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Well, they (and the players) all went bye bye, as evidenced in the... SUNDAY STICK AND PUCK REPORT: Nobody was there. I had the ice to myself. I worked on drops, slides, recoveries, two pad stacks, positioning, gathering pucks into my glove, T-pushes, C-cuts, and clearing the puck. Ugh.

Where in the hell are all these goalies coming from?

Saturday Stick and Puck Report- Five f***ing goalies showed up!!!! Fack me!!!!! But it didn't turn out that bad; in fact- it was okay. We had enough show up for a four on four half ice scrimmage. We each played five minutes each with what ended up as a 15 minute break. I would sit for ten minutes, then warm back up with slides and recoveries for five minutes. I shut out the first five minutes. I let in one goal on a rebound I gave up in my second five minutes. I then went to the other half of the ice and let a few try break aways on me. After two days of lacklustre sessions, this wasn't terrible. In all, I didn't even let in too many. Note that I didn't use the word "ugh" once in this report. ?

I feel like I've been blowing this thread up lately, which is pretty detrimental on my wallet. But, I got the LAST pieces of equipment and now I'm totally comfortable with my new setup. APX2 protective gear came in. Can't wait to try it all out, especially going from entry level equipment to a bunch of APX2 stuff with 37.5.

New set of wheels.

Added another pair of Whale gloves to the collection [/URL]

Ok so I made a phone call and this is what was explained to me prior to me getting my scanner because I had some questions. I just wanted to make sure it was ok to post. Hi Jeff, there are some misconceptions that have been posted around the net, maybe I can clear some up... This is a brand new scanner and software system. Scott Van Horne has previously used 3-D scanning to build speed skates, but that has proved not to work well in the past for hockey skates. With speed skates, comfort and protection are not paramount as in hockey, so 3-D scanning was providing a model to build a “milled last” for speed skates. Hockey also has the challenge of building a canted boot that will accept a holder – again, not something that the previous scanner and software would allow VH to solve for automatically. Also, this speed skate process can be upwards of $2,000 per pair – something that is not currently palatable in the hockey industry. Thus, VH designed a series of algorithms based upon measurement sets and 2-D tracings for hockey. Fast forward to 2016, and the opportunity to source a lightweight, mobile, and iPad compatible scanner became a reality. This got VH excited, and for the past year, they have been working on specifications with the software scanning provider to develop a custom software application. This software takes allot of the calculations and foot mapping that were previously done manually, and automates them. This will allow VH to continue to produce custom skates at the same rate – even though demand has increased. Essentially, once this process is refined through the pilot and testing phase, VH fit centers will have use of the scanner to send in orders – and those orders will be more easily handled at the factory. The current method of tracings, measurements and photos is still how they are building custom skates. Eventually, you will see these scanners in the hands of all dealers as a lightweight and mobile option, that will also cement consistency across all fittings. For a small company out of Winnipeg, I think they should be applauded for investing in solutions to try to continually get better and move the industry forward.

Me and the family went to a local roller hockey rink to play around last weekend, I gave my wife the camera so she could get some photos of us. I'm not much of a roller hockey guy, the skates I have had for ages (and I hate them, they don't fit right), but it was fun to skate around with the kids since they both really love playing. March 13, 2016-JDS_6624-web by Jon Schusteritsch, on Flickr March 13, 2016-JDS_6440-web by Jon Schusteritsch, on Flickr March 13, 2016-JDS_6435-web by Jon Schusteritsch, on Flickr