For them, perfect gear is all torn up

Lightning veterans won't part with their battered equipment.

By EDUARDO A. ENCINA
Published February 19, 2008

The weathered equipment belonging to Marty St. Louis hangs in his stall in the Lightning locker room. His shoulder pads are from Koho, which doesn't make nongoalie equipment anymore.
	[Dirk Shadd | Times]

TAMPA - Among the players in the Lightning dressing room, Marty St. Louis is known as the most superstitious.

But St. Louis says luck has nothing to do with why he keeps the torn assembly of fabric, padding, plastic and Velcro that make up his shoulder pads.

They are one of a kind. The blue mesh exterior is fraying off. The white padding is exposed by a tear across the bottom of the left pad. Ten years of sweat gives the fabric a shiny hue.

Finland's Koho brand, since bought by big-money retailer Reebok, hasn't been producing nongoalie equipment for three years, so even if St. Louis had the inclination to get a new pair, he would have a tough time.

"Maybe you could get them on eBay," St. Louis said, joking.

Hockey players have a tough time giving up on helmets, shin guards and other equipment, but there's something about the feel and comfort of worn shoulder pads that makes them special.

"I've had mine since I was 16," said center Brad Richards, 27. "They're going to stay with me. They're not going anywhere. I don't know if it's weird, but I can change skates 100 times a year, gloves, all that stuff, but my shoulder pads, if I didn't have those, I'd be lost forever."

Much like someone having a worn-in baseball glove or a favorite pair of sneakers, some hockey players don't want to let go of their favorite equipment, no matter how ratty it becomes.

Some players are the same way with other equipment.

Chris Gratton has used the same helmet since his first year in the NHL in 1993-94, gluing the protective foam into his helmet when it falls out on a monthly basis.

But shoulder pads are the one item that players universally hesitate to replace. As they get older, they get better. The padding molds itself to fit the player. And any wear and tear can be fixed with some stitching in the equipment room.

"I'll probably never get a new pair," St. Louis said. "I will renovate them. They get banged up. You need to restitch them. It's like an old pair of slippers. When you get a new one, they're not as cozy."

Lightning head equipment manager Ray Thill said they are constantly trying to save older equipment.

"It's not just our guys," Thill said. "It's the other guys coming into town as well. It always seems like we're tinkering with something."

Penguins defenseman Rob Scuderi has worn the same shoulder pads for seven years and the same shin guards for five years.

"It's almost like you have a bit of allegiance to it," Scuderi said. "I've tried (new equipment), and right away I knew it didn't feel right. I gave it right back. If something breaks and I'm in danger, of course I'd change. But if they can fix it and it's not structurally deficient, I'll still use it."

Vinny Lecavalier has used the same Koho shoulder pads in every game since his second year in the NHL in 1999-2000. After years of use, they are torn, ragged and worn, but that's just the way he likes them.

Lecavalier has the same model shoulder pads, only two years newer, at his stall at the Brandon Ice Sports Forum. But they don't feel the same, partly because he doesn't get hit in them.

"I feel terrible in them," Lecavalier said. "They're the same kind, but just because they're not broken in, they feel horrible."

But constantly evolving technology has forced at least one Lightning player to rethink his devotion to his dying pads.

"I think it's getting time I'm thinking about replacing them," said Gratton, 32. "There's pretty much no padding in there anymore, and with the size of guys now and getting older, too, you want to preserve your body as much as possible."

[Last modified February 18, 2008, 23:17:16]