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Picked up my skates on Saturday! Initial thoughts/review... Keep in mind these are my first custom/VH/True skates The weight picking them up by hand was lighter than I expected, maybe I overestimated the weight after reading everywhere they were on the heavier side. I also came from Bauer Supreme 170s (I'm not sure of the weight difference or put either of them on a scale yet) Putting them on for the first time, before baking, freaked me out at first, because I could barely get them on my feet. This is because I have duck feet, flat, very wide forefoot, very narrow heel, and they expand a lot when putting weight on my foot, so the boot wraps so much around my flat foot getting the forefoot through narrow part took effort. Unlace the top 4 eyelets or so, pull out the tongue, stretch the boot wider, (as mentioned in the True YouTube instructional video) broke a little sweat, and they were on. When my feet were in, the wait was worth it, the heel lock is absolutely amazing, the outline around my foot is spot on. Because of the great fit they definitely "felt lighter" than any skate I've tried on before. The fit felt so good, I felt like I could play without laces or tightening laces at all. As Iskander mentioned above, I am surprised the width and length seem slightly big, but when I stood up and put pressure on my expanding fat foot, I can't really complain. Of course spending that much on skates for the first time I didn't know how much perfection to expect. Baking them was pretty crazy, they went from a perfectly stiff boot, after putting them in the oven I had no problem getting my feet in the skates when they were warm, then they were back to being a perfectly stiff boot and fit even better. There is some space in the toe box, definitely a lot less than any other skates I've tried on. I guess if there was any less space in the True toe box they might look like Chuck Taylor high tops, in general I have always wondered the reason for space in the toe box. I did try putting Powerfoot inserts inside and it was a tight squeeze, the inserts would have to break in to feel great. I could use the thin shim Powerfoot also provides instead, but I'd also be fine not using any insert at all. The guy at Monkey Sports and I agreed, one of the areas True/VH probably saved some costs was the insole. Luckily, I swapped my old Bauer Speed Plates from my old skates and re-molded them to the inside of the True Skates. Not necessary, but I liked it better. When I took them home, I took them on and off a couple more times, it was still a struggle, it crossed my mind I needed to use some slick socks, skate barefoot or use some kind of oil to get my feet in and out of the skates until they were broken in. ha :/ Since the eyelets on my skates are practically molded on top of my foot (due to my wide flat feet) it was a little tiresome lacing and unlacing the skates, I took the recommendation from another one of the True YouTube videos, I took a heat gun to the eyelets and slowly bent them outward a bit and it worked great after, problem solved. (After this I was able to get my skates on using dress socks, still with a lot of effort) After that I was done tinkering for the day. On to last night's game...First game with the skates, no practice session, 5 minute warmup, initial thoughts... I showed up early since I didn't know how long it would take to put my skates on, and I was happily suprised, no hassle getting my feet in and lacing them up! I guess they just needed a little break in or some practice getting them on and off. On the flip side, going back to the fit (referred to above), the skates now felt looser than before, I needed to tighten my laces after all. However, I didn't have to loosen and tighten and re-tie a bunch of times all game to find a comfortable fit, as I would usually do with past skates,at least I can go back to my hockey socks after one game instead of using super thin dress socks. ;) During warmup and the game, I did not feel any pain in areas I usually expect, it took very little time to getting used to the skates and finding my footing, I felt great starting/stopping, crossovers, cuts, lateral movement, things I normally do, but felt better and more confident due to the custom fit. I was also confident trying different/new things with ease during the game I practice during stick time, but wouldn't normally do during a game. Since the side of boots are cut lower, in my opinion, I love the additional range of motion/articulation. The longer contoured thick felt tongue and tendon guard on the True skates also offset any worries I had getting too wobbly. End result so far...first hat trick in two years! I felt great out there all game, some of it is probably due to being stoked on new skates, but I had zero foot pain, and many might agree, sometimes how well I play depends a lot on how bad my feet hurt on any given night. There was no lace bite, no heel lift, no extreme forefoot pressure. It must have reduced a lot leg fatigue and unnecessary exerted energy because I could skate harder and play more minutes, my legs and cardio felt fine after the the game. I'll be back with with pictures and another update after a couple more games. One thing I noticed about the aesthetics of the skates, since I haven't ever seen a pair in person before I bought them, is some the handmade characteristics of the skate. In my opinion, they design looks really clean in person, I got a few compliments from my teammates, but if you really want to look closely at the detail it is both impressive and yet the stitching and pieces put together isn't exactly picture perfect cookie cutter looking like Bauer, CCM manufactured skates. It is slightly different than what I'm used to seeing, but I'm okay with it as long as they last!

Rebuilding our community outdoor ice rink. Original sand floor was installed in 2007. Time for a refrigerated concrete floor. I found myself the project manager and superintendent for the job. I'm exhausted, but we're in the home stretch. Hope to place concrete next week. Interesting tidbit: this rink system was from one of the first college hockey games played outdoors in modern times: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_Tundra_Hockey_Classic Our hockey association purchased the portable rink system from Ice Rink Events and erected it over the site of the old city pool.