Leaderboard

There is much debate about whether or not the differences in pro vs. senior, senior vs. bottom-end, smu, special runs exclusive to certain stores, etc., etc. is labour (North American vs. Asian) or the just quality of materials or both. I think the X24 is the top-line senior, so my guess is that the padding is not that much different from a top end pad from a few years back. Brian's claims their top end senior pad has 85% of the same materials found in their top end pro offering. Knowing what I know about manufacturing, foam is the cheapest part of a pad. Of course when you are trying to meet a certain price point, everything gets dumbed down. The Jenpro-like material will be thinner, high end specialty foams will not be included (especially if it has a name that must be advertised, therefore paying the manufacturer to use the name in addition to the product), straps will be flimsier, etc., etc. I don't think you have anything to worry about with your pads, as I am wearing used senior Vaughn pads (7470 V5) and they feel pretty much like a new set. I haven't felt shots in mine, and I've played in these 1-3 times per week since November in intense shinny (scrimmages, in reality). It's not like you have Bauer Reactor 2000, which are DEFINITELY a low-end pad (I have a set). Many goalies I know wish for the simpler leg channels of senior pads when they buy pro and often strip them down to what a senior pad looks like in the leg channel! You may figure out how much you love the senior style leg channel! Now, the only pad I would play in roller would be a low-end senior pad, as they are light weight AND relatively painless to drag across concrete (to a degree). I will be putting slick tape on my Reactor 2000 pads and try some roller hockey. I would only use them on ice in an emergency basis, as just getting my moves down in these broke them down quickly, as well as degrading the toe trims, though I hear this is a common problem with the Jenpro-like material used as toe trims on the Reactor line (save for the pro line).

A few surprises: one, we got to play on the big rink today (the two rinks are side by side, and the smaller has been converted now to turf for the summer) - and got extra time as well, so couple of hours instead of just one. Didn't feel too badly by the end, surprisingly. Was getting a bit slower in reaction time. Adjusted well to the angles and tracking the puck. I had bought a second pair of "backup" glasses (now primary) and paid extra for super-thin fancy polycarbonate lenses and feel much less "lopsided" off the ice, and it's been easier to adjust to being without them now that the prescription is accurate and I don't have a coke bottle on one eye. Anyway - there was the big rink, and I tried out my new jersey and was not struck down by the hockey gods for hubris. I also found after last Saturday night a nick on the landing gear (inside fabric, not the outer leather) of my right pad, which is perplexing, because I wouldn't have stepped on my own pads, and the angle is wrong for anyone stepping on them on ice, but it looks as if they were sliced by a skate. Maybe someone stepped on them while I was dressing? It doesn't affect the play at all, and the rigid internal material is fine, but I should probably sew it back up. I had to get my skates sharpened on Tuesday, after going to stick-and-puck and realizing oh man, these are absolutely shot after Saturday night. Could not for the life of me recall what hollow it was - the sharpener looked at it and said usually goalies get 5/8", but said that these looked like they'd been done at 3/4". I went with 3/4" and it worked just fine today. I think I'm just still heavy enough that a shallower hollow isn't a problem. All in all a pretty solid game - I had a shutout going for like 45 minutes, while my poor colleague across the ice got smoked, but it evened out after the first hour. I felt comfortable and moved well. Butterfly slides are slowly improving and becoming a reasonable part of the repertoire.