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economist sunsuntribune sports recreation saturday nov 29 2003 11 inspd by mike hayakawa staff writer theyre different alright they stand out because they wear dif ferent equipment they even have their own t- shirts emblazoned with goalies a different breed its not always easy being the last line of defence but talk to those who dare don what some call the tools of ignorance and youll find a resilient and opportunistic bunch it comes from having the potential to influence the out come of a game its almost similar to that of a quarterback in football or a pifchfef in baseball said joe bowen longtime radio and tel evision voice of the toronto maple leafs and a goalie in the unionville mens hockey league r as a goalie you dont have any control over winning the game but you have control in not attempting to lose the game its like a different mindset for others on the team theres few forwards or defencemen who are in tune with what a goalie has to put upwith suggests the 52yadrold ijriibnville resident whdidollzedhall of fame net- minders johnny bower and glenn hall growing up in sudbury those who made it to the top thrived on being in the limelight i wanted to play in goal because i wanted to bethe hero i wanted to win the game said mike palmateer a 49yearold aurora resident who played for the toronto maple leafs and washington capitals from 1976 to 1984 thats the way i always was goaltehders who are com petitive want to win i wanted to be the one who could decide the outcome same goes for the kids i like the responsibility and the pressure that comes with playing in goal said aaron codner a 14yearold markham resident who plays in net for the stouffville clippers bantam a rep team i always wanted to be a goalie even though things can go downhill if you dont dowell why would anyone want vul canized pucks drilled at their body i couldnt skate that well said joe bowen who first went between the pipes when he was nine years old plus his dad was a goalie i still enjoy playing in goal even though im riot very good at it bowen said with a smile others become goalies by accident originally a forward with a don mills minor atom house league team palmateer who was nine at that time vol unteered to play net when the teams goalie failed to show at a practice i played good in practice the coach then played me again in practice and i eventually became theirkarting goajiefie sajd mm or staff photomike barrett shawn gibson of the stouffville district secondary school spartans feels the pain of a loss joe bowen thinks theres a polarization of two different types of people the loud and boisterous arid the intense and introverted who are attracted to playing the position confidence is key palmateer said theres a lot of goalies who are up and down and arent that confident but a goalie who plays cards or shoots pool and loves the cornpetition those are the best guys says palmateer who is a scout with the the leafs when i played i always said give me a goal and i have control to wm me game ashort meihory helps too a big part of being a goalie is mental toughness palmateer said if a kid lets in a goal they have to be able to shake it off that canbe hard but you need that fire in you in the old days there was a fear factor where you could get hurt if someone shot the puck hard enough the position didnt attract better athletes in those days todays goalies dont have to be as afraid thanks to techno logical advances in the old days there was a fear factor where you could get hurt if someone shot the puck hard enough the position didnt attract better athletes in those days now the fear factor is erased with better equipment arid as a result better athletes a now attracted iptfie jjqsf non bowen said when i played i wore little padding because i wanted to be fast and quick the guys would cringe at what i wore and when i played practices were about surviving limiting the hurt so i could play iri the game palmateer said the padding on the equipment these days allows you to practise and the kids these days are more athletic theyre taller and bigger they start stretching when theyre 12 or 13 years old their flexibility and conditioning is fantastic with the equipment they wear it allows them to work hard and be protected our pad size for example might be the same width as they are now but ours were soft nowadays theyre so rigid a puck cant get through they dont have to challenge the shooters they way we did combining these factors bowen and palmateer feel shooters are presented with a further challenge at the nhl level they speculate its a reason why offensive productivity is down you could put a person who is almost blind in goal and put the equipment the goalies wear nowadays and stand him at the top of the crease nine out of 10 times the puck will hit him palmateer said although the cost of purchas ing goaltending equipment can be exorbitant bowen doesnt discourage wannabe goalies j tklemtlajltions inc arehouse sale 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