I played ice hockey goalie growing up, in high school, intramurals in college, and then men's league for a while. The game definitely changed over the course o

I played ice hockey goalie growing up, in high school, intramurals in college, and then men's league for a while. The game definitely changed over the course of me playing it. I started playing goalie around 1991 and fondly remember having to do "kick save" drills and learning to "T glide". The game has changed, no goalies do kick saves anymore, it's just not an effective way to stop the puck. But to say that goalies today aren't acrobatic or fit or flexible or amazing athletes is totally wrong. To be able to put your body into the butterfly position, to be able to push off to move while staying in the butterfly, to be able to slide post to post as the puck moves behind the net and keep the post-side leg upright: THIS IS EXTREMELY HARD! Goalies today are basically 6 foot+ tall gymnasts. My knees, groin, and hips surely can no longer perform the kinds of movements which I used to be able to do. I was not anywhere near being NHL caliber, so maybe I have a different appreciation for watching top level goalies today. But damn, these goalies today are seriously impressive in how they can move their bodies. Sure, the equipment regulations might need to change for bantam or midget level leagues and up, but the younger kids aren't big enough to take advantage of the equipment so any changes the NHL wants to implement shouldn't affect the vast majority of kids playing the game today until (if) they get to a high level of play and high school age or beyond. I think the NHL should continue to change the rules, not just for goalies, but for the whole game. And if things work, then other leagues should adopt those rules over time, too.