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The shell doesn’t cover the entire toe cap area like it used to in the VH days. It does form the complete bowl around the bottom of the boot all the way around the front, just not the upper half of the toe cap.

The construction of the entire true boot is carbon fiber. This means the entire toe and forefoot area as well. In one piece. The toe cap simple slides over top. You can also see for yourself that the toecap is a flexible plastic on the sides and is only thicker on the front and top for obvious reasons. It's up to you what you want to do but I think we're beating a dead horse by telling you that making a decision without actually baking isn't a completely informed one. You might be happy with 6.5w but you'll never know for sure whether the 6w fits even better if it was fully baked and broken in. I get at the retail level you have to compromise some fit issues to accommodate others.. but your fit issues, I personally believe you can achieve the "perfect" fit of toes brushes and not have width issues. My feet are like yours were the toes are the widest part which is why I have a hell of a hard time finding retail skates that fit properly. Either the toe cap area is crammed or boot is too big overall.

@Leif 1) Trying on retail Trues without them being baked is a waste of time and effort. True's own policy is they MUST be baked for try-on. If this shop won't allow that, find another one that will. The fit of an unbaked True is NOTHING like the fit of a baked one. 2) Not having your toes brushing the front of the boot in your custom Bauers shouldn't be a factor in getting a proper fit in the Trues. Sounds to me like the width of the toe cap on the Bauers wasn't properly sized for the width of your foot and you have a less than ideal fit in those custom skates. I went down a full size from my Grafs to the TF9s and a half size from my Ribcors. Our advise is to get the snuggest fit possible without pain or significant discomfort in a baked pair of TF9s knowing they will break in and provide another 1/4 size or so after a few skates. Also be aware that this often times put folks on shorter blades than they are used to and you may find it helpful to explore a profile that puts more blade on the ice to compensate for the difference. I just came to this brilliant conclusion recently after about 2 years on my TF9s and I am kicking myself for waiting that long.

Definitely go for the smaller size if at all in doubt. I was in the same boat in between two sizes. After the final bake the skate gave up a lot of space and I could have gone with the .5 smaller. For me the feeling with the skate between the fitting bake and final bake was like night and day with the size and fit difference. The toe cap itself didn't stretch being plastic, as mentioned here before, but the padding in the cap. I like my toes right at the cap and it's the only regret I have with the skates. Otherwise they've been perfect. In fact, the regret about the .5 size down has been so big that I've constantly been looking for deals to get a second pair in the smaller size 😆

Metallic helmets are a bit ick, except for when that Euro league used to do it for their scoring leader. That was cool. I don't like matte helmets either, I don't know why. I'm turning into an old man maybe.

I'll take my chances with the concussion.

The Canucks matte black helmets remind me of that one guy in every beer league with the old matte black Easton bucket that never looked good, usually paired with roller hockey pants and some skates from 20 years ago... it's a hard no from me.

Always test fit retail TRUE skates with a bake. Trying them on without baking will result in you getting the wrong size.