Goalie equipment sizing: leg pads, chest protector, gloves and stick

Pick the brand first, then take the measurement THAT brand asks for. The tool applies the manufacturer chart, gives the brand's standard thigh rise and adds, from the goalie's height and hand, the chest protector, catcher and blocker, pants and stick paddle sizes.

If the tool shows two sizes, it is not a mistake: the manufacturer chart overlaps at that point. The fitting, in skates, decides.

You need a soft measuring tape and a second person. The goalie takes off their shoes and keeps thin socks on. There are four measurements and none of them is universal: take the one for the brand you are after, or all four if you are shopping several brands.

A measurement is only a starting point. Goalie Monkey and Ice Warehouse both recommend trying the pads on with skates, pants and hockey base layer: in the butterfly, the knee should land in the centre of the knee stack. For player shin guards, which are measured completely differently, see player hockey equipment sizing.

The first number is the base size of the pad, in inches. The second is the thigh rise: how many inches of protection sit above the knee. A 33+1 is therefore a 33 in. pad with one inch of thigh rise.

According to Goalie Monkey, most goalies wear a +1, and +2 is the usual upper limit. Ice Warehouse puts it this way: +1 to +1.5 for mobility, +2 to +2.5 for coverage, +3 and up usually as a custom order. More rise covers the five-hole and the upper thigh, but it weighs on how the butterfly closes.

Each brand sets its own standard rise, which partly explains why two 33s do not cover the same height:

Bauer labels its pads by letters, and the match with a "+1" or "+1.5" varies with the retailer publishing it. Trust the shin height chart, not a thigh rise number read somewhere else.

The table holds the tool's six charts. Pick your brand with the buttons, then find your measurement in ITS column. Bauer has several ranges for one size (a junior 30 and an intermediate 30, for example): the pad width changes from one range to the next.

Because they do not measure the same thing, and even with the same measurement their ranges are offset. The next table runs a single goalie through seven charts: 20 in. (50.8 cm) floor to knee standing, 20 in. (50.8 cm) seated shin height and 17.5 in. (44.5 cm) ankle to knee. It is computed by the tool itself.

Be wary of universal formulas such as "ATK times two". One retailer page gets 35 in. out of a 17.5 in. ankle-to-knee, while the Brian's chart, which uses exactly that measurement, gives 33+1. Manufacturer charts remain the only reliable reference.

Bauer, Brian's and Vaughn size the chest protector by the goalie's height, standing, heels to top of the head. CCM adds the wrist-to-wrist wingspan, arms out in a T, palms forward. Warrior measures the wingspan to the fingertips: its numbers are larger by the length of both hands and do not compare with CCM's.

Between two sizes, the bigger one covers more and the smaller one moves better; Ice Warehouse advises beginners to favour mobility. Bauer and Brian's recommend taking the size closest to your height, then adjusting the straps.

In most cases, the catcher and blocker belong to the same size range as the pads (Bauer, CCM, True and Vaughn all say so). Hand length, from the wrist crease to the tip of the middle finger with the hand open and flat, fine-tunes it. A good fit puts the fingertips near the end of the finger stalls without jamming them, with no more than 1/4 in. (0.6 cm) of room.

Then comes the question of the hand. A regular goalie catches with the LEFT hand and holds the stick in the right hand, inside the blocker. A full right goalie catches with the right hand and holds the stick in the left. Catcher, blocker and stick must all share the same setup. The wording trips up many parents: a regular blocker is sometimes described as worn "on the right"; it is the same setup, not a different one. Just ask: which hand catches?

Pants are sized by the waist. Bauer and CCM point out that the size changes depending on whether the goalie tucks the chest protector into the pants, and CCM warns that pants that are too big sit too low and restrict movement. A simple test: in a full crouch, the pants overlap the bottom of the chest protector and the top of the pads, without twisting at the waist. Without a waist measurement, the tool estimates the pants from height with Goalie Monkey's general chart.

The mask is measured with a soft tape, level, just above the eyebrows and over the temples. Between two sizes, Ice Warehouse advises trying the smaller one first: the mask must not move when the goalie shakes their head, and the eyes should sit centred in the cage. In Canada, Hockey Canada rule 3.6(b) requires every player, goalies included, to wear a CSA-certified helmet with an unaltered CSA-certified face protector.

The stick paddle is measured along the back of the paddle, from the top of the shoulder down to the blade, according to Bauer; Ice Warehouse starts from the heel of the blade instead. The same "25 in." therefore varies a bit between brands. The table gives a starting point by height. Specialty retailers then suggest checking it in skates, pads and blocker, in your stance: a paddle that is too short makes the blocker overlap the pad and lifts the heel of the blade, while one that is too long lifts the toe.

Ice Warehouse's general rule applies to every piece: bigger means more coverage, smaller means more mobility. For a young goalie, mobility matters more, because a pad that is too long keeps them from closing the butterfly and pushing laterally.

For a growing goalie, Goalie Monkey offers a concrete marker: at purchase, the knee sits in the LOWER half of the knee stack; move up a size when it reaches the top. Buying two sizes too big to "get two seasons out of it" leaves the knee below the stack, where the pad no longer protects it properly.

One last tip: write down the date and size of every purchase. The day you compare your goalie's seasons in RinkLog (saves, save percentage, a young goalie's progression), you will also know what gear they wore. For the budget side, see the cost of a hockey season and when to invest in equipment.