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It's been a while since I've done one of these - lots has changed in the past few years, and so I'm glad to have the opportunity to review product again. I'll be comparing this to the last CCM skate I reviewed, which was the Super Tacks. That IT can be found here - I didn't skate the AS1; truth be told, there wasn't a massive difference between them and the original Super Tacks. Aesthetically, the AS3 looks to be extremely well-made; I can't find a flaw like loose stitches, crooked jeweling or anything of the sort. There is quite a lot of shininess to the boot and the graphics are a bit intense, but I guess that's the This is the first Tacks skate with the quick-release XS holder. The stock steel is still the XS steel but it is slightly taller than the previous version. CCM also reduced the eyerow overlay to the top two eyelets only, and has a runner going up the edge of the quarter. For reference, the Super Tacks had a full eyerow overlay, and the AS1 had the 3-5 eyelets with an eyerow overlay. AND THEY GOT RID OF THE CCM-STAMPED EYELETS. It's probably the stiffest skate I've put on. Lacing them up out of the box, however, they felt extremely comfortable for my foot shape. A pleasant surprise in the forefoot as it is much more plush than the Super Tacks as there's added foam there. New liner in this skate, and CCM extended the abrasion-resistant panels further back towards the heel (for extended protection against shin guard abrasion.) The other big feature in this skate is the ability to remove tongues. The stock tongue is your standard CCM felt in terms of thickness. The tongue attaches to the top of the toe box but now has a flap on top. To remove the tongue, you have to pry that flap up, as shown: Once pried there will be two prongs. Push those down and the tongue is no longer attached to the boot. Aftermarket tongues are available in a thin molded tongue, the same stock tongue with a D3O metatarsal pad and a 10mm heavy felt tongue with a D3O metatarsal pad. I didn't feel the tongue attachment when I had the skates on. This was a definitely well thought out feature. Had to bake these from home as my local rink is not open yet. Skates responded well to the bake as I got some good definition inside the skate. I'm looking forward to skating in these. Thanks to @CCMHockey for the opportunity. If you have any questions, please ask them in this thread.

The ONE90 was the first leap from a traditional skate into what we have today as it required a completely different manufacturing process. Skates before then were flat, then built up then lasted. ONE90 changed all that.

Good to have you back reviewing JR!

I do blend it all the way. I just eliminate the pitch. If you profile using the following technique (see video below) it will apply the full profile but not add the pitch:

All of that information is readily available and/or pictured 99% of the time. I don’t have any less sympathy for someone who buys a pro stock skate online than someone who buys a stock skate “1.5 sizes down from their shoe size” and ends up with a clown shoe/skate. Uneducated/misled online shopper is the same in both cases. In fact I’d have more confidence buying something that is literally stamped “7” “D” “A” as opposed to trying to do the mental gymnastics required to discern that a Nexus D is actually a EE or that a 2015 CCM 6.5 is a 2017 CCM 7. For True this might be a little more difficult but I digress- it’s Monday and I’m grumpy.

Stores that have a very solid relationship with Bauer or CCM will likely be hesitant to carry them. For example, Pure Hockey only sells the TF9 and custom skate. They will not carry or sell the TF7. No store in AZ or WA has either model in stock. While I think the skate is amazing the fact is Bauer and CCM rule the market and TRUE is going to struggle to get big box stores to sell these skates as it will cannibalize sales of your there Bauer and CCM skates. Think of how hard it was for Tesla to "flip the script" in the automotive industry for a good example of how hard it is for a new brand to enter a market and disrupt it no matter how great the product is.