Leaderboard

Beast wishes to the folks I knew (and didn't know) at Graf Canada. A lot of good people are now looking for work in a shrinking industry.

Quality control issues at Graf Canada go back over ten years in both hockey and figure skate manufacturing in Calgary. it was hard for Graf Canada in Calgary to find a dedicated workforce when the Canadian oil industry in Alberta was booming. It was easier to make 3 times as much income in oil related production as it was in sewing/cutting skate products. Employee turnover rates in a hand crafted labor intensive industry were high. So while it is so easy to scorn the Chinese workforce for Bauer/CCM skate production, the QC was there at the end of the day against North American standards. Add in the high RD & D of Bauer in mid 2000s with Supreme/Vapor success and the deck was stacked against Graf Canada.

Oof yeah that would be quite the hockey town. I would say if you can find a lesson with a coach, even just one or two lessons would be a far better value than just renting the ice. After all, the basic advantage is a live human (hopefully experienced) who can tell you what you're doing wrong, and give you things to work on that you can take with you to other ice times. You could also try Craigslist, and ask if anyone would be willing work with you a few times if you rented the ice.

I'm from the Ann Arbor area in Michigan so hockey is a VERY popular sport. Depending on what clinic you go to and where it's located it can cost up to a couple thousand dollars. Obviously I don't want to pay that and I'd rather do single lessons so I could weigh out the pros and cons of just renting ice time compared to that. At the end of this week I'll probably start emailing a few instructors that I have in mind to find out pricing and availability. It does help that since I am a college student and I'm getting out before high schoolers I might be able to get some good availability during the week when no one would be at the rink.

I bet they would. A lot of outfits around here that run camps also have private lessons with their instructors. Even if not under the name of the company, I think plenty of coaches would like the extra income! Many of the group clinics I've been to were very mixed level - but there might only be 4 of us, and we'd rotate through each drill, and the coach would just modify it as needed for our ability level. Goalie A might use the drill as an opportunity to work more on basic crease awareness, while goalie B might be working on advanced movements. If the coaches have decided to cap a group at, say, 5 goalies, a beginner isn't taking away an advanced player's time, because each goalie's time is built into the camp, n'est-ca pas? And if there are fewer than the cap (only 3 of us poor padded bastards sign up), woohoo, extra ice and attention for everyone! Depending on how popular hockey is in your area, I think it'd be worth it to take a chance on asking if any of the lower-level or children's camps might be willing to accept an adult, if there was space (obviously, you are willing to pay). (some powerskating camps and clinics will take older skaters into a younger age group if that's where they're at). If they say 'no', they can probably direct you toward another avenue - "oh, we also do private/semi-private lessons" or "oh, coach [x] runs a beginner clinic across town". It's worth a shot. Honestly, $99 is about what a single, hour-long private lesson would go for where I live (outside Boston), so you might as well find a semi-private or private lesson at that price. Dunno what the going rate is for an hour of goalie torment where you're at.

Last night ended up in a 6-3 loss. The games against this team with my old team were normally pretty close but we would usually always come out on top so I'm not quite sure why I went in thinking that we were going to win this game. Two of the goals were breakaways where my defense either decided to pinch or just turned the puck over in the middle of the ice. One goal was a 2-1 and my defenseman decided to cover the shot instead of the pass despite me pointing to the pass and yelling for him to take it (oh well). Two more went in from bad defense in the slot. For whatever reason no one wanted to play defense and tie up peoples sticks. It didn't help that my brother was filling in for us and had never played an actual game before. Being my brother he definitely got some side comments that I normally wouldn't give to teammates and afterwards I felt like a bit of an ass for doing it, but it did cost us those 2 goals. The last was just horrible positioning from me. I did reverse VH but for whatever reason I didn't hug the post very well from the waist up and the puck fluttered right between my blocker and the post. I think my movement is coming along but I really need to get some practice by myself and maybe a couple of friends to really work on my slides. This next week is finals week for me and then all I'll have to worry about is work. I did some looking around and found ice for sale in the middle of the day on weekdays for $99. I'm about to jump on that pretty dang quick but I also want to try some lessons. First I need to find a camp or someone that does lessons for beginners. All I can find in my area at the moment is higher level camps. I'm not afraid to show up and by far be the worst person there but I know I wouldn't be able to keep up and the instructors would have to explain stuff to me so many times that it would take away from the experience of others that may actually be able to go a long way through those camps. I definitely don't want to take away from their learning experience and be a hinderance. Plus those camps are fricken expensive! I wouldn't want my time and money to be wasted at one because some beginner showed up and took away half of my time. I think I'm going to email some of these instructors and see if they would do 1-on-1.

The pictures didn't link correctly, sorry!

I actually asked the same question when first joining Base as I know this is one of the popular pro curves going back to the Innovative days. If I recall correctly, it is a standard .620 and not .520. At this point I think it's fair to say that it is not a retail option. However, if there are enough requests perhaps this is something that could happen in the future.

The bunny has decided it's time to get a new set of pads; with the recent reductions, it's time to buy NOW!!!!! Monkey has the Warrior Ritual Pro from 2012 on sale for $434 shipped at the moment. Yeah- no retro tan at that price; that's why G'd invented Padskinz!!!!! Since I am wearing predominately Detroit colours (Detroit sweaters and a red breezer shell), I went with the "Detroit" colours (white/red accents). I am going to wrap the outer rolls in tan and cover the red with white or will add red robocop to my glove and blocker. I could just let them be, as well. Yes, they are different than my Vaughns. Me thinks that they will be stiffer and may fit better with my play. I have read some horror stories with these pads; I have also read glory stories with these pads, as well.

THIS. There is a human side to everything that is going on in our industry. It's a terrible situation for all these families.

Sad, but...

I'm guessing this "classic " closed mid-toe curve has a square toe? If it is the curve I think it is, I would be so much much desirable if the toe was rounded off a bit. I think introducing that curve is very smart considering how a few very popular players use it.

Tech wasn't their problem. They had plenty of people in their traditional skates. The issue was quality control.

Guess this means we wont be seeing the PK7700 Skate? Zach

I'm honestly surprised they lasted this long.

The Nasty R has the thinnest blade out of all the sticks we currently offer, so if you're looking for a thinner blade that is as stiff as the SuperNatural, you might want to try that. Your best bet is a fitting session, where you'll be able to try out different sticks, blades, shafts, flexes, curves, etc. That way, you'll know for sure if you like a blade, shaft, or stick before you buy it. Soon, you'll be able to try out different blade stiffness as well, so stay tuned. As for another closed toe curve that's not as deep: I don't think we currently offer a curve exactly like that. The BC10 Russell (a taller Hossa pro) has a straight heel which is good for stickhandling, but it's a lot more open and still very deep right at the toe. Are you a lefty or a righty? There are a few pro curves that are only offered in one handedness, so there might be an option for you there. There's also a certain "classic" closed mid-toe curve that we don't offer right now but that I inquired about recently. That might be exactly what you're looking for: A stickhandler's dream. We have a spare blade with that curve, but we'd have to digitize it first in order to offer it on our sticks and as tapered blades. Again, stay tuned for a lot of new developments in the next few months!

Drive down into butterfly focusing on keeping hips up and having both knees hit the ice at the same time, repeat x 1000. From that position, stand up on your right skate, drop your left knee to the ice, push laterally with right skate, repeat x 1000. I had the same problem for a while except in reverse. Watch the Wogtech videos. Over and over. Until you hear him in your sleep. Visual lead - find the new angle. Rotate - square to the new angle. Load, then load some more, and then, load some more, and gather. Push. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

that new new

My latest eBay snipe

switched to girdle/shell last Fall. been picking up shells ever since. here's a few: