Big changes for goalies next season when it comes to equipment, as UniWatch discovered from a source at Bauer: "Starting next year goalies will be required to use pads that are measured and fitted to them by the NHL. It won't be a big change for the bigger guys, but smaller goalies who've been using bigger pads will feel the crunch." Again: Why did this take so long? Why did we waste time debating changing the cage before doing something this elementary?

My recent ESPN column about goalie pads prompted an interesting note from Mark Coale. “I was listening to HNIC radio the other day and they said goalie pads next season will be based on the goalies’ individual measurements,” he wrote. “They said former goalie and now league employee Kay Whitmore will spend the season going around and getting metrics on every goalie, so things will be custom-made for next year.”

This was news to me, so I went back to Tyler Hull, who works for Bauer and is the guy who provided me with all the info for that ESPN column to begin with. Here’s his very informative response:

Mark is correct. In 2003 the league limited the size of a goalie pad to 38 inches high, but goalies can use that size any way they want. Pads are measured from the inside of your ankle to your knee and then from your knee to the top of your thigh, so goalies often add “thigh rise” (i.e., extra pad) to the top to get to the 38-inch limit if they want them that high. A shorter goalie might use a 33+5 pad, or a taller goalie might use 37+1, depending on the original size of the pad and how tall the goalie is (or at least how long his legs are). The end result is that Chris Osgood and Steve Valiquette end up using the same size pad, even though one of them is 5′11″ and the other one is 6′5″.

That’s just plain goofy, so starting next year goalies will be required to use pads that are measured and fitted to them by the NHL. It won’t be a big change for the bigger guys, but smaller goalies who’ve been using bigger pads will feel the crunch.

Faaaaascinating. On the one hand, this makes sense: Smaller goalie, smaller pads. On the other hand, a shorter goalie already has a built-in disadvantage, since there’s literally less of him to cover the net, and now that shorter goalie will have the bonus disadvantage of having less pad coverage. Hmmmm — discuss.

How big does Toskala's cup have to be?

And millions of fantasy owners everywhere move Henrik Lundqvist to the bottom of their list.

I can't wait for his true sieve colors to shine.

I can't wait for his true sieve colors to shine.

Will they let the AHL goalies wear mega pads? If not, would a new call-up need to somehow acquire new custom pads overnight?

I'm concentrating on going five hole!