No one had the ice after us this morning, so we ended up playing for somewhere around two and a half hours. Lots of guys commenting on how much better I've gotten since starting. I felt like I was on a roll today (up until the last 15 minutes or so, at which point I would've preferred to tend goal by lying there like a slug and tripping anyone who came near me), felt extra-aggressive covering the puck. I was still pretty nervous when people came speeding by my crease, once burned twice shy and all that, but after a couple of good saves I felt much better. The new pads feel great. I decided I hate toe-ties/laces. These pads actual stay in place on the skate much better than the old ones did (less thumping the pads back into alignment), but at the same time rotate better. They're stiffer and a little heavier (by virtue of being senior vs. junior) and felt awkward for about 10 or 15 minutes but that cleared up. Also, they slide a lot better, which took some getting used to (flexibility to the rescue). It is very pleasant to have pads that fit, and I was a lot less worried about pucks hitting the inside or the top of my knee. My knee is definitely squarely on the landing gear. The very top strap may be extraneous for me, but I'll consider it. I didn't use it this time, but I might try next time just to see how it feels. I had to finagle the leather straps a bit to get the excess to stay out of the way, which I think is because they're new and still stiff. About a half-hour into the skate, one of the players fired a shot that hit my skate and ended up breaking the holder. I didn't actually realize it was broken until I was getting undressed two hours later. I had had the vague impression that the skate felt funny, like maybe my laces had come undone or something, but I was busy not getting completely shellacked and the skate was still functional. Fortunately, they were under warranty and when I took them to the shop, they outright replaced the whole pair. Fine with me, and certainly took less time than a repair might've. In case you are wondering yes that shot was a goal, it ended up ricocheting into the net.