Hockey Pads

Hockey pads are a necessary part of a hockey player’s equipment. Roller hockey pads, ice hockey goalie hockey pads, roller hockey goalie pads, street hockey goalie pads, hockey shoulder pads, hockey elbow pads, and field hockey goalie pads are now considered an integral part of the game. Franklin street hockey pads and shin guards, Nike-Bauer elbow pads and Nike hockey shoulder pads are current examples of how far hockey protective equipment has come since its earlier days.

In the 1880s, hockey shin pads consisted of strips of leather with lengths of cane wrapping around them. In the 1890s, players extended the protection, wearing kneepads of leather squares or canvas reinforced with felt. Goalies added pads to their protective gear in 1893. The goalies of both the Queen’s University hockey team and the Toronto Granites had been using cricket pads. The hockey goalie pads were not, however, a popular item until George “Whitney” Merritt wore them during a Stanley Cup game on February 14, 1896.

Shoulder pads arrived later on the hockey front. Fred “Cyclone” Taylor invented them while visiting Renfrew, Ontario in 1910. The initial hockey pads consisted of felt pieces sewn under and to the player’s shirt. They covered the shoulders and extended part way down the back. Felt and leather comprised the construction of this piece of hardware until after World War II.

By the 1920s, some enterprising person joined the knee and shin pads together. The form also improved for goalies. Emil “Pop” Kenesky, a harness maker in Hamilton, Ontario, modified the cricket pads. He established the norm followed by NHL goalies for the next 50 years. The only problem with Kenesky’s design– the goalie pads soaked up water. By the end of a game, they weighed more than twice the normal weight.

What about elbow hockey pads, you ask? Elbow pads arrived in 1910. At first, players wore them outside the uniform. By the 1940s, too many elbows to the face, producing injuries, resulted in a change in regulations. Players wore elbow pads under the sweater. This, however, did not prevent injury. A few individuals managed to conceal brass knuckles or other devices in their elbow pads. Since the league passed the “dangerous equipment rule” in the 1958-1959 hockey season, brass knuckles are not the problem.

After WWII, the advancement in technology opened the door to new and innovative protective equipment. Pads, such as Franklin street hockey pads, now wrap around the forearm and cover the biceps. Their shin guards have airflow vents. Nike hockey shoulder pads now protect not simply the basic shoulder but provide protection to your collarbone, upper chest, back, upper arms. There is even lower-back protection, while some companies make models with removable rib and stomach guards.

On hockey goalie pads, even cheap hockey goalie pads, the material is substantially an improvement over the “good old days.” Hockey goalie pad reviews cite the tougher material, flexibility and comfort as well as the ease of removal and the ability to both absorb shock and repel water.

Today, there is a different problem. The difficulty lies in the extremely hard material used by the manufacturers. CCM, Nike, Bauer, Easton and Jofa all make durable equipment capable of causing damage if used as a weapon instead of a protective device.