Goalie Equipment Is Under Review

Two days before the season begins, NHL executives on Monday said they were still trying to solve problems with the streamlined goaltender equipment that was adopted as part of the league’s plan to boost scoring.

One solution was to postpone ordering goalies to wear fitted jerseys in colors that contrast with their teammates’ because of delays in producing the gear. The jerseys might be phased in later this season, the executives said.

Consultants Kris King and Kay Whitmore, who are overseeing goalie equipment compliance, were in contact with the Kings on Monday after learning that Mathieu Garon had said his new pants didn’t afford enough protection in the groin area and that Jason LaBarbera had said his too-short pants exposed his legs to injury.

King and Whitmore have inspected 800 pieces of goalie gear to ensure that gloves, pants and pads meet new standards.

“We’re not going to compromise protection at all,” said Colin Campbell, the NHL’s director of hockey operations. “We’d be crazy if we compromised any goaltender issues.”

In addition to announcing that referees will wear microphones to make their calls clear to fans, the league said there was an average of 17.4 power plays per exhibition this season, up from 2003-04 when it was 11.2 per exhibition and nine per regular-season game. Scoring in exhibition play increased by one goal a game, to 6.2. Power-play efficiency increased to 21.3% from 17.2%.

“Our guys will have to stay the course,” Stephen Walkom, the director of officiating, said of the league’s obstruction crackdown.

Campbell also said that Zambonis would quickly scrape the ice before shootouts, instead of performing a less-comprehensive sweep of squeegees.

Clubs must submit their 23-man rosters today and be under the $39-million salary cap.

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Attorneys for the Vancouver Canucks, forward Todd Bertuzzi and others asked a judge in Denver to throw out a lawsuit filed by former Colorado Avalanche center Steve Moore over Bertuzzi’s on-ice attack in March 2004, saying Moore didn’t have enough connections to Colorado to gain the right to sue in state court.

Moore, still recovering from injuries sustained in the game in Vancouver, is seeking unspecified damages from the Canucks, the partnership that owns the team, Bertuzzi, former player Brad May, Coach Marc Crawford and former general manager Brian Burke.

Moore’s attorney Lee Foreman told Denver District Judge Shelley Gilman that Moore was a Colorado resident when he was injured March 8, 2004, and when he filed the lawsuit, giving him the right to seek damages in a Colorado court. He argued that events leading up to Bertuzzi’s hit started during a game in Denver Feb. 16, 2004, in which Moore hit Canuck Markus Naslund, leaving him with a concussion.