The above question has been one of the most frequent messages and comments we’ve seen on our Instagram page. And for good reason. Warrior player equipment has a very strong presence among NHL forwards and, per our tracking, one out of three NHL goalies use Warrior sticks. Coupled with the fact that Warrior gear was worn by NHL goalies as recently as 2013 and the very positive reviews of their goalie products, the question of “Why don’t we see Warrior goalie gear in the NHL?” is fair. But, like many things in life, the answer is complicated.
In 2014 Warrior made the strategic decision to exit the NHL goalie gear market. They continued to pay the licensing fee to have the Warrior logo displayed on their goalie sticks, but they would no longer court NHL goalies nor sent out goalie reps to support NHL pros. This decision to forgo having their gear in “the show” has substantial cost savings as the NHL charges a 6 figure sum, per equipment category (e.g. leg pads, blockers, trappers, masks) to have a company’s logo displayed. In lieu of allocating these funds to what is essentially marketing, Warrior has chosen to focus their resources on innovation and engaging with non-pro goalies.
As Warrior put it to GGN “While the NHL is an exciting and traditional means of advertising products, we are proving that it is not essential to meeting our ultimate goal of building trust with goalies. While it is likely that we will someday choose to work with NHL goalies, we are currently working extensively with European pro goalies and North American minor league goalies. These pro goalies can continue to validate the performance, innovative features and durability of our gear under the most demanding conditions.”
To that last point, Warrior has worked closely with a number of European professional goalies including Red Bull Salzburg who tested the R\G4, R\GT2 and R\G5 lines prior to launch.
Will Warrior goalie gear return the NHL? Maybe. As their innovations continue to garner attention, it’s possible that Warrior will decide they’re willing to outfit a pro goalie with a logoless set of gear (they’ve declined offers from NHL tendies who have previously inquired about wearing their equipment). It’s important to understand however that Warrior may continue to believe that NHL adoption is not a critical metric for their goalie brand’s success. We’ve heard from some retailers that Warrior Goalie is their #1 selling brand in several important categories and that Warrior’s factories are already at capacity trying to keep up with growing demand. This growth is mostly due to goalies relying on their own impressions of Warrior’s equipment, the reputation Warrior has garnered from within the goalie community and reviews from credible goalie gear pages (cough cough) when deciding whether to give Warrior’s goalie gear a try. Every goaltender should put more stock in those factors when deciding which gear is best for them, over simply relying upon what their favorite NHL goaltender is wearing. To us, it seems like an intelligent move to put all your efforts towards R&D if you’re selling large amounts of gear without advertising in the NHL.
Photographer: Al Goold