Interview with Alain Beaudry of Passau Hockey, Part 2: “Are you an Outlaw Goalie?”

Trois-Rivières Estacades Goalie Jimmy Appleby, whose team had the best defensive record in the Quebec Midget AAA development league this past season

Here is part 2 of our interview with custom goalie equipment maker Alain Beaudry of Passau Hockey in Chambly, just outside Montreal.

Q: Ingoalmag.com recently posted a story about Hockey Canada’s decision to apply goalie equipment sizing norms to all minor goalies for September 2009. However, these rule changes, as well as the new set of norms for pro goalies that the NHL will begin enforcing, create an obvious challenge for equipment makers. What are these newest rules really about? Has the NHL consulted equipment manufacturers, as they have with goalies such as Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo, to ask their input?

AB: If you go into just about any sports store and ask the sales staff about whether they sell the new “legal” equipment, they will usually say “Sure we do; all our pads are 11″. But the proof that the latest rule changes are far from a concensus is that many equipment manufacturers are currently making their 2009-10 pads without some of the newest specs (Passau included). Many sales people and goalies themselves don’t even know what the latest NHL norms are about. In fact, most of the equipment on the store shelves right now does not even meet the new specs! What will retail stores and parents do with this all this stuff if the latest NHL norms are enforced for minor hockey, as was the case with the 11″ pads and smaller blockers and trappers? Here are just a few examples for pads:

-the wing on the inside of the pad can’t be more than 7″ wide at any point

-the wing can’t have more than one flap or layer and can’t be more than 1.5″ thick, so no more wedges in the calves behind the wing

-the entire side wing must be made in one piece or everything must be fastened or glued together

-the wing must be recessed 0.5″ towards the inside of the pad so it doesn’t stick out at all when seen from a front view. On this point alone almost every pad on the market is “illegal”.

-the lower foot section can’t be more than 7″ long, so goalies can’t shorten the foot section to lengthen the height of the pad at the upper end

-the knee stack must be a maximum of 2.5″ thick and 7″ wide.

This is Passau's latest line, just released for June 2009.

not shown is trapper maximum circumference, which is 45" around the perimeter of the glove

notice that the side cuff cannot be free-floating and must be attached to the glove

On top of these rules, the NHL is also set to begin enforcing new norms for chest protectors and pants, where the size must correspond to the size of the goalie. In that way a 5’8″ 170 lb. goalie would have to wear smaller equipment (pads included) than a 6’1″ 200 lb. goalie. Maybe in one way this will be good for us. It has been years since any of the major companies have sewn a chest protector in Canada, but recently we have received requests to start making custom making them again. The CA (chest-arm unit) is one of the pieces of equipment that is most often modified by the pros and elite players, so this may be to our benefit. Just as with the goalie pads, there is no way that a manufacturer operating in China will make a custom CA. They need to fill a container ship with gear or else it isn’t profitable to them.

Q: On the topic of competition from China, can you comment about how you see your company fitting in with the bigger players in the industry? Are you worried about your future since so many manufacturing jobs have disappeared from Canada and the US?

AB: Where things get manufactured is a question of where it makes sense economically. Mass production makes sense in China, but that isn’t our market. There is already discussion about how gas prices will increase as the current recession ends, not just back to where it was a year ago, but much higher. At some point, if gas costs 2$ a litre or 8$ a gallon, it will simply be more competitive to start manufacturing things here, close to markets. The Bauer skate and helmet plant in St. Jerome was one of the biggest in Canada. It is now closed and even the top-of-the-line Nike-Bauer skates are made in China. Will this ever come back? Nobody knows. As far as custom goalie equipment is concerned, for now our product is so specialized and our customers so particular that we can still justify producing in Canada for the top-end market. The more that transporation costs increase, the better it is for Canadian manufacturers versus those in Asia.

Q: What is in store for the future at Passau Hockey?

AB: We have just finished a new model of pad-trapper-blocker in the last month and we’re quite excited about it. We have continued to seek the input of many different goalies at many levels, not just the professionals who make up less than 1% of the clientele. While we develop the Passau brand we are continuing our work for clients over here and in Europe as well. I am really pleased that they have considered Passau as their designer and manufacturer because there are other bigger and more well known companies. I think maybe it is because I try to keep an open mind about what they want to do. Designers can get stuck in the same pattern, not wanting to change or look for new ideas. This is especially true once you have come up with a design that is really popular. Sometimes you want to stay with it longer than you should.