Gloves. They smell bad. They are fairly expensive. They can be hard to break-in. They are usually too small.
When you look at pictures of the “old days” you see that hockey gloves have evolved. They used to be all leather with heavy foam padding
and strings to tie them to the wrist. Today, we have gloves made of everything from Leather to Synthetic fibers. They are also much more flexible, protective and lightweight.
With so many choices players and parents have a hard time picking the right glove for the right player. To make matters worse, players usually have gloves that do not provide adequate protection to wrists and fingers. For a look at what a well-placed slash can do, check out the picture of Jay Murphy’s finger in the HockeyCat news section. He was wearing top-of-the-line, pro-quality gloves.
Sizing
Gloves are sized in inches or centimeters. This is confusing, because even in countries that use the Metric system, the gloves
still usually are measured in inches with a tiny little cm number somewhere on them.
The sizing and pricing breaks down like this:
9 to 10 inches – Youth
11-13 - Junior
14+ - Senior
This is a little deceptive to the new hockey parent or player, because it is possible that a 5’1” woman will wear “Junior” gloves and a 5’8” 14 year old will wear “Senior” sizes. You may not know think it, but that 7 year old Mite is usually a Junior size in gloves.
When buying gloves, it is better to pay more attention to the height and length of a player’s arms and hands. Sizing information is usually buried somewhere on the website, if you are buying online. If you go to a good pro-shop, the guys and gals there will be able to tell you about what type of glove works best for what purpose.
Expensive is not always better. In my personal experience, gloves last about as long as they are going to last, regardless of price. I have had cheap gloves last for a very long time and expensive ones wear out in what seemed like days.
The Bottom line is to pick a glove that YOU or YOUR CHILD likes and realize that you will be replacing it in a year or sooner with a growing child. Pay special attention to children, they shoot up over night and Travel Players at Peewee and higher can face some pretty wicked slashes. If you are like me, you will replace your gloves when the palms wear completely through and your dog leaves the room when you bring them inside.
How Gloves Should Fit
Gloves should NOT fit like gloves. There should be a little extra room at the end of the fingers and the cuff should come up to the elbow pads. This is the “traditional” fit. Many parents and new hockey players buy gloves that are way too small. Almost no child over 4 feet tall should be wearing a 9 inch glove.
Websites are great for buying equipment, but start your glove search at your local pro-shop. Just like with clothes, gloves come in all stiffness, shapes and sizes. A 14.5” in one glove may fit the same as a 15’’ in another. You also cannot tell from a website how hard it is to break in a glove.
As far as fitting the gloves for children, they should cover the hand and the area between the elbow bad and the wrist. I see too many gloves that only cover the hand. Aside from being uncomfortable, they are dangerous.
It is true that Professional hockey players will wear short-cuff gloves, but they also wear Slash Guards (little wristbands stuffed with hard plastic) that provide some protection from slashes. They also may wear elbow pads that have extended forearm protection.
Chances are your average youth player below the age of 11 doesn’t have arms long enough to accommodate either of these. While it is true that kids are less likely to slash with the force of their adult and Junior counterparts, those little composite sticks don’t just transfer power to the pucks!
When it comes to gloves, take your child in and have them try them on. Have him/her grab a stick and see how it feels. If you are buying for yourself, the same rules apply. There may be very little difference between glove manufacturers so don’t get hung up on brand. Ask lots of questions and shop around online and with your local pros to get a good deal.
Price really doesn’t matter. The gloves my son likes the most cost the least and even the cheapest gloves will last a long time when passed down to the next little hockey player.
Flexibility
This one is mostly for parents of young children and new players.
There is a trend with younger players to buy “expensive” equipment. This may be appropriate for some things, but my experience is that
it is better to buy for fit and ease of break-in. Face it, they probably won’t be wearing the gloves long enough to ruin the palm or break them in. Gloves
that look good may be too stiff for your little athlete.
Take a look at the gloves your child’s coach wears. Note the holes in the palms. While it is illegal to cut a glove to gain an advantage,
there is nothing illegal about holes in the palms from wear and tear. One of my son’s coaches wears gloves from what appears to be his Junior days.
When it comes to gloves, everyone likes different things. Some players like stiff gloves, others like my son, like gloves that are very lightweight and flexible. It is mostly a matter of taste. Just remember that stickhandling is one of the most important skills for a young player. It is hard to feel the puck through a thick layer of synthetic fiber.
HockeyCat's Paw Print
Buying gloves is a very personal decision. Buy them for looks, comfort and fit. However, with young children and recreational players,
be sure to buy them long enough to protect from accidental slashes. Henrik Sedin may not mind losing part of his finger, but I imagine most of us would like to
keep the digits we have.
