 Player Equipment:
 Goalkeeper Equipment:
As in ice hockey the goalkeeper wears pads over his legs. These pads can be categorized into a few groups such as cane pads, foam pads and pads which fall between these 2  categories
and which are often hybrids of the two. Cane pads, and in this case I am
referring to the higher quality ones,
are usually made up of synthetic or polyurethane canes which are covered
by leather or canvas. This cane section forms the main body of the pad
with a padded area protecting the lower/mid thigh and knee area (this is
the top of the pad) and part of the ankle area and around the kicker (the
bottom of the pad). On the right can be seen a cane pad whose canes are
black. On the left is another cane pad, however this one is paired with
a leather, square toed kicker. Some goalies prefer
the cane style of pad to the other types offered but it is important to
note that cane pads worn by top goalies, or for higher levels of play,
are of much higher quality and protective value than the cane pads often
used in school level play. Ultimately though, it is the goalies preference
to what pads he/she uses.
The next category of pads to be discussed are 'foam pads'. These are constructed of high tech foams and various types of laminates (such as courthenen laminates) which make  the
pads exceptionally lightweight while still offering a very high degree
of protection and shock absorbency. As the term lightweight is a bit ambiguous,
an example may help: these foam pads (and foam kickers) can quite literally
be blown around by a light wind, unlike cane pads which will not move until
a gale begins to blow... To the right is a picture of a pair of foam pads
with foam kickers, and at the bottom of the page is
another larger view of a pair of foam pads, kickers and chest protector.
One potential disadvantage with foam pads is that the ball rebounds off
them easily and can travel relatively far, which can be a dangerous situation
for a goalie, however some goalies prefer this rebound quality.
Many pads are not necessarily cane or foam, but rather hybrids of the
two types. One example are those constructed as follows: they have
thick strips or blocks of a foam type compound, or another shock absorbing
and protective material, covered by leather. These type of pads offer a
good deal of protection and they are often (but not always) lighter than
cane pads. Hybrid pads can be found in various levels of play depending
on their quality.
Square toed kickers are not well protected, being compromised of a padded leather 'shoe' with a metal plate (which gives them the squared off front look) in front which 'protects' the toes. These kickers do not offer very much protection from players who can shoot the ball reasonably hard or when kicking the ball and so will not be found much past junior levels of play. An example of the square toe kicker can be seen with the pair of white cane pads above on the left.
Helmets, Chest Protector and Misc. Items:
Concluding this description of goalie gear there
are two pictures. On the left is a picture of a pair of foam (and courthenen
laminates) pads, kickers and chest protector. In this picture you can see
the pads and kickers from 2 angles, and should be able to get a better
idea of them. To the right is a picture of a goalie in full gear - moonboots
(kickers), high level cane pads, gloves, helmet etc.
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The
other main type of kickers are those constructed of the same type of foam
as the foam pads. Sometimes called moonboots because of their ungainly
look, (see picture to right) they are a very welcome addition to any goalies
kit and not clumsy at all. These kickers offer far superior protection
to anything offered by the squared toed variety, both in the amount of
area covered by the kicker and the shock absorbency factor of the kicker
itself. Shock absorbency is an important, if underated factor because even
if a goalie won't admit it, if the ball's impact hurts everytime, eventually
you will become hesitant in going for it - a situation you cannot have.
Since the foam kickers are so superior, goalies often combine them with
various types of pads: cane, foam etc.
one
gloves is a 
catching
glove and the other is both a blocker and protects the stick hand. In field
hockey the goaltender cannot catch or 'trap' the ball, but instead must
stop/block shots by letting them hit the palm area of the glove. The left
hand/blocking glove is therefore heavily padded (in a good quality glove)
on the palm side as well as protecting the rest of the hand and fingers.
The other glove, which is used to handle and hold the stick has very little
if any padding in the palm as this would hinder stick use but is padded
to protect the fingers, thumb (often a lot of protection for the thumb)
and top of the hand. The two pictures on either side show the gloves -
the blocking/left hand gloves is shown palm up.
Among
the other equipment worn by a goalie is a chest protector, which may be
constructed of hi-tec foams, or may be similar in style and construction
to the chest protectors worn by baseball catchers. The goalkeeper also
wears a helmet (with facemask/ grill) and, if they so desire it, a throat
protector which attaches to the helmet and offers both physical protection
and mental relief from a potentially fatal injury. To the right can be
seen a helmet with a throat protector attached. As the pads don't go much
higher than mid thigh, goalies will often wear padded/protective pants
designed to protect the front and sides of the thighs. These look similar
to the padded pants worn by ice hockey players and usually contain pockets
of the high density foam that many foam pads are made of. Other items a
goalie will wear at high levels are shoulder and arm/elbow pads to further
protect from the ball. Below can be seen a high density moulded foam chest
protector (left) and pair of padded pants.
