 

Also, Perrault looks like a gazelle out there with a bunch of turtles and when the turtles are trying to cut him off, he just changes the direction and you see them go right past...its pretty funny to see just how "man against boys" Perrault was against these players...

[Orange Seats]

In his ESPN interview last week Lindy commented on how embarassed he was to watch tape of his play from the mid-80s. He said that he couldn't believe how much slower the game was. The game changes. Skates have gotten much better. I remember trying to learn to skate with a pair of hockey skates that were hand-me-downs from the 70s. Even sharpened they were awful, no ankle support. They were basically Chuck Taylor hightops with heavy clunk blades on the bottom. I remember when I got my own new pair of skates for the first time in 2001 it was like a revelation when I got out on the ice. I could finally do crossovers without risking an ankle break. I imagine its the same thing with everything from shoulder/rib pads to goalie gear. I would be a goalie too (well, even more ) if I had a thin piece of plastic covering only the front of my face and two peices of light foam strapped to my legs.

[Corp000085]

Gil was a clown, he was a personality, and he was one of the best of his time and ever. The sports world is missing someone like that... Imagine peyton manning calling himself a tap dancer? Me either...

[DR HOLLIDAY]

Everything is relative and Perreault was magic when he started up the ice from behind his own net..................... :beer:

[blugold43]

I couldn't believe just how bad these goalies were. I mean, flailing helplessly at shots that today would be easy stops, not going down at all to stop the puck---trying to kick it out with their leg. I know the players would have adjusted to it, but the goalies of that era are just so slow and un-athletic that I think an average to below average goalie today playing during that time period would have been as good as Dryden and Parent, or possibly even better. When I say these guys are bad, I mean they are just pathetic...they would be giving up 8-10 goals per game at least in today's game.

 

Anyways, here is the link to the highlights---try not to laugh as you watch the goalies looking about as fast as an 80 year old man moving around in goal...

...

Yeah, and 20 years from now somebody will be watching a youtube of Kasparaitis beating hasek in game 7 a few years ago and saying how bad Hasek sucked.

[ExiledInIllinois]

In his ESPN interview last week Lindy commented on how embarassed he was to watch tape of his play from the mid-80s. He said that he couldn't believe how much slower the game was. The game changes. Skates have gotten much better. I remember trying to learn to skate with a pair of hockey skates that were hand-me-downs from the 70s. Even sharpened they were awful, no ankle support. They were basically Chuck Taylor hightops with heavy clunk blades on the bottom. I remember when I got my own new pair of skates for the first time in 2001 it was like a revelation when I got out on the ice. I could finally do crossovers without risking an ankle break. I imagine its the same thing with everything from shoulder/rib pads to goalie gear. I would be a goalie too (well, even more ) if I had a thin piece of plastic covering only the front of my face and two peices of light foam strapped to my legs.

 

Exactly!

 

Technology, IMO has revolutionized sports... Look what computer design and shaped skis have done to that sport and the extreme aspect of it... No difference in hockey... To compete then you had to be really special.

 

Look how Hasek took technology and padding to exhibit a "no fear" attitiude... Heck, I said before how Jaques Plante introduced the goalie mask in 1959... Teams carried ONE goalie and sent them back in stitched up... Plante wouldn't go back in until he was allowed to wear his homemade mask... Guys would get so psyched out that they'd puke in a bucket... Think todays guys could handle that environment? Heck, it is easy to hide behind safety features... The game is so much different because of it (safety).

 

And didn't somebody use a Gumper quote here... Not sure where I picked it up?

 

Gump didn't have a beerbelly, he drank VO... Well that is the line he gave when questioned...

 

:nana:

[nfreeman]

While I do think that today's goalies are generally more athletic and better conditioned, they are also generally larger people wearing larger pads. I'm always struck by the small size of the goalie pads when I watch highlights from 20 years ago.

 

I'd like to see a further reduction in the size of the goalie pads.

MSG showed a clip of Miller getting his pads on in the locker room before the calgary game and they just looked enormous. I'd like to see the width of the leg pads and shoulder pads and the size of the blocker and catching gloves reduced by about 25%. I think this can be done without impairing safety and would increase scoring. I like this much better than increasing the size of the nets.