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On sideline swap, sort by the size you need, and just take time browsing. There’s a ton of good pants from college, juniors, and minors teams that are less expensive than ones with NHL branding. It takes some time to learn about what different codes mean, but you’ll good about yourself once you start to learn some of the codes and are able to visually identify stuff. Patience and paying attention are your friends. Resources are out there, but a lot of it is piecing together different info from different places.

There are various places online that you can get new pro stock pants, but I've only ever bought used ones on eBay or Sideline Swap. I've found it better to identify the model of pants you want, for example "CCM HP45", and search for that. If you only search for pro stock, you often are missing a good number of options. With both Sideline Swap and eBay you can set up alerts to get notified of new items that get listed that match what you are looking for. With a bit of patience, I've had good success getting specific model and color used pants still in good shape for under $100. You can pay $50-$100 more, but I'd rather save the money. And by "save the money" I mean fund other hockey equipment purchases. That being said, if you have your heart set on an exact color/version that is uncommon it can take a lot of patience and a lot more money depending on what it is (like specific outdoor game or specialty colorways).

I know what you mean, but there is no padding anywhere in that region, it is just the closure system, which is very thin. I bought the pants, I'll try to get a picture of it. There is less protection in that area. However, I do not think it will cause any big gaps. Last game (I paid more attention than I ever have to that region and) I noticed that the flap of the 3S pants overlap quite a bit with the extension pad (bottom) of my Ultrasonic shoulder pads, when you are in a skating position. Overall, the pants are very nice and I am happy with them.

To add to what Davideo posted above, I think the two areas you should be comparing are what I circled in yellow on the modified picture below.

Reviving this thread as I pulled the trigger on Tackla 9000 pants recently. I'm almost 6' - 180lbs. Went with Med-50 Tackla size. This thing fits like a glove. My issue with other pants brands (CCM-BAUER) was the fit was too loose on hips and thighs. Pants felt unstable when skating at higher speeds. Quality seems pretty great for a $119cad pants (regular price advertised $200). Got to say I'm super happy so far. Protection is generous on hips but not annoying at all. Probably not the lightest, but weight isn't an issue.

Round 2.