Philipp Grubauer trying to get used to new NHL goalie chest protectors

Philipp Grubauer jumped up and down on his new chest protector Friday morning, but not out of anger. Well, maybe there was a tad of latent hostility to it. But mostly, Grubauer was just trying to loosen up the piece of CCM equipment, which he calls “stiff” at the moment.

“It’s pretty restricting,” Grubauer told BSN Denver, on the morning of the Avalanche’s fifth preseason game against the Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center. “And, it’s obviously a little bit smaller.”

Grubauer and every other NHL goalie must wear smaller chest, arm and shoulder padding this season, as the NHL keeps trying to find ways to increase goal scoring. The new chest protectors, which come in a one-piece unit that includes shoulder and arm padding and straps, are one inch less in width in the mid-section, and the shoulder and neck areas are slimmer as well.

There has been concern from goalies that their safety will be compromised from the changes, especially to shots around the neck and collarbone areas. The league has tried tinkering around with goalie equipment for years (last season, slimmer pants were introduced), and now it’s time to make the upper-body equipment slimmer. Grubauer is philosophical about the latest change.

“I’m all in for making guys honest and not (letting) them cheat. What’s a little confusing is that I think the rule came out in July and a couple of brands don’t have their chest protector signed off by the league yet, or maybe by last week, I may be a little behind on that,” Grubauer said. “Get it right first and then send it out to the guys, instead of making it like 80 percent or 70 percent. I got mine a couple days before training camp, so I didn’t really have time to adjust much.”

Prior to the changes, NHL rules committee people thought goalies were “spreading wings” a little too easily with more material from the older chest protectors. Also, there was concern about goalies adding so much padding to the shoulders that they were looking like linebackers. Now, there will be a bit more space for shooters to put pucks at between the arm and midsection, and more around the neck and shoulders.

“The biggest difference I’ve noticed is the shoulders, because they’re not as protected anymore,” said Grubauer, who will start tonight’s game. “The arms are really smaller too, which is good – I’m all for making the arms smaller. But up in the shoulder area and the collarbone area, the way they made it, it’s a little…it didn’t used to hurt, and now every shot up high hurts. You don’t want to get hurt to the point where you can’t practice as much or maybe you miss a game. Guys shoot so much harder now than they did 10 years ago, 15 years ago. These still feel stiffer than the bigger ones.

“But everybody has got to play at the same level. You can’t cheat, so I’m for that. Ten or 15 years ago, you could have one guy wear smaller ones to move better and other guys maxed it out. They looked like lacrosse goalies.”

LINEUP

Here is your lineup for tonight’s game. The Avs are 1-3-0 so far in the preseason, including 0-2 at the Pepsi Center. They lost 7-0 to the Wild last weekend.