Deep in the Carolina Hurricanes' vast collection of promotional photos is a picture of a young Ron Francis. The future hall-of-famer, decked out in the colours of the Hartford Whalers, is seen jumping in the air after scoring a goal against the Philadelphia Flyers. What makes the photo unique isn't the person or the play. Instead, the attention is directed to what Francis is wearing below his waist: full-length hockey pants.
They were called Cooperalls; named after Cooper, the company that manufactured them. Cooperalls contained padding from the waist to the ankles. This was much different than traditional hockey pants, which provided padding from the waist to the knees, and would be followed by shin pads covered with leggings.
At one time, Cooperalls were worn by all children who took part in organized hockey. They even made it to the NHL. Both the Whalers and Flyers incorporated them into their uniforms during the early '80s. But Cooperalls were ineffective and would eventually be discontinued. They failed because of appearance and safety.
"Looking back on it, Cooperalls were such a marked difference from the original hockey pant/legging combination," says Tyler McKinna of NHLDigest.com. "As with any distinct visual change, the fashion statement was difficult to get used to."
As McKinna points out, a larger issue with Cooperalls was that they were very slippery and made falling more dangerous than usual. They simply provided less friction on the ice than the conventional equipment. Citing player safety, the NHL banned the use of full-length pants after the 1982-83 season. In retrospect, McKinna believes the NHL made the correct decision, but says there were a few players who publicly stated they felt more comfortable wearing Cooperalls.
Although the Cooperall was considered to be a "fashion faux pas", and its attempts to become a successful product turned futile, there still seems to be a small following of the full-length pants. A search on Facebook yields a few groups, all of which show support for the discontinued product. One group called "Cooperalls Forever" is dedicated to the "legacy of the Cooperall and those who wore them with pride!"
Another group, "Bring back Cooperalls," is "lobbying to bring back the best hockey equipment ever invented." Of course, the statements on these group pages are half-joking. However, they do show that Cooperalls did make some sort of impact.
Will Cooperalls ever make a comeback? McKinna feels they could as long as they're redesigned. He also notes that variations of the design are still used.
"Inline hockey has been successful using full-length pants and the designs are not bad at all from those manufacturers," says McKinna. "I think a definite mindset shift would be required for ice hockey players/fans in order for long pants to make a sustainable comeback in mainstream hockey."
Hockey equipment has vastly improved over the last 50 years. Technology has certainly played a major role, allowing players to be faster, safer and more effective. However, there are a few examples of inventions and improvements that didn't have the desired result. Cooperalls can surely fall into that category. It was a piece of equipment that had good intentions, but unfortunately not much else.
Current Comments
6 comments so far (post your own)Cooperalls did not have full-length padding. At least none of the pairs I ever saw/wore The pairs I wore had form-fitting padded shorts that went down to the knee and then one wore conventional shin pads, with the nylon pant pulled overtop of everything. But yes, they were very slippery trying to function on your knees.
Posted by Gil on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 @ 9:37am
I have a little trouble with the statement that "all" children who played organized hockey. Aside from the fact that it cannot possibly be true that every last child did, I don't even recall that widespread acceptance at its peak.
Posted by Kevin on Monday, December 14, 2009 @ 1:10pm
Kevin I think your being a bit critical..
Posted by Hall on Thursday, December 24, 2009 @ 1:42am
I played college hockey and for years later. In the eighties, I bought the Cooperall System. Mine was an inner pair of pants, fitting nicely incorporating the padding which fitted snuggly against my waist & thighs. I used regular knee padding. Shoulder pads, elbows and matching jockstrap were equally tight fitting. Being a defense player, I got a lot of contact and my gear has protected me perfectly while not being as cumbersome for skating the puck and speed work. My gear came with \"shorts-style\" pants which would come without padding. This was an advantage since I got several colors pants at great price as I played for several teams.
To date, this has been the best gear I ever had. I never used the long pants.
Posted by Lancelot on Wednesday, December 30, 2009 @ 10:27pm
I grew up in the era of cooperalls and wore them through last years of minor hockey and many years of rec hockey after minor hockey. In their time, the Cooperall girdle offered much more protection than any hockey pant on the market at the time. The came in 3 models CG1, CG2, CG3 with a CG! being the "pro" model. One could buy long or short plastic or fabric covers for the "girdle". The short style was hard to tell the difference from regular style pants. The one drawback from regugular pants may have been that they may have been so tight fitting that people found them restrictive to movement. One comment I had heard as to why they were outlawed in the NHL was the black pant made it hard for players, fans and Refs to follow the puck.
Posted by KENT LAROUCHE on Sunday, January 31, 2010 @ 10:12pm
Lancelot, I absolutly agree with your comment, the were probably the best gear I had ever owned as well. The only reason I really went back to pants was that I felt a bit out of place on the ice. Kind of like what someone who went out on the ice in "tube skates" would feel today.
Posted by Kent on Sunday, January 31, 2010 @ 10:17pm