NHL Hockey Nets

Net gains over time Considering that in the beginning stages of hockey history, two rocks served as a goal, it's amazing to realize how far such a "simple" part of the game has evolved. From stones to perfectly measured, NHL-approved goal posts, and from ordinary fishing net to meticulously knotted nylon twine, hockey goals and hockey nets have clearly modernized just as steadily as the game itself. Strictly speaking The NHL has extremely strict requirements when it comes to goal posts and hockey nets. The goal posts are required to be set up so that they remain stationary during the game. The goal is required to be affixed to the ice by flexible pegs, which are required to be 10 inches in height and light green in color.

The goal post craftsmanship and materials are under strict regulation as well, and must be approved by the NHL before they can be used in a game. The must extend 4 feet vertically above the ice, and be set 6 feet apart, each measurement being taken from the inside of the goal posts. A cross bar of the same material must extend across the top of the goal posts, connecting the two. The goal posts and cross bar must be painted red, and all of the other surfaces are to be white in color.

"Net"-iquette

The hockey net itself also is an extravagant element of the game. First, the hockey net must be draped to the goal posts in a way that won't allow a puck to go through and rest outside of the net, yet it has to be strung so that the puck also stays inside of the net and doesn't ricochet out. In other words, it can't be too loose so that the puck can get through once shot in, but not so tight that the extremely strong force behind the puck bounces it back out of the hockey net.

A skirt of heavyweight canvas or nylon fabric, both white in color, must be laced around the base of the goal frame so that the hockey net is protected from being cut or broken. The padding must be set back 6 inches from the inside of the post and can't project more than 1 inch above the base plate. This keeps the puck from crossing the goal line and getting into the hockey net.

Composition 101

The specifics of hockey net composition are quite complex, and involve a lot more regulation than many fans realize. A hockey net must be made of three-ply twisted twine, 5 mm in diameter, or of equivalent braided twine made of multifilament white nylon. Either way, the hockey net twine must boast a tensile strength of 700 pounds. When the hockey net is fully stretched out, there must be a distance of 2 1/2 inches from each diagonal knot to the next, and the knotting must be made so that there is absolutely no slipping of the twine. The net is required to be laced with medium white nylon cord that's no smaller than No. 21 in thickness. Hockey nets and goals have traveled quite a distance from those two rocks of yesteryear.