Leaderboard

Yes, both the 6.5 and 7 Bauer Fit 3 skates use 263mm holders. The holders on Fit 3 for half sizes 5.5 and up are one size up vs. Fit 1 and 2 (just like they used to do with EE vs. D). https://imgur.com/EatZHVq

They shoulda got Snoop to be the model for the Pens jersey.

I have a set of 272 holders laying around my garage. If you want them send me a PM. No cost. I might even have some steel for them too.

I've used both and have a Potent on the way for my own. imho the potent is a more rounded training aid, it's like an Extreme or Sweethands trainer (both very good tools) but with the electronic option to force different skills. As well as individual puck handling, add a rebounder (for single use passing) or you can have 2 people practising passing with it, one on each side of the Potent. I also like the fact that you have to lift your stick over it when puck handling versus the Superdeker's flat puck handling work. I'm not knocking the Superdeker, for learning fast hands it's an amazing tool, I just think the Potent has more options. Also I've seen the Potent used on ice and inline rinks with players in skates practising game scenarios, something that the Superdeker can't really do.

Umm FYI True has a similar deal doing the training for the skates. It's on the management and the company. I used to head the training dept at a chain and our brand was the leader in Pro shop across 4 families of stores. And it was the least funded etc. I cared and our employees cared. I have 7 that are now Pro Equipment managers. One is now the first female EQM in PRO Men's hockey in the KHL. One is a buyer for hockey in the main office. And bunch more Dept and store managers. It's all about the culture and how much you care about teaching.

I had the opportunity to visit the Hockey Monkey in Irvine, CA today to see how they are marketing the TRUE TF7/TF9 and was not very impressed. The sales rep, a young kid with a nice flow of hair, approached me in front of the skate wall and asked me if I was looking for some new skates so I asked him what's new and hot right now and he immediately dragged me over to Bauer to show me the Ultrasonic skates. I asked him what else is new and he took me to CCM to talk about the new AS3 Pro skates. Never once did he ask me my playing level or even the price point I was targeting. I then noticed the TRUE TF7/TF9 off in the corner, lonely by the closeout skates from previous years. I asked him to tell me a bit about TRUE as if I had never really heard of the brand. His exact words "Yeah, they seem pretty dope, but many people don't like that brand and since they are brand new. I don't really know too much about TRUE." I asked him if anyone working knew about TRUE and after asking around another guy walked over and said he tried TRUE skates 2-3 years ago and they seemed ok but he prefers Bauer because they are made better and all of the pros use Bauer. After pestering the staff a little bit they finally went in the back and grabbed me the TF7 and TF9 so I could try them on. I think it was the first time they had brought them to the floor because they seemed very interested in checking out the skates themselves. I talked with them a little bit about the TF7 and TF9, how they are different from one another, and how they compare against a Bauer or CCM. I can tell you Hockey Monkey really needs to spend more time educating their sales staff if the TF7 or TF9 is going to do well for sales at their stores. Staff also had no clue about and of the current TRUE rebates and when I showed them such they didn't seem to care. This specific location had very little TRUE product in stock, no protective, and a limited selection of AX series sticks. Tomorrow I am going to visit PURE to see if the experience there is different. I have already visited another PURE store in WA but they didn't even have any of the TRUE skates in stock.