From zip ties to hole punches: equipment managers are hockey’s unsung problem solvers

Mike McKenna
Mike McKenna(MikeMcKenna56)
From zip ties to hole punches: equipment managers are hockey’s unsung problem solvers

Andrei Vasilevskiy faced two separate enemies during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final on Tuesday night: the New York Rangers…and his equipment.

The Lightning goaltender allowed just one goal on 35 shots, but it wasn’t without nervous moments late in the second period when the lace connecting his pad and skate failed. 

Vasilevskiy received attention at the Tampa Bay bench from equipment manager Colten Wilson, but the first repair attempt wasn’t successful. At the next stoppage in play, Vasilevskiy once again left the crease and requested Wilson simply cut the lace free from the pad.

There are several ways to connect a goaltender’s skate and pad, the most common of which is a skate lace, which Vasilevskiy prefers.

As you can see, the lace itself is exposed at the toe area. Skate blades can cut it. Stress can cause it to snap. I’m not sure what exactly caused Vasilevskiy’s connection to fail Tuesday night, but somehow the lace was compromised.

In the clip, you can see Wilson cut the lace and remove it from the pad. And even though Vasilevskiy wanted that to happen, it surprised me that Wilson didn’t have something on hand for a quick fix.

When I played for the AHL Portland Pirates during the 2014-15 season, we had an equipment manager named John Krouse. And John taught me something: zip-ties are incredibly useful when an equipment emergency occurs.

I remember one game in Portland where my toe lace failed, just like Vasilevskiy’s in Game 4. But unlike the Lightning goaltender, I wasn’t comfortable not having my skate connected to my pad. I needed it fixed.

Re-lacing the pad would have taken too long. So John pulled out a zip-tie and made a temporary repair. It worked for the remaining few minutes of the period and we were able to fix everything properly at intermission.

It got me wondering what unique experiences equipment managers have faced. So I asked around. And the answers didn’t disappoint.

“I had a goalie that once had a puck go through his pad at the break between the shin and boot” said a veteran NHL equipment manager. “I had to pull the puck out with pliers, then sew the pad back together by hand between periods.

“Then another time, one of our players got hit behind the net in Game 3 of the Conference Finals and the sleeve of his jersey got stuck in the stanchion. When he came back to the bench, the sleeve was gone! Thankfully I had another jersey for him.”

Another NHL equipment manager once faced a similar situation to what Vasilevskiy and Wilson encountered Tuesday night. He had zip-ties available. But the goaltender wanted the pad fixed exactly to his preference.

“We’re in Madison Square Garden on a Saturday night, and (our goaltender) skates to the bench with a broken toe lace” he said. “But I didn’t have any laces in my bag. I had to call back to the dressing room to have one of our assistant equipment managers run one out. We re-strung the pad during a TV timeout. It was insane. That’s honestly the worst when something happens on the bench during a game and you don’t have the item or tool to fix it.”

Brian Godin, who was our equipment manager with the Pirates during the 2015-16 season, remembered one instance where a lesson was learned.

“We had a guy shatter a visor while we were in Bridgeport,” Godin said. “There’s no bench access from the locker room there, so I couldn’t just run back and fix it. Luckily it was towards the end of the period, so I was able to just switch it out at intermission. But from then on, if we had to go across the ice to get to the bench, we always made sure to have extra visors with us.”

Fixing things comes with the territory for equipment managers. But occasionally things get messy. One long-serving employee had this gruesome tale to share.

“A few years ago in preseason we had a guy get the top of his foot stepped on,” he said. “So between periods, he asked me to put my finger in the hole to see if the blade had gone down to his skin. When I inserted my finger, he shrieked. I pulled my finger out and it was covered in blood.”

The incident occurred with 11 minutes left on the clock between periods. The player received stitches from the medical staff while the employee went to work crafting a protective covering.

“I took a lexan shot blocker, heated it up, and formed it to the front half of his laces,” the equipment manager said. “I drilled holes to lace it through, then I put it on the skate to protect that area of his foot. The crazy thing is that I always save little things like (the custom lexan shield). I’ve had to use it several times since. It’s always in my trainer’s bag.”

The player started the next period like nothing ever happened.

In the moment, adversity is never easy for equipment managers. Especially during the Stanley Cup playoffs. But the fruits of a job well done are rewarding.

“Years ago we had a goalie that had two straps get cut on the back of his pads,” another veteran equipment manager said. “He got stepped on and back then they were leather. And he was freaking out wondering what we were going to do, and how he was going to finish the game. He had no clue how we were going to fix the pad.

“So I got out the hole punch and went to work,” he explained. “I cut the straps and put a few holes in them, then ran a few zip-ties through and got everything secured. Finished the game no problem.”

Ask any player and they’ll tell you that equipment managers are unsung heroes. They are problem solvers that keep the hockey machine running.

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