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New True gloves.

SP 1.0 for me with no red insole in my custom trues. Love how firm they are. Hate the spongey feeling of the stick insoles.

I previously wore a 7EE in the MX3 and now wear a 7.5 FIT2 though I can barely squeeze into a 7.0 FIT3, so maybe the changes in the Bauer FIT System may change how skates fit as well.

Absolutely. I've already spilled the beans on that somewhat, and just realized that way of putting it after reading @Cavs019 description of his experiences with it as well as recalling what others have said about it, but I'll try to clarify it here. Background: The P28 is a subtle curve, without even going into the depths of its half dozen relatively common variations: E28 and BC28 are kinkier than Bauer, CCM, or Warrior's P28, while True's TC4 is more of a cousin to those curves than a sibling...then of course, there's MAX variants that were starting to come out before Covid19 and the popular Fisher Pro used by Kucherov, Karlsson, maybe even Ekman-Larsson, among many others. It was introduced with a nod at this subtlety, the infamous "dual-lie" marketing campaign, which ended up being more of a tease than a fair representation of the blade's character. What is all this subtlety then? Dual-lie is definitely one aspect, and potentially the trickiest. But it's also dual-curve. It's not a toe curve, but a heel curve with a toe curve added to it, and it can play like that: it can be a toe curve with the puck at the far end of the blade, or it can be a heel curve if you play as though the "dual" portion of the blade didn't exist. That is, you use it as a short blade with a heel curve and leave the toe curve and its sharp rocker out of the equation. Practically speaking... All this means is, for pick and fling wrist shots, push the puck out to the toe, grab and release in one direct motion. But note! Here the inverse of the key to using it as a heel curve is true: to use it as a toe curve, ignore the heel curve portion of the blade, or about 2/3 of the surface you've got for handling the puck. When it came time for me to try this out with the Leino the first time I used it, it felt really odd. I didn't know at all how to shoot at this point, mind you. But I had started seeing tips on how to do it on YouTube, so I figured I'd give it a go. It just felt strange to have the puck dangling out there at the end of this crazy long blade, ready to launch. It also looked strange, seeing all that blade I was bypassing, setting the puck up out as far as it could go. But then I launched my first shot and it went exactly where I had hoped it would. I wasn't used to my aim being any good, so I got giddy. But there's the rub-- It can be too good to be true, and in my experience, it was for a good while. I could shoot off the toe and skate with the puck, but I couldn't really manipulate the puck reliably to evade defenders in tight space or make consistent passes. After giving it some more time, I got the stick balanced better for my hands' feeling-expectations and discovered the gotcha about not releasing the puck from its natural heel-to-toe launch zone, but instead go heel-to-mid and suddenly I had the best of both worlds: the effortless saucers of a heel curve and the effortless lasers of a rockered toe curve. It took me an excess of 15-20 sessions with the stick to figure it out, but eventually it clicked. And then when I tried these techniques out on an E28, it was pretty much the same, just on a shorter blade at a slightly higher lie. Bananas split ~ Unfortunately, it doesn't work for everyone, and the point of all of this gets at why I think that is: it's hard managing a split personality, and the P28 is a split personality blade. The split personality requires awareness at all times, or you risk flubbing your maneuver entirely. The classic way to do this is to feel the puck on your stick without looking at it. If you can feel where it is on your stick, you can get it to the zone it needs to be in regardless of whether the heel approach or the toe approach is preferred in a given situation. You can also look at the puck, but it limits your effectiveness and it can get you into trouble really fast. If your feeling for the puck isn't as detailed as where it is currently and where it needs to be for the next action, you can easily get frustrated with the duality coming back to bite you. It's not all fun and games. Unless you like managing split personalities 🙂 Post mortem. Not that the P28 is dead. By all means, it looks as though it is here to stay for the next while, it's just not the latest and greatest anymore. When it came out, it seemed to create such a sensation, in part, I think because it seemed too pro to be readily available to mortals. That was my impression at least. Then the feedback and reviews came rolling in, and they were quite mixed. Where there had been so much marketing about a blade pattern(!) that promised to make you shoot like Ovechkin, people seemed to be somewhat caught off guard by the blade not always behaving. Easton hadn't told the whole story, and I keep coming across frustrated people who seem to have half of the information, in no small part due to the (at most) half of the story Easton told when they unleashed the E28. ! When was the last time that happened? It seemed totally crazy at the time, but that campaign looks like it set the stage for the marketing of the other blades that have come and gone (P46, P30) or are just having their moment as the IT blades right now (All MAX Everything, P90T+/-). That's all I have to say about that.

Maybe they’ll make them look like they’re still there in the production version:

I have been thinking about it, and despite the delivery, there is some validity to his point. I made changes to try to find a better solution throughout the season and I’m not going to be stubborn just because of the source. I’ll give it a try Sunday and see how it works.

The red heel on the prototype Vapor looks awesome. Just the right amount of pop and identifiable from a distance/on TV while still being a classy looking black boot. I’m sure it will end up like the Ultrasonic with some horrible bright yellow racing stripes but here’s to hoping.

If anyone wants to have a glimpse of what the future holds for training and athletes, have a listen to the following. It doesn't cover any of his predictions, it covers what is actually happening now in labs and just released and it's quite goddamn scary is some respects. It does cover other things besides sports but it's an interesting listen anyhow, especially the fighter pilot stuff and the neural interface. The relevant point for hockey is what they did with the US ski team, 20% improvement is an awful lot at that level. I know of a program developed for keepers that tracks eye movement and they have interfaced that to AI and VR so keepers can train off ice in a simulator. Add AI driven neural interface learning and at what point does sport end and programming begin? The Futurist - Matthew Griffin https://open.spotify.com/show/4UR9Kj8YtPcT0iLgqWL8tJ

No, changes to the toecap didn't occur until the Ultrasonic. I didn't notice a volume difference, just that the 1S fit bigger.

I'll give it a listen, but the last question is a good one. I love to keep up with training approaches etc. but at some point, and I don't know exactly where that point is and it is different for everyone, a line is crossed that doesn't interest me. For instance, baseball has crossed it with too many analytics, launch angle, etc.

You're going to have different opinions on this. Without knowing whether they're were any changes made to the last (and I don't see why they would have) the fit should be relatively the same. I went down a half size when going from the MX3 to the 1S. I attributed this to the extremely thin MX3 tongue and the more traditional 52 ounce tongue on the 1S.

Nick is correct, starting in 2016 with the 1S, all the lasts got 1/4 size smaller. This was partly due to the change to the SpeedPlates from the footbed that had the removable tabs. Since retail sizing is in 1/2 size increments, most people would need to size up a half size when going from the MX3 to the 1S, and down a 1/2 size going the other way. If you have an inbetween 1/4 size, you could possibly stay the same size. Tl:dr - if a MX3 and 1S are the same size, the 1S will fit smaller.

@flip12 I don’t think you’re wrong at all and I’m probably chopping my words/explanation a bit. I think it’s mostly due to the fact that I tend to carry the puck in the mid-heel ish part of the blade (my first composite sticks were Modano/PM9s for the most part before I switched to Drury - wood Leetch/Lidstrom blades before all of that). At the way back of the heel the P28 is safe - mid heel you start to get into that weird twist/wedge part of the blade where unpredictable stuff starts to happen. At least for me that is. I also feel like the P28 wants you to carry the puck up by the toe and I just have a hard time unlearning the muscle memory of keeping the puck in the heel pocket for ~20 years. The 92 let’s me maintain the mechanics im comfortable with. I’m sure if I gave it enough time I’d adapt but it’s too late in the game/im too washed up to try to teach myself new tricks.

Not disagreeing with any of the above, but... It’s easier to go to a P92 imo. The P28 toe is an absolute beast and you really can’t play with the puck on the heel/shoot off the heel because it’s completely straight and closed relative to the P92 and P91. Just my personal experience. After giving the P92 some time after using the P91 and P106 forever I’ve really come around to liking it - and can appreciate why it’s the most popular curve on the planet. It does everything well.

I was always of the opinion that the P91 and P28 were of similar lie, length and shape, that the toe curve was the only adjustment. Not too difficult

Wow, so many tips and tricks here that I would not have gotten from the depths of the internet - only on ModSquad! Thanks a bunch @yrhmblnr8r, @Monty22 and @SkateWorksPNW