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I scored the first goal of my hockey "career" in an actual game this weekend during the Annual Guns & Hoses Tournament. I know it wasn't in a professional or collegiate setting, but to be honest, it was kind of a surreal experience and one I will never forget. I am glad it came while playing for the Dallas Police Department Hockey Team and am honored to continue to represent the fine men and women of the Dallas Police Department while playing the greatest sport. Glad that I dragged my wife out of bed at 5:45 in the morning so she could be there to see it in person. I know this isn't a picture of myself, but unfortunately I didn't have a sharpie at the rink to properly adorn the puck.

But they're made the same way. Everyone is still building up lasts at this point. All the scan is doing is giving them more detail. Now, if it completely missed a spot on your foot, blame the scan. But if it's not enough space and you have to create a punch, or it doesn't have enough padding and you have to add a Bunga pad, that's just a part of the breaking in/tweaking process.

Yes, you still may have to. Figure skates are prime examples of this. Any measurement/casting/3d scan is static - your foot is dynamic. It can't account for irritation/movement.

I think he plays either U65 or U70 😂

Guess sliced bread is still the greatest invention!!

I mean you should be calculating work and not some mass value multiplied by a frequency. So let's not get all high fivey yet.

Right on. I got the idea to mold the outward ankle flexion I wanted into my MLX from this Van Horne video on molding short track boots (last part of the video specifically):

Mid tier stuff will probably do you just fine. But if you're patient, you might be able to find last year's higher end stuff on sale for mid tier prices. If you haven't found them yet, Modsquad has some of the equipment catalogues for the various manufacturers available for you to download and checkout. The reason I'm suggesting this is that it's a nice resource that you can use to familiarize yourself with what's out there and understand what the heck all the various numbers mean. It's not rocket science, but it's a good reference. As someone mentioned check out the CCM QLT Quicklite lines and the Bauer Vapor line. These lines are designed with a more form fit to them. No more looking like you dropped a load in your nappy.

Thanks. I'll start using it. For some reason, in my current browser, it didn't display/format the page properly. In firefox and chrome, it seems fine though.

Not to sound like a primadonna, and I am sure people will flame me for saying this, but when you order custom skates that are specifically designed to fit a players foot you shouldn't need to "hack" solutions together.

This area specifically https://photos.app.goo.gl/DHsES4jXy0Vl5f9g1

Assuming you have a decent shop you can go to, I would just try on a bunch of stuff and favor fit and comfort foremost. Pretty much anything you buy would be adequate from the protection standpoint. Though if you think you might be falling a lot, a little more protective elbows and pants in particular would be good.

Yes, everything can feel totally different when you change skates, especially going from supremes to tacks and different blades. What may be happening is the supremes didn't fit you well causing you to lean in on your inside edges. The Tacks fit you better and put you more on top of your edges. This gives you the feeling of less bite as you skate. Once you commit to the turn, your edges should hold. It's all up to how well you skate.

It sounds like you would prefer a girdle and shell instead of pants. Ccm, Bauer and Warrior all have girdle options. Try on all of them if you can and decide what fits you best. Warrior will be releasing a new one this year. For elbows, I would look at 3 piece pads like the CCM QLT, upcoming Jetspeeds or the Stx Surgeon 500 pads. If you can find them, the old 2012 grey and blue Warrior Projekt pads are fantastic. Those are all high end pads, but you may be able to find some of them for a midrange price (with the exception of the Jetspeeds since they will be brand new this season). Tron makes a knockoff of the Projekt called Tronx, but I don't know if they are as good. They often go on sale for $38 if you join their email marketing list. For shoulders, I would seriously look at the Verbero Shield pads. They are adjustable, mobile and modular. You can remove the caps if you choose. I like the old RBZ line for shins, but you might find something that fits you better. Try on as much as you can and go with what feels best on you.

Lots of threads concerning beer league equipment. Do a search for more in depth talk. But quickly, imho, if you're playing in a lower level league, you may still want pretty good protection, particularly the shins, pants, elbows, and helmet, since there tends to be more accidental collisions and errant sticks in lower level play. Most modern equipment provides pretty good protection and mobility. Check out CCM QLT or if it's still around, the RBZ line (which I think is some of the best equipment in recent memory that had the combo of protection, lightweight, and mobility)

I coached kids for about 10 years and always felt y job was first and foremost to give every player an experience they enjoyed and second that they grew up a bit and earned about themselves and the game. To that end I always made it a habit to make sure minutes were evenly distributed. As the kids got older the only caveat was if we were trying to win a playoff game we might make some power play or penalty kill choices late in a game but thats about it. To me if I played weaker kids at the end of a game down a man early in the season than they knew I trusted them and they learned to to do it when we really needed them to late in the season. That type of growth is priceless.

A GOOD shop SHOULD blend the toe and heel. I would personally never profile a skate and not blend such.

If you like the Quad 2 you might want to consider the newer Quad .5 I am a huge advocate of the Quad 2 and recently we got the new .5 template and found it allowed the same amount of powerful strides and stability but also allowed slightly more agility.