Can Black Pocket and Laces Prevent More Goals?
- A black glove pocket makes it significantly harder for video review officials to confirm a puck crossed the goal line, potentially preserving no-goal calls.
- Jordan Binnington's post-to-post glove save on Cole Perfetti in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs required video review and still left some viewers uncertain — highlighting the real-game impact of pocket color.
- Side-by-side slow-motion testing of white vs. black True gloves showed the puck was consistently harder to locate against a black pocket, even when zoomed in.
- NHL video review requires definitive proof to overturn an on-ice no-goal call, meaning any visual ambiguity created by a dark pocket works in the goalie's favor.
- Goalies at any level who use video review should consider black pocket laces and backing as a low-cost equipment adjustment that could protect borderline saves.
JJordan Binnington made one of the best saves of the Stanley Cup Playoffs during the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, going post to post and stretching out his glove to rob Cole Perfetti on what appeared to be a backdoor one-timer into an empty net.
As you saw, Binnington’s spectacular save required a little video-review help to ensure the puck wasn’t completely over the goal line — and some will watch and still think it was in — and that got us thinking about the benefits of having a black pocket instead of a white one.
While these instances are rare, and many levels are not going to be subject to this level of scrutiny, if any video review at all, it does seem to happen a couple times a season at the NHL level, so why wouldn’t you make sure you give yourself the benefit of the doubt?
With that in mind we ran a very informal test at The Hockey Shop using white and black gloves. We chose True gloves just because that’s what Binnington was wearing.
We’ll start with the white one at full speed:
Watching that once, how many times could you definitively say the puck was over the line?
Now watch the same footage at the slow-motion speed it was filmed in using an iPhone:
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