ressercuting a dead topic
is it actually a rule that players have to wear skates?
I posited the idea that you could play in some form of shoe/cleat a few years back on hockeyfights. The general consensus appeared to be:
a) Antonio, you’re a moron
b) You’re on ice; skates are going to be way faster than shoes, even spikey cleats
c) This falls into the Air Bud school of “There’s no rule against a dog in football.” Just because it’s not explicitly forbidden doesn’t mean they’d have to allow something that would ruin the play surface.
d) Antonio, you’re a moron.
Hope that helps! 
Nitpick about hand passes: A player may pass the puck to a teammate if in their defensive zone.
Many years ago, the newspaper showed a dotted line on a hockey arena. Two players smashed their sticks together and the puck went way up in the air, higher than the lights. No body knew where it went. It came down and landed on the goalies back and bounced into the net. The dotted line was the puck trajectory.
Not NEARLY big enough. Not even close.
Hockey nets look small on TV but in person you’d be amazed how big a hockey net is. You, personally, stretching your arms out as wide as you can, cannot touch both posts at the same time.
Speaking of nets, I’ll see you tomorrow Rick.
Anyone over 6’ tall can probably reach both posts with arms stretched wide.
Probably some 5’10 and 5’11" folks who can do that, too.
Back to the issue:
An incredibly large human can probably lay on their side and cover a huge portion of the net opening. They’d be terribly exposed (pads are limited in size – this was mentioned) and they’d still leave the top of the net open, especially the corners, which are easy to hit for a pro.
So, the fat goalie would be hurt beyond imagination and/or scored on a lot.
Here’s a take on the fat goalie concept from the show “Sports Science”. Pretty definitively shows that a fat goalie wouldn’t work in the NHL.
This is why it is so important for a goalie’s defense to keep shots from developing in the slot area (in the rectangle in front of the net). If he has the angles working for him (i.e. shots from the sides), a solid NHL goaltender should stop them 99% of the time. The 6 feet of goal mouth he has to cover can effectively become 4 feet or so on a shot from one of the faceoff dots, which is a very big deal.
No shit. Although Marty Brodeur comes pretty close. 
I’m currently watching the Pens/Panthers game. Marc-Andre Fleury isn’t especially large (6.2, 180lbs), his strength lies in flexibility.
(Aw FUCK!!!)
The limited pad size would be the killer for Mr. Gravitationally Challenged, in goal. There would be so much skin exposed, he’d be black and blue within minutes and probably have to be carted from the ice.
It’d be fun to watch, though.