Ryan Miller wary of equipment changes made in haste
There's at least one goalie unnerved by the manner in which NHL executives decided to set forth the motion of slimming down goaltending equipment.
Pensive Vancouver Canucks netminder Ryan Miller - who broke a thumb and missed 22 games after he saw recommended changes rushed into the game about a decade ago - remains wary about the changes that were reportedly agreed upon at the NHL general manager meetings Tuesday.
"I'm a little sensitive to it when they change sizes like the blocker, because I suffered the injury as a direct result of not having enough adequate padding in the right spot," Miller said, according to Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province. "It was not thought through, and it was just a little thing because the padding didn't extend over the back of the thumb quite as well as it did before.
"And you think: 'What are the odds of that happening?' Well, it's a hockey puck and it's moving relatively fast. They need to keep that in mind before they start pushing things too hard. I'm all behind anything that's done in a smart and safe way. It really comes down to being up to the standard we need."
Miller would like to see his union go to bat for its members.
"Test it and get it in the hands of guys early. If it's not adequate, there has to be some pushback by the NHLPA. My feeling is that it (change) has always been rushed. When you talk about the chest and body for me and getting hit in the sternum every day, I don't want something that fits so tightly that there's no air gap (to) suppress the impact.
"I don't want to get hit in the ribs or the collarbone. I don't really want to get hit anywhere where it's going to do some major damage. These are pretty extreme changes to important parts of the body."
It's expected that goaltenders will be hit with heavy fines and suspensions for not adhering to the standard established in the coming months.