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Following up to this reply to help maintain some continuity. Today, my son skated on his TF9s in two back to back games for the first time since profiling to 10 ft and -1 pitch. As a reminder, he hated the stock profile out of the box and was miserable after one stick adn pucks. As reference, he skated on his Makos in a game yesterday and decided to dive in head first for two games today for a number of reasons. This was a fairly high level skate (college recruitment), but not at the AAA 15U level. Since he skated one game yesterday, the Makos were fresh in his mind and TF9s were brand new and effectively novel to him since the profile was different. I'll break it down by things I think made a difference. 1. 10 ft radius - Much better than stock. He was visibly "teetering" back and forth on the stock profile at sticks and pucks. It was probably a combination of things, but he commented he felt like there wasn't enough steel under his toes and heels. No such comment today and no "teetering". 2. minus 1 pitch - Again, much better than stock. He commented that he still felt like he was being pushed forward a bit, but could probably get used to it. Will give it a couple more skates. Other harder to attribute observations: 3. Power transfer - He commented that he felt more powerful on them. As support, after playing two back to back games, he felt less tired than the day before playing only one game on his Makos yesterday. As corroboration, watching him, I thought he was going further on each stride. I commented on this to a friend before his comments. So, not that this would be a specific True property, I just think the Mako footbed is breaking down and he's just getting better power transfer, resulting in greater stride efficiency and less fatigue. 4. He said they feel like "tanks". Heavier, beffier, less agile. They are heavier than Makos, but as I've stated before he needs more protection, so, any more protective skate will likely be heavier. at this point, this is his only complaint and he accepts that nothing will feel like the Makos from here on out. So, need to adjust and see if he can get the agility from these on top of the other benefits. Finally, the fact that he skated two back to back games without any comfort issues in brand new skates is almost unheard of in any other brand, than Makos, I expect. The only comfort complaint was a bit of rubbing at the cuff because they come up higher than Makos. He's going to try higher socks next time to see if that fixes it, but if not, I'll heat and roll out the cuff. Still, pretty impressive to get that knid of comfort/fit for $600.

I will let you know, what I buy finally. If Tour or Graf. Get 7.5 Tour in Europe isn't so easy. In 7.5 are now Tour FB 500, in super "clearance sale" for €200 (approx. $244)😂 I mean, that FB 500 never cost $244 in US. I have time till March. Now is everything wett or covered by snow or slush. And closed, of course🙄 So I bought ski for cross country/nordic skiing this week, to keep my condition.

I think I've only seen him use Bauer Vapors.

Exactly. A few months ago I picked up a pair of used, excellent condition Nexus 2700 skates on SLS for $60 shipped. Granted I wear a junior size, so all my gear is inherently cheaper, but still. I already had a roller chassis, wheels, and bearing from my last conversion, but with a bit of luck and shopping around, especially the used market, I'd guess you could grab those for maybe $150. Then either spend $50 to have your local shop mount the chassis on the boot, or do it yourself with some simple tools and hardware. There are a few good videos on YouTube that give step by step instructions. Now you have a nicer boot than your average cheap rollers and a boot that fits you well,for about $250. If you are coming out as a Fit 3 on the Bauer scanner, maybe get scanned again and dig alittle deeper into the data. See if you and the staff can figure out why you are a Fit 3. Is it width, depth, both? Try on some boots. Maybe they have some older Nexus or Supreme before the switch to the new fit system to try on. With a bit of research and try-on, I bet you can get a decent fit for a decent price. If all you want to do is walk into a store, pick something off the shelf and walk out, you are likely out of luck.

I did some FPV drone racing the other day, what a buzz. From that I wondered what would stop the NHL from going the next stage on from player tracking, fitting players helmets with miniature cameras and doing FPV live stream casts. Sell an intro package which includes goggles, any necessary software and subscription to the package then you buy per game for the player you want to follow. Get inside McDavid's head for a game, listen to everything he says and does, follow what he sees on the rink. Thanks NHL, send me a cheque for the royalties when it goes live 🤑

After 1 year 8 months and 27 days I finally had my drains removed today!!! I can actually sleep on my stomach if I want.

This is the truth. 2S Pro are amazing, 1S were solid and even 1X Pro were good gloves.

It took the better part of a decade of dreading going to work every day, but we finally made the leap of faith into a new career for myself, and it is delightful.