Goalie Gear for the Beginner – How do you get started?

Ed. Note – Kris VanWagner joins the inGoal Magazine team today with his first article. Kris is going to focus on beginner goalies – of all ages! He is starting with some basics of gear – how to choose it, where to find it and how to wear it. He’ll follow up later with some technical basics. Of course this is just the beginning, I’m sure as he fins his voice, Kris will explore a range of topics. Welcome to IGM Kris!

If you have any questions for Kris or topics you want covered feel free to drop him a line either here in the comments or via e-mail: [email protected]

You didn’t grow up in a hockey mecca, or maybe you did, and you caught the hockey bug late, point being is that for some reason you have decided to strap on the pads and step in to the nets.

So now what?

Well the good thing is that you have committed, now you need to know what to get, and how to get it.

That’s where I come in to play. In the next few moments, I am going to guide you (if you will) on what to look for, what you need, and some places to get it.

Here comes the laundry list of the gear that you may want, and some that you definitely need;

1. Mask
2. Throat guard or dangler
3. Chest and Arm protector
4. Jock (a goalie specific jock)
5. Pants
6. Knee pads
7. Leg Pads
8. Blocker
9. Catching Glove
10. Skates
11. Stick
12. Jersey(s)
13. Undergarments
14. Bag to keep it all in

If that seems like a heck of a list, well guess what? It is! If you go out and buy all new gear, you can easily spend upwards to $4000. Now if you want to do that, by all means feel free, but some of us can’t spend that kind of money on something we just decided to try. Trust me there are other alternatives, and I am going to show you how to use them to save yourself hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on goalie equipment.

When I decide I want a new piece of gear (I have been playing a while, so I know I am going to like playing) the first thing I do is check the classifieds. I don’t mean the local newspaper classifieds either. Lucky for us the internet is a literal GOLD MINE of new and used goaltending equipment. Here are several links that you can start your search at: (and don’t worry if you don’t find something you are looking for right away, check back every few days)

The Goalie Store -This site is GREAT for finding gear sets, masks, sticks, and reviews on all the gear. Plus it has a nice breakdown on the gear so it is a heck of a lot easier to search. Be sure to visit the forums for a lifetimes worth of reading on goaltending resources

Craigslist – You can find anything on Craigslist, including a ton of goalie gear. The only catch is you need to know what you are looking for so you can search for it.

Ebay – The king of all shopping sites, click the link and it should do the search for you. As you can see that at any time there are a 1,000 plus goalie related items on Ebay. Grab a seat and look through them, or narrow your search if you know what you want.

Goalie Monkey – They have a nice clearance section on new equipment, that is usually at least 40%-75% off. Plus the people here are great to work with. Always worth a look every few days or so, you never know what you may find in there. Split up in to categories for easy browsing as well.

Goalie Board – Another forum, but they sometimes have good deals in the classifieds section. Again you just have to browse through it.

There are a lot more resources out there, above are just a few that I use. It should give you a great head start on building a safe and reasonably priced set of gear. Remember one thing, if you find an item for one price, Google it! make sure you are getting the best price you can!

Stay tuned as I will go though the goaltending laundry list, and give you some tips and pointers on what to look for, a price range, should you buy it new or used, do you really need it, and last but not least I will show you how to properly put it on!