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Well there is the industry in ten words or less.

Took my daughters to a Lyndsey Fry camp in Seattle this weekend. She's a pretty incredible coach at such a young age. Younger daughter got asked to come back for tryouts for their club's AA team to go to the Beantown tourney in July. Awesome for her. But I'm seriously not ready for this!

Their "Growth." Your "Incentive." No "Sales." Not a "Program." The Spider and the Fly “Will you walk into my parlour?” said the Spider to the Fly, 'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy; The way into my parlour is up a winding stair, And I've a many curious things to show when you are there.” “Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “to ask me is in vain, For who goes up your winding stair -can ne'er come down again.” “I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high; Will you rest upon my little bed?” said the Spider to the Fly. “There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin, And if you like to rest awhile, I'll snugly tuck you in!” “Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “for I've often heard it said, They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!” Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, “Dear friend what can I do, To prove the warm affection I 've always felt for you? I have within my pantry, good store of all that's nice; I'm sure you're very welcome — will you please to take a slice?” “Oh no, no,” said the little Fly, “kind Sir, that cannot be, I've heard what's in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!” “Sweet creature!” said the Spider, “you're witty and you're wise, How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes! I've a little looking-glass upon my parlour shelf, If you'll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself.” “I thank you, gentle sir,” she said, “for what you 're pleased to say, And bidding you good morning now, I'll call another day.” The Spider turned him round about, and went into his den, For well he knew the silly Fly would soon come back again: So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly, And set his table ready, to dine upon the Fly. Then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing, “Come hither, hither, pretty Fly, with the pearl and silver wing; Your robes are green and purple — there's a crest upon your head; Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!” Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little Fly, Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by; With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew, Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue — Thinking only of her crested head — poor foolish thing! At last, Up jumped the cunning Spider, and fiercely held her fast. He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den, Within his little parlour — but she ne'er came out again! And now dear little children, who may this story read, To idle, silly flattering words, I pray you ne'er give heed: Unto an evil counsellor, close heart and ear and eye, And take a lesson from this tale, of the Spider and the Fly. ~By Mary Howitt, 1829

After two and a half months of my state's only full size rink being closed, we finally have new refrigeration pipes down, with the coolant system being turned on today, and the new ice starting to be made... Let's hope they don't screw it up, and our new season can begin soon...

Warrior's closeouts are killing their new products.

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.

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

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.

Hello, I am Stephen, a rep from Base Hockey. This topic is to add information for a new line of products and features from our company. My first post was in the Roller Hockey Equipment forum as one of our new retail features is "blade flex" that was inspired by there not being a blade designed for a lighter inline hockey puck. This new feature is not roller specific however, and adds a new option to combine with stick flex and kick-points. All of the Base Hockey curves are now available in (R) Regular, (S) Stiff, and (XS) Xtra Stiff. In addition to offering blade flex, we also now offer a tapered .520 shaft in models Supernatural (mid kick) and Nasty R (dual low kick). These shafts can be ordered in flexes 75-120 in variables of 5.... 75, 80, 85, 90 and so on. Finishes are customizable with options of Clear gloss Clear Powder Matte Grip Gloss Grip Powder Matte The new blade flex feature can be ordered in either a OPS, shaft and blade combo, or .520 tapered blade. These features have been offered to NHL players for years and adds a new variable for the retail public. All 3 blades play completely differently when used with the same shaft flex and kick point. I am located in the Southern California area if anyone wants to see these products and features in person. The bottom two shafts in the following photo are for demo purposes and not the standard graphics. Name and number can also be added to the sticks or shafts. Let me know if you have any questions. Edit: I have received a lot of inquiries on how to order shafts and/or blades. The following link is where we are directing customers at this time.. http://www.basehockey.ca/shafts-blades

BEANTOWN in JULY??? i know some Modsquader that will be in (well NEAR) Beantown in july...

Got some new socks, any idea what AHL / NHL team they are from?

New jets . Actually had a broken eyelet on one skate, little drilling, little epoxy, was able to install a traditional eyelet with no problem.

It was on the table. Warrior didn't want them.

Because I play about once every couple weeks and I officiate 100+ games a season!

I guess that turnaround consultant they hired a couple years ago didn't end up working out.

Drop In Report: Yesterday was the first time I went to my home rink with a good turnout in awhile. I first thought it was going to be another day at the rink with no dance partners, as when I signed in, there were two skaters and two goalers. That ended up not being the case, as it was four on four with two subs each bench. As I was warming up, my left hip was killing me. I did not want to go down as I was afraid of not getting up. It was not feeling good whilst stretching. I thought for certain I was going to end up going home. I was in a good amount of pain. I have had problems with over-tight hip flexors dating back to my days as a cyclist, runner and duathlete. Needless to say that I was not going to go down without a fight, so I fought through. Weirdly enough, it got better. After a crappy warm up where it seemed I let in everything, I was on fire. I stopped McDangles on several break aways. I was actually making it hard to shoot against me. The other goalie was getting lit up like a Christmas tree on the other end. After 40 minutes of straight, end-to-end four on four with no significant breaks in action, I made the executive decision to break for a few. "You hurt?", one had asked. "No, but unlike the pros, there are no TV breaks and this end-to-end action has never allowed me to even get a sip of water", I replied. The goalie who got lit up wanted to switch ends. I agreed. Unfortunately for him, his fortunes only got worse, as he was now defending against McDangles. Sure, my new D was bad; McDangles can split the D like a knife through hot butter. Play ended up on the other end so much that I nearly fell asleep! I got a lot of 3 on 0 rushes, which there is no way to defend those. Maybe I am improving, but I think I played well above my pay grade yesterday.

This MF got a job. See you at WF.

Second league game went much better. Won 3-2. Our team got the go ahead goal. Got beat top corner after getting caught out of position and then somebody managed to sneak in a wraparound on me (which was odd, because I felt like I had a good seal). Shut 'em out the final two periods. Team played a lot better as a whole. Action shots: Watching the breakout: Breakaway stop: In the corner: A decent shot of my stance: