The blocker is essentially an armored glove with a board attached to the back. The palm of the glove is leather; with it I grip the stick. The fingers and thumb are heavily padded: all kinds of things can get to my fingers even if I'm careful. Sticks, slates, and puck all hurt if they crunch my fingers against my stick. The blocker is used to deflect shots high on my right side. The idea is to get the puck to bounce off to the right side of the rink, way beyond the net.

The catcher is a glove sort of like a baseball catch glove, but optimized for catching a horizontal disk instead of a sphere*. It is more armored in the front and has a deeper pocket for the puck. A good one also has straps to bind it securely to my wrist. That way I can use my fingers to close the pocket instead of to hold on to the glove. I use the catcher for shots high on my left side and to reach out and cover the puck when it's on the ice and close enough to me. Doing this forces a face-off and gives my team an even chance of getting control of the puck ... and taking it down to the other net.

Sizing

*Okay, okay. It's better for catching a puck than a baseball.