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As far as the heel goes, your comments may have been true about some of the first VH skates. But I don't really see that issue on my 4-year-old pair. However, if you compare the skates I got about a year ago with my 4-year-old pair, there was already a flat platform molded into the carbon fiber heel and it continued up the middle toward the toe to compensate for the space taken by the toe covering that wraps under the boot on each side.

Older VH had kind of "organic" look if you know what i mean with the holder flat flanges squashed against the rounded bottom of the boot. This "black plastic piece" appears to be a kind of square peg to round hole adapter most likely as an attempt to improve the look... IMO a failed attempt at that. Or perhaps this helps to automate and speed up the holder mounting process. They probably had to heat up the holders before they could crimp it like that without breaking something. Can not see on the pic how they mitigated the front "problem". Do they have a spacer there as well? Well hopefully as a next step they will make the bottom flat (ala Supertacks). Then if they loose the dimples on Step holder, we will see a skate that is much easier on the eye. Then again, this is a hockey skate, does it really need to be pretty?

As long as the changes don't affect the fit and performance I will still be on board. Can't wait to see the reviews on the new True/VH model. I believe Shoeshine Boy has the closest iteration I've seen on MSH so far but it didn't look like the new pic. Hopefully all is well with the new model and we can continue our love for this skate. All of the changes I see so far look to help the durability of the boot. As long as I can order my next pair without the steep holders I will be a happy camper!!

Good pictures. I definitely prefer the flat platform to be molded into the carbon fibre itself than to have what appears to be a plastic heel piece added. It not only looks better, but one of the benefits of the one piece boot is supposed to be a more responsive feel because you're eliminating a layer between your feet and the holder/blade.

After receiving bad and overpriced service from "No Icing", I decided to pull the trigger on the Sparx sharpener. I will be ordering in next couple of days to make sure it gets here for my birthday :-). I guess it was meant to be that way.

I think they would look fine if they get rid of these dimples in the front and back.

Yea the step holders are super ugly. I don't know how much I care how ugly holders are but... they are.

Story of my teams summer season. We have lost the last 3 games by a score of 2-1. Been a little frustrating but having more competitive games is nice. Damn posts get in the way!

Youth today. *sigh*

Mostly tacks and HG55 (CL500) from what I've seen.

Yes. He screams at his teammates if they miss passes, etc.

Buying a full set of tires unexpectedly. One of the few times AWD vehicles suck.