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I joined two leagues for the fall season. I played my first game in a new league last night. I started playing in February and I caught the hockey bug big time!

Finally got around to baking my m7s. Had my local shop do it at 200 degrees for 10min, and yeah they were like soft goey skates that wrapped my feet. After a day of cooling i tried them on again and yeah thats a nice fitting skate. Like others have said its like wearing sneakers. I put on my old ccm u10s for comparison and it made me realize how much extra volume i had in them. Now the question of whether i get used to the makos in a slow pickup game or use them tonight for the beer leauge summer playoff game.

Started our girls preseason clinic last night. LOVE the enthusiasm and energy of all the 8-12 year-olds.

That makes way more sense! Thank you so much for that simple explanation.

To steal a Herbieism, Graf didn't have enough skate to win by skate alone. Had they put some effort in, in the form or LHS signage and store demo days, then they might have received two very important things, exposure and consumer feedback.

The best way to think about the new flex profile is not so much about where the flex point is, or whether the pop-matrix channel is different, but how the stick actually bends. To rephrase, the focus on this product was to makes sure each sidewall is as efficient as possible, as in, a LH front sidewall should have different requirements of it compared to it's back sidewall, and conversely, the sidewalls of a RH shaft would be reversed relative to the LH shaft. It's got the ASY in the name to indicate that the flex profile of the sidewalls of the shaft are Asymmetrical, and that is what I'm referring too. The end result is a product that is easier to load, but also pops back faster too. TLDR: New flex profile makes the stick easier to load, but with more pop as a result of optimizing the shaft construction... Edit: Stick is still Low-kick, with Pop-matrix technology, the addition of ASY-1 does not remove any features...

^^ Referees.

And even then I think the old guys loved them because they were, for the most part, just plain black.

This is true, older guys love them. Kids don't because of marketing, they refuse to even try them on. Sad, but true. As for new materials, the Ultra G75 was basically same construction as the One90, yet with a better comfort package. No marketing/NHL exposure equaled no interest.

But even then - it was never a dominating brand. I wore 705s back in 1997 when most were in Supremes and Tacks.

There is a certain similarity between the recent history of Graf skates and CCM skates. There was a long and strong period during the early 2000s that lasted almost a decade where CCM brought some real dogs to the skate marketplace. Vector and other CCM lines trashed their skate reputation while Bauer went deep into R D & D that let them surge ahead in the skate marketplace. Finally, CCM has turned a corner and is now competing with Bauer with strong skate products. Graf followed the same path, although quality control was also a major issue with their skate products. For a long time, Graf brought nothing to the marketplace that was a go-to must have skate. Their delivery and distribution was also a mess. So looking at how long it took CCM to get back in the game with skates, I'm not sure Graf/Vaughn has the time or brand loyalty, none among younger players, to make the same comeback that CCM did.

I just don't think there are enough delusional people that think Graf is a respected name in the industry to actually resurrect them.

I loved my graf skates for fit but only after: - I hammered down all of the staple ends in the footbed - added step steel to fix the stock steel that was bent and started to rust just at the thought of moisture - loctited the blade holder in place to stop the blade clicking and moving - added patches to the liner to stop early and rapid wear - then finally replaced the holders with tucks (because the blade would not sit straight in cobra 5000 holder because the holder is just poorly made) And then ended up doing similar work of varying degrees to just about every other graf skate in our local leagues (28 at last count). All had an issue of one kind or another, all fixable but just really poor QC. Fit and comfort is what Graf are really known for, if Vaughan can fix the rest at the right price point then they might be able to start a resurrection amongst retailers and players bit it's going to take a lot effort and they are going to have to front up with some really good customer service initiatives.

Lots of folks loved the brand, 20-30 years ago when there was quality product to be had.

You make this seem as if retail customers in North America still want Graf. They don't. For quite some time now.

First time in four months on the ice. Wearing the helmet because I imagine a concussion plus blood thinners equals bad news. Was only on the ice for 15 mins or so, and needed my ice pack almost immediately when I got home, but man it felt so good to be out there. Both feet and legs very fatigued and tired quickly. My ankle was mostly okay, only slightly wobbly. Stopping was a bit uncomfortable, and the initial push of a backwards c-cut (like I was backing into the crease) was painful. But it will get there. Just have to keep building strength. If nothing else, it was huge for the mental aspect!

Manufacturer states they are designed to last 100 hours of ice time, or about 1 year of skating twice per week.

I did only because it was easier for me to source and VH didn't carry any teal material.

Absolutely fantastic looking skates. So you supplied the teal to VH, then?

Went in for a fitting on July 11th as I am in Winnipeg and received them August 19th. Not bad of a wait, added extra protection, embroidery and I saw Andrew Ladd's skates with the small white trim around his laces which gave me the idea of wanting to do the same thing in teal as my team uses San Jose's colors. I originally tried to find teal leather for this but it was expensive as anywhere that carried it wanted at least $200 CAD as I had to buy a roll. Eventually found some vinyl that was made to upholster outdoor furniture. Pretty happy with how they turned out. Rob was great to deal with. These things right now are hard to get on and off even with trying the angle as pointed out in their video. Skated 2x in them yesterday and they of course felt bang on. No profile done yet, just my usual cut. Had to get adjusted to the new height of the new steel but no pain anywhere on the skates.