NASHVILLE, TENN.—It seemed to come out of the blue.

Leafs coach Mike Babcock complained that goalies are too big, that their equipment is too big, and made a call to make the nets bigger, to get back to the same amount of empty space to aim for that shooters enjoyed in the 1980s.

Now it has traction.

NHL general managers will spend some time looking at whether they should make the goalies wear smaller equipment, or make the nets bigger — ever so slightly, basically enough so that where the pipes are now would be inside the net. Every shot off the iron this year could be a goal next year.

“Would anyone know if we didn’t tell you guys that we put the post outside the post?” said Leafs coach Mike Babcock. “I don’t need a bunch of goals myself. I’m not a fan. I’m a coach. Pekka (Rinne) is big as a mountain. The net’s the same size. The goalie used to be the smallest guy on the team. Now he’s the giant on the team. You play against Tampa and (Ben) Bishop is in net, there is no net.”

More likely, the league will try to make the equipment smaller with more form-fitting shoulder pads and pants. They’ve done this before, in both 2010 and 2013.

But goalies certainly have gotten bigger over the years. Of the last eight Vezina Trophy winners, only one (Tim Thomas, at five-foot-11) was under six-foot-one. On average, those eight were six-feet-1.5, or two inches taller than the average Vezina winner from the 1980s. Between 1981 and 1989, four winners were five-foot-10 or under (Billy Smith, Grant Fuhr, Pelle Lindberg and John Vanbiesbrouck).

WHAT GOALIES SAY

James Reimer: “I think we should play with soccer nets, so we can play 30-29. Or 100-50. It makes me angry . . . They really want to do what they can to improve the game. If they think goal scoring is going to do it, okay. But the most popular game in the world, the most common score is 1-0. All goalies think the same thing. We want to be able to do our jobs properly and be safe. When you’re talking about cutting down the gear, you don’t like that.”

Pekka Rinne: “It’s the same for everybody, the same playing field for every goalie. Whatever happens, I’m sure they’ll make the right decision. It’s an athletic position nowadays. You try to cover the net and play your angle, but you have to react to shots and jump on rebounds. I feel like no matter what the goalies wear, (shooters) will still be successful . . . (Increasing the nets) sounds crazy to me. Everything that has happened in the past would lose its meaning. It wouldn’t be the same game if there were different sizes of nets.”

WHAT COACHES SAY

Mike Babcock: “The purists say (if you change) the size of the nets you change the record book. That’s the furthest thing from the truth. The goalies get bigger, the equipment gets bigger. You’re changing the game no matter what way you look at it. You could make the net just outside the posts so that everything that hits the post (now) goes in. How many goals is that? The game is well coached. The goalies are good. We get scoring chances. But it’s hard to beat the goalie. Offence is exciting.”

Peter Laviolette: “We scored 12 goals (combined vs. the Senators Tuesday night). That’s a lot of goals. There’s a lot of offence, and a lot of goals going on in the league. Me personally, I’m not sure why we’re talking about it so much. I think the game is good. It’s fast. There are chances.”

Barry Trotz: “I think it should stay the same. I’m more a traditionalist. Find other ways to score on them. There’s probably a balancing point. Goalies are bigger and more athletic, the equipment is better. On the other side, everything is faster, technology is better, guys shoot the puck a lot harder than they used to.”

WHAT SHOOTERS SAY

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

P.A. Parenteau: “Something needs to be done. I’m in for anything. I read that Patrick Roy wants the posts smaller, get an inch all around. That would make a difference. It can’t be too drastic. The goalie equipment, especially lately with goalies that are such big men — they can work around the rules a bit. They have a piece of equipment called the cheater. That says a lot.”

Alex Ovechkin: “Goalies got bigger. When they stand up, they cover almost the whole net. Every year it’s harder and harder to score. Back in the 1960s the goalies were (smaller). You can shoot from the red line and it goes in. Every year it’s changing. It’s harder and harder to score.’

Read more about: