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I'm 59, and around a year ago, after reading posts from Vet88, I started skating unlaced at public skating like BenBreeg does, and also for the first half hour of each stick and puck. After a short while a light bulb went on in my head, and skating unlaced felt so natural that I was practicing all the skating techniques unlaced, albeit at a slower deliberate pace. As a result, I'm now playing hockey with the top 2 pairs of eyelets unlaced. So if an old dog like myself can learn a new trick, there's no reason a young whippersnapper like yourself can't do the same. 😁

I'm a level 2 certified coach, been coaching ice and inline for 15 years. But I didn't invent this, other much better qualified coaches than me have done this. For example look at this . Wally Kozak is one of the most respected coaches out there.

No, you have biomechanics, can’t be avoided. They are either contributing to or detracting from your skating. We all have dominant sides, habits that we have developed over the years. My right foot pronates AND i am left leg dominant. Even off the ice if I am standing I tend to default to weight on my left foot. I skate unlaced at public skate now. If you pay attention to whats going on when you do this you will make quick improvements. I am 45 and have been skating since I was about 10 and was able to ID several issues right off the bat. You get feedback that a tight, stiff skate laced up will hide. I have seen improvement after only doing this only a handful of times, can’t imagine what I could do if I did it once or twice a week. I am still in an old Bauer Supreme 7000 which by this point is probably a fraction of the stiffness of these new skates and don’t feel it is holding me back, although I will be forced into new skates soon since they are literally starting to fall apart. Just because everyone doesn't teach a certain thing doesn’t it is or isnt valid. Laces undone has been done for a very long time.

You can become a good skater. Once you’ve got the basics down, you should find that one on one lessons will help a lot. The coach will correct poor technique, allowing you to be more stable and skate faster for less effort. I’ve been learning for three years, I started at 53, and I’m making good progress. Sure some youngsters learn faster, but many don’t. One thing that is often ignored is the importance of off ice exercises, such as yoga, gym or a martial art. You can do exercises at home, using inexpensive aids such as large elastic bands, a roller, a gym ball and a hockey stick. Without wanting to be rude, at your age you should be doing exercises each day, not only do you become more flexible, but they will cure any longstanding issues, such as back ache and sore knees. These sorts of exercises are also known to slow or reverse the effects of aging, and reduce the risk of dementia in later years. I do 15-20 minutes a day, I started out aiming to do 10 minutes, but they are quite enjoyable and leave my body feeling much better afterwards.

Pretty much majority cotton but I'm not down to spend 16usd for a pair of socks esp since the fabrics are pretty much same as most other cotton based socks. But I guess being waterproof it keep the water from soaking up the sock and transferring into the skate as well.

If you had asked me this 3 years ago I'd have said this is true. But today imho it's all opinionated bs, just like my comments following. Let me put this out there - IT'S NOT THE SKATE. It's you and your bio mechanics. It's as simple as this even though bio mechanics in skates is a complex issue. If your bio mechanics are correct you can skate in anything - even clods with a frame bolted to them. Stiffness, heel lock, volume, length, forefoot width, profile, hollow etc are all secondary, you don't need this to be anywhere near perfect to skate well. What you need is good body alignment over the skate blade. Yes, stiffer skates will generally help you to skate a little better but they will not TEACH you to skate better. If you want to skate better fix your bio mechanics first, make sure the holder is aligned central to your foot / ankle / knee / hip alignment. Then shim for ankle / knee / hip deviation. This is the quick fix but it comes with some issues, especially for beginning skaters and how their body adapts to skating over time. Or learn to skate with your laces undone, stop using the boot as a crutch / excuse and teach yourself how to balance over the blade. Even holder alignment becomes less important. Add in strength work for legs and core and then you wont care what skate you are in as long as it is comfortable on your foot. Age, sex, size, weight, skating experience and equipment are irrelevant, anyone can learn to do this. Downside is you have to put in the time and effort and it is a long term development, upside is that over time you create the base to become the best skater you can possibly be.

Just have the nurse put it in your chart: "Patient is allergic to foolishness". I've had a couple of surgeries, one of which was more specialized (in the sense, a very limited number of surgeons perform it, though the number is increasing). For one, I had my parents' insurance still, so that was all dealt with, and really I could've had it at just about any hospital with a competent GI surgeon. The second one I had medicaid, which paid for everything (thank god), it was just a question of the scheduling wheels turning slowly (meet the surgeon, pre-op appointments, actual surgery, etc, but I was got in early d/t a cancellation). Now, I have a partially subsidized plan, but it's the first time I've had a plan where my local (5 mins away) hospital is out of network for anything but emergency visits. The specialty hospital is among the best in the country, so I'm perfectly happy to have it there, it's just that, OR time is a limited resource, especially for a hospital doing such a high volume of orthopedic procedures daily. It was frustrating to get a date, frantically arrange things, then be told "um, actually..." And have to frantically re-arrange things and tell people "...ok soon, but I don't know when, I'll get back to you". It might be a week of delay, or two weeks, or a month. I do get the sense this surgeon will go to bat for me, because when we looked at my MRIs, he got very distressed when my reply to, "How are you walking around not in excruciating pain?" was "Well, I am in pain, but I have a life and no real choice, so I just have to accept it." The funny thing is, I saw this exact scenario with a patient a few years ago. He needed some toes amputated, which pretty much any fool with an MD and a set of bolt cutters can do, so he went to Local Hospital, but because of his insurance had to be transferred to a large downtown trauma center, admitted and have the surgery there - and his wife didn't drive. Absolute nonsense.

Well, this is what happens when you buy a sewing machine. I took the stripes and patch off a Warrior MSH Winterfest pant shell and put them on a Bauer girdle shell. Also just for funsies, here’s a fitted cap I took apart and rebuilt to make it go from a 7-5/8 to a 7-3/8. Im thinking I might start making goalie accessories. Toe ties, suspenders, etc.

Well it looks like I’m not going to be skating anytime soon. I’m not only not getting my drain taken out, but I’ll be getting an additional drain. My current drain only addresses one side of my liver. The new drain will be for the other side. The potential devastating news I got today is that if the additional drain isn’t successful then I would need surgery to attempt to open my bile ducts. It’s a major operation that could damage the major artery and cause the need for a transplant very soon afterwards. This wasn’t the information I was planning on getting today.