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Hello, After a decade hiatus from hockey (and hockey gear nerding, I still remember doing the Easton toy drive and getting that yellow synergy grip!), I moved back to Minnesota and picked up the sport again this winter and have been hitting outdoor rinks most evenings. Connected with some old friends to do a spring league and am pumped! I had some trouble buying gear and felt a little out of my element, but just bought some basic stuff so I could start playing. I had a few questions regarding advancements to the gear that I was confused by when purchasing. 1) Stick curves - I played most of my life (kid, high school and club college) using a heel curve, Easton Drury. I picked up a Bauer stick in P28 and am struggling to adjust. What's the reason behind the huge migration towards toe curves? Finding my shots frequently sail and it's difficult to elevate on the backhand. Are toe curves objectively better in some way? 2) Skate Stiffness/Models - I went to my LHS and tried on a bunch of skates and ended up in Supreme 3S for the time being. Is the difference between the whole Bauer Supreme line esssentially stiffness in the high-end models? I found that sort of odd, but he was adament the only difference between S37, 3S, 3S Pro, Ultrasonic was the boot stifness and potentially some weight. 3) Sparx/Skate Sharpening - This seems like a cool device, is this pretty much the standard nowadays rather than a human? I had my skates sharpened to 5/8 and boy did they feel closer to 1/2 or more. Thank you! Formerly MN D Game way back on the old forums (and maybe this one). Also, if you bought some Jofa shin pads and 2 pairs of custom Sandy nylon gloves in 2012 at a garage sale in Minneapolis, there is reward for returning those 🙂

Ah... 49 year old me has no idea who Twin Peaks Laura Palmer is. 16 year old me definitely knows who the other Laura Palmer is. 🤣

I had to Google that name...I don't...uh... My name is a reference to a TV show called Twin Peaks.

Where is your tongue positioned? The further down the less volume you’ll have. You can gain more volume by moving it higher or using a thinner tongue. I have one pair with the retail TF9 tongue and move it slightly lower. Another pair has the old custom felt tongue and I move it higher.

Nice find. I guess he can afford to pay retail.

Tydan is very good. High quality steel. Just as good as STEP. If you want a high quality traditional style of steel, this is a good option. Massive is bad, the steel has too high of a tensile strength and tends to break/snap. Stay away. RamonEdge is very good. High quality steel. Just as good as STEP. Its slightly thicker than Tydan and STEP, roughly 3.1xmm vs 2.9xmm which can make it difficult to fit in holders. Bladetech is good steel. Sharpens nicely. Holds a good edge. Overall a high quality steel. It comes with a triple radius profile out of the box which some like. I personally didn't not feel the "flex force" spring effect. None of the customers that I have sold Bladetech to said they felt the "flex force" spring effect. Bauer Pulse and Pulse TI steel are also very good. Not as good as some of these other options but significantly better than the LS5. Have you considered Flare or XC Blade?