Cooperalls were a brand ofice hockey equipment manufactured byCooper Canada. The name has since become a generic term for all hockey pants featuring a waist-to-ankle outer shell and the basic design remains popular in the sports ofringette andbroomball but notice hockey.

Cooperalls were designed byBrian Heaton, the senior designer forCooper Canada from 1972 to 1975^[1] and were used inice hockey,ringette, andbroomball. Promoted as "a complete hockey uniform system" it consisted of an elasticated girdle extending from the middle of the rib cage to the top of the knees, worn beneath a tracksuit-style wovennylon outer shell covering waist to ankle. The girdle had pockets in to which lightweight, compression moulded foam pads were placed and the close fitting nature of the garment ensured that the pads always stayed in contact with the areas of the body they were designed to protect. This replaced the traditional combination of short hockey pants and socks, and Cooper claimed that when combined with their own brand of extra lightshin guards,shoulder pads andgloves the system weighed 40% less than a conventional uniform.^[2] As well as being considerably lighter, the system offered players greater freedom of movement and improved hip, pelvis and thigh protection.^[3][4]

A short-legged outer shell, called the "Cooperall Coupé" (from theFrench past participlecoupé, to cut) was also available for traditionalists.^[5] The long pant was first adopted by theOntario Hockey League in the late 1970s and was tested in training camps by a number ofNational Hockey League teams, including theWinnipeg Jets and theQuebec Nordiques.^[6][7][8]

A similar style of girdle and long pant, called the "Propac", was manufactured byCCM.^[8] This design was worn by thePhiladelphia Flyers in the1981–82 NHL season, and both the Flyers and theHartford Whalers in the1982–83 NHL season.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Today, players in the sports ofringette andbroomball still wear ankle length sports pants whose designs were inspired by the original design of Cooperalls and can be seen widely used across both sports including at major international events. Ringette players however also wearice hockey skates while broomball players do not use ice skates of any kind.

The long pant design received considerable criticism in ice hockey circles:

• Player safety compromised by less friction with the ice during a fall, causing players to slide more violently into the boards.^[11][13][14]
• Design was too warm.
• Goalies complained that the puck was difficult to see against the long black pants worn by the Flyers players.^[7]

The NHL subsequently passed a rule that teams had to wear short pants and home and away socks from the1983–84 season onwards.^[7] However, they remained popular in amateur hockey and inline hockey throughout the 1980s and the girdle and short shell design is still available from some hockey manufacturers.

• Hockey pants

• Rosenhek, Eric (12 May 2009)."The Death of the Cooperall".The Good Point. Archived fromthe original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved23 April 2014.

• Ice hockey equipment

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata