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Wild...

Pickups from some recent travels. Franklin Vipers pants Easton Pro pants navy 6K Pro M/L shoulders and a full family photo

Got home today from my surgery and related issues. On the mend. Thanks for everyone who reached out. I got a ways to go but it’s not like I haven’t dealt with other significant health issues before.

Coming from a 100k Pro the stiffness was a concern. It was noticeable, though I didn't feel like the skate was restricting me. I had to work them a little harder to get them to do what I wanted at times so my legs felt it. Oddly, my chronic hip flexor and lower back issues seemed to disappear. Overall, super impressed.

Getting back on the ice tonight!!! A little over six weeks from my thyroid removal surgery. A few complications that delayed my recovery, but looking forward to playing tonight!!

When I had the store in Vegas, I would charge customers the same price for a total custom skate as I would for a top tier retail model. I made a little less on the sale, but then I didn't have to carry as many items in stock for inventory, and the customer got custom skates for the same cost. IMO, everyone wins in situations like this.

Round 2.

Just in... STFU with these things 🔥🔥

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I have a pretty extensive shell collection at this point but this is one of my new favs

Alternatively you could delay going to a curve boot even longer by trying to source the Pro Stock Bauer V Cut skates https://www.sighockey.com/collections/player-skates/products/bauer-vapor-2x-pro-v-cut-hockey-skates-9-d-a-280-ls-fly-ti

The retail store is almost done! So much time, effort, and money went into this. Just waiting on a couple more shipments and we will be open to the public! https://www.yelp.com/biz/surfside-hockey-torrance?osq=Hockey+Equipment https://maps.app.goo.gl/XpKW9WbY9LtEwq4z8 For those not local to So Cal, we will be doing online sales. Exciting times!

I think it's pretty much confirmed by the pictures. No other stick had that exact font and stripe on the underside. It's definitely a pshs.

It isn't confirmed that it is PRO, and I tried to get it confirmed and he won't... but if you use logic it is obviously a PRO stick.

For some of us who are old and set in our ways, as person who both contributed to the proliferation of p28esque curves and ultra-stiff boots, this guy is bordering on super villain status.

Poron to standard foams. 3-piece thumbs to 2-piece thumbs. Embroidered cuff rolls to I don’t even know what to call the plastic crap now. That’s just Bauer. CCM has reduced D3O, or the amount of D3O, they’re using. Palm and gusset materials seems to be getting flimsier. That said, I wouldn’t even bother with retail gloves nowadays. Plenty of pro stock options available with better builds and more options. While it’s a shame CPR and Hockey Menders closed for repalms/customization, ITR does great work and continues to improve with every pair

Sounds like you have at least two stores near you. The store with the Bauer scanner and the one without. Go and try on a ton of skates. Seems like you need to figure out what size skate you wear and what boot shape best fits your foot. You’re all over the place with sizing. Do you have access to a store with staff who are skilled at fitting skates? Go and have them help you get your size and shape dialed in. You’ve already made a 1k+ mistake. If you don’t have a local store you trust, spend some time and money driving to one you do trust. Buying skates blind off of the internet, especially customs that may have some weird stuff going on, is just throwing more money around that may or may not work.

While having a larger sample size is always good, I don’t know if MSH has enough technically sound skaters that would be able to give you an accurate assessment lol It would be like asking the hockeyplayers subreddit their thoughts about the on-ice Marsblade. Based on the initial impressions of those who got the holder, you’d think it was the best technological advancement in skate technology since boots went from leather to composite, and now look how many people are actually using it.

You should dispute the stick you got with your credit card company as a product that was as advertised. And then see if you need to do the same with the one that is in production

Labeda Gripper yellow

That’s where I thought you were going and then suddenly it got all Inception.

Sorry to hear you got a bummer stick at the end of your wait. If I were you, I would complain. It's not reasonable to wait as long as you did. That on its own. On top of that to have a product that doesn't match the spec or live up to reasonable expectations (if they weren't going to paint it the way it looks like it does on their relaunched website, they should have given a heads up) is just the sandy sprinkles on a shit cake. You're doing them a favor saying something. As you said, they won't stay in business long if they alienate their previously loyal customers that want to give them the benefit of the doubt. You shouldn't be out a decent amount of cash, or any amount for that matter, for a product that's honestly way below what it should be.

Custom specs: PPF model Hossa cuff (with side tab, which isn’t always done on other Eagle custom gloves) name embroidery (asked for upper cuff though it was done on the side guard piece) custom colors and binding (based on Eagle Design 5 and Design 7) custom thumb embroidery (a logo that I had previously designed for Eagle goalie pads, and also had on a previous set of Brian's goalie gear) PPF pinstripe PPF tone-on-tone embroidery finger length shortened by 1/4" kangaroo goat palm kangaroo goat gussets gussets tapered by -1/4" (not sure this was done?)

Howdy, I really need to show my wife that sticks picture. Mark

They had this on display at Bauer World and it had a catastrophic failure on the first day and became inoperable. Lol I think it's overpriced and the fact that Bauer is wanting retailers to sell the machine and accessories doesn't make sense. Personally, if I was to use a machine at home and wanted something easy to operate, I would buy a used Sparx.

Average consumers too often equate price to quality, so they assume high end true skates can’t be as good as Bauer or CCM if the flagship doesn’t cost four figures. True makes the price four digits, and when Johnny Suburb and his mom go skate shopping in August, suddenly Trues are now on the same tier because they cost more.

People will probably disagree with me but as you said, I’d play around with profiles long before I’d do a holder swap. There isn’t enough difference in size or amount of steel on the ice at any given time to justify it imo. a good profiler could look at your current blades, get a general idea of the balance point and ice contact you like and get you something similar to what you’ve been using. it will likely take longer to adjust to the boots than the blades anyway.

Great to hear! Skate, skate, and skate....get on the ice as much as you can, whether it's on a pond, public skate, beginner lessons, stick & puck, etc. Try having a friend or someone close to you join the journey with you to make it more fun and motivating.

Just sold my Vapor 3x Pros today and I’m thinking of taking the True plunge. I tried on a pair of TF7’s years ago and was meh about them, but my Vapors just never felt quite snug/cozy enough around my entire foot. Looking at the TF7’s, seeing them for $179 (They have TF9’s for $249). Wore a 7, Fit 2 in the Vapor, based off research of the TF line, I should give the 6.5R a go. Does that sound right?

"...escalated to the management and will be used to improve our production process. I'm sorry the stick fell short of your expectations." Makes it sound like you are the one "at fault", what a crock! That isn't an apology, even though they used the word "sorry" in the sentence. The proper response should be "We apologize your stick made it through our rigorous QC process and was delivered out of spec to what you ordered, we'd like to offer you a discount off your next order with us if you'd be willing to continue giving us your business".

(updated) What I sent to Customer service over email - I'm trying to be nice about it but I mean come on "Hello, I placed an order (USA-3751) in January for a stick which I recently received. My stick didn't feature the "nasty" silver colorway as depicted on the website, just black paint with a grey "base" logo in the middle. I ordered a 65 flex intermediate, but this is more like a 85-90, very stiff, stiffer than my 75 flex I had ordered in previous years. In previous talks with customer service I was told the shaft would feature a gloss grip with carbon fiber weave visible, this stick however has thick black paint throughout. I would prefer the stick to have minimal paint, maybe just graphics applied with grip for weight reduction if possible, because when weighed it's closer to 500 grams than it is to the advertised 435 grams for an intermediate. I expected a 12k carbon weave on the blade as it's an "extra stiff" option but the blade came with a 3k carbon weave which seems softer. The stick was only extended about an inch, uneven at the end so I had to trim off not helping the flex by any means. I am disappointed as I've had positive experiences with Base before and I have two other additional custom stick orders in the Base order queue. This was a let down, especially given the 5 month wait and the fact that this could happen again with my pending 2 orders. Please let me know if there's anything I can do. Best regards (Dmitrakov)"

You are taking this way better than I would be. I would have been screaming and kicking just from the delay. After that - the stick should have been perfect. The fact that it isn't, man, I'd be fuming. Sounds like they have A LOT to sort out. Very curious (as others are) to see how they respond to your feedback. If they have any business sense they'll remake the stick ASAP at no charge.

If you complain, worst they’ll do is ignore you. Plus, we are all curious how they’ll respond!

Bascially. https://www.instagram.com/bsharpottawa/reel/C7Us8_oRM64/

Howdy, Stopped there this morning on the way through the area... Pretty decent! New Sticks were $140 iirc. Hockey socks for $10/pair, half shields for $10, game jerseys for $100. Lots of other stuff too. And this was at 11am on day 3. Thanks for posting it! Mark

I use 1 place in Toronto, Duke's Source for Sports. Technically in Etobicoke, which is a district in the west end of Toronto. Another place I trust my skates with is Hockey Lion in Richmond Hill, which is a city just north of Toronto. I suppose a better way of answering your question would be to know where he'll be playing in Toronto?

Not to be that guy... but why not just grab an extra set of blades? - No surprises for your kid between Sparx sharpened blades from home and the shop while you're on the road - No waiting at the shop on a business tournament weekend -No possibility of the shop being closed for _______ reason

ew

That copper shit is a complete gimmick, which is why they had to change their whole ad campaign from claiming that copper had some kind of therapeutic effect to promoting the copper as something that supposedly extends their usable lives and reduces odor, after they were sued by the FTC for false advertising and had to pay a settlement for it. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/151201tommiecoppercmpt.pdf Braces with semi-rigid or rigid hinged supports running down the sides can provide a little protection against injuries to the lateral and medial ligaments, but it's almost impossible to externally support either of the internal cruciate ligaments, because you can't counter rotational forces on knees with external bracing, except (maybe) by using those very expensive, super-heavy-duty custom-made "Lenox Hill"-style braces, first introduced about 50 years ago. Even those hinged rigid lateral/medial supports that can provide some protection for the MCL and LCL against lateral forces have significant tradeoffs, which is why they scrapped them in the NFL after initially providing them to almost all linemen for a few seasons in the late 80s or early 90s. They found out that they changed the anatomical forces on knees in ways that actually increased ACL tears, as a result. There's no such thing as any brace that can do anything for arthritic pain, except through mechanism #2 below: Simple compression sleeves (which I also wear on the ice and while training legs) do provide some relief (even for arthritic knees, like mine), by virtue of (1) temporarily raising the local tissue temperature and increasing blood flow, and (2) proprioception, in ways that reduce pain perception, indirectly, simply by stimulating distracting sensation in other nearby nerves. If you use them that way, it's best to put them on a little while before you get dressed, so your knees are nice and warm by then. I usually slide mine on before I make the drive to the rink.

That is an insane number of sticks.

P28 was never associated to Hall. As far as I can recall hall was p92 (at the time E3)

Liner socks. I wear THESE.

Vapor 8 was where I gave up on Bauer. I saw Graf 705s in person in a shop and I was blown away by the craftsmanship. They were much more comfortable too, of course. But these are making me reassess all I thought about Bauer. My Vapor 8s were size 10.5 and I didn't have a clue about what they should have been. These are 9.5 EE and they feel almost perfect. I had a hot spot at the end of my large metatarsal on one foot--rubbing right at the edge of the toe cap. But the shell has great stiffness and the liner/foam combo felt very similar to my Catalyst 7s. The steel feels great. Speaking of the forefoot vice, even though these are wide, they still look quite narrow. I fully agree about the looks. I thought Vapor 8s were so cool when they came out. Vapor 10s were just a cut above. The only ones I like almost as much are the XXX and Hyperlite. A true Vapor has to have a certain balance of black and grey. These though, they almost sparkle with the metal mesh, and it's nice there's no tertiary color muddling the mix. Even the splash of red in the XXX is a drawback in my book.

Issues with the sp3: - if the blade holder on the boot has any damage to it that affects the way it sits in the V (eg a small cut where the plastic may sit a little proud), the alignment will be out. Instead of a V they should have just had a flat surface. You must religiously check the holder every time and double check how the boot is sitting in the machine, every time. - the clamp that holds the blade is too small, in my experience a lot of blades have slight curve in them so if you want a straight edge on anything bigger than a junior size you need to remove the blade from the holder and put it into a separate holder that will hold it straight. - the clamp itself should be made from hardened steel. Instead its made from a soft steel that wears quickly (remember this is supposed to be a commercial version) where it runs around the clamp alignment bearings. You end up with different wear on each side of the clamp which starts to throw the clamp alignment out. Not only does the alignment move out on one side but it also moves out from front to back ie it slightly twists so the blade will be more left at the front and more right at the back. - now you have to realign the clamp to take care of minor wear in the clamp. wtf, it's actually not designed to be realigned, even by a few thou. You can do it but because of the way they have designed it, the bearing is meant to center the clamp and be located in just one place. But the bolt that secures the alignment bearing can float by 1/2mm in the securing the channel. 1/2mm one one side in the front bearing and 1/2mm to the other side in the back is up to 1mm deviation, f**k. Now you have to manually align it over and over with no way to move the bearing securing bolt in any controlled manner. Yes, a new clamp mechanism fixes this but I'm talking about very minor wear here and the alignment starts to go out. - the overall design of how the clamp bearing alignment bolt is secured is really piss poor (this would be my biggest complaint). They use a really thin shim to help secure the bearing where it sits over a channel. The shim gives way (the shaft of the bearing pushes the shim into the channel) and the bearing securing bolt gets loose, oh f**k, now I'm having to realign the F*****G machine again. JFC!!!!!! - You have to move the sharpening wheel forward by about one inch to access the sharpening wheel adjustment nut. wtf, all they had to do was cut the opening into the machine further to the right so you could easily access the alignment wheel without having to move the sharpening wheel, morons. And if you forget to push the start button just right so it moves the wheel for adjustment instead of a sharpen, bugger. Now it runs up the device and the sharpening wheel takes chunks out of the blade alignment clamp. I've done it, I've seen 5 of these machines where everyone else has done it, what a cluster f**k. So when these things get any wear in them, they are stuffed. This is why they end up sitting under a bench, every time you realign them and you think its ok, the alignment goes out after a few sharpens. You can't run a sharpening business with this device unless you are prepared to replace the clamp mechanism and associated parts every few months (in a commercial or rink setting) and getting support from Prosharp, what a joke (my experience and other rinks I've talked to). What I have done to fix this (if you know the machine you will know what I am talking about) - made the clamp from high tensile steel. Made multiple clamps that are longer to better hold blades straight. Changed the way the clamp is held to the arms, instead of rivets I now use a nut and bolt and miniature bearing. Modified stand offs to fit the clamp alignment bearing (so I didn't need the shim and when I secure the bearing in place it doesn't lock the bearing and stop it from spinning). Changed the clamp alignment bearings so the center spigot was bigger. Added high tensile steel flat bars that perfectly fit the channels the clamp alignment bolts go into. The bars are machined from high tensile solid steel and include a machined pin the clamp alignment bearing sits onto. This allows me to secure the clamp alignment bearing from the top instead of a nut at the bottom in the channel. I can change the clamp quickly without worrying about the clamp alignment bearing moving so the clamp alignment always stays the same. At the other end of the bar are 2 additional holes that securing bolts go into to hold the bar in place. One the bar is secured the bearing cannot move and can be perfectly centered in relation to the other 3 bearings. Added to the end of the locking bar is a tube, I can insert a threaded rod into the tube and use this to move the locking bar and therefore the clamp alignment bearing by thousands of an inch to help realign the clamp when wear occurs. I've cut openings in the side of the machine and attached some digital laser beam measurement devices that take measurements (both sides of the blade) back / middle / front of the blade. Once the machine is properly aligned, these measuring devices can be zeroed to the distance of the blade. Now every time I put a blade into the machine I can instantly check that it is centered to the wheel and centered along the length of the blade. My next project on it is to make a locking mechanism that will hold template profiles and the blade. I also have to modify the pin that holds the sharpening wheel on (add a bearing to it). Now I will be able to do profiles on the machine. I will have to take the blade out of the boot holder to do the profile but I'm ok with that.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3aa5opAi_A/

Shrinkflation? 😆

With protective especially, there is no “best.” At some point you are trading degrees of breathability and movement and weight for protection. So, you gotta figure out how to configure those different things that work for you. Think of it like creating a character in a video game. You have an allotted number of points, so you can’t just put every category at 100. If you want lighter, they’ll be slightly less protective, etc It’s been a while since I wore CLs, and everyone liked them, but it’s not like you’re gonna put them on and be like “oh, these are clearly noticeably better than everything else and it was worth paying $200 for a used pair of 10+ year old shoulder pads, plus all the time I spent looking for them.” Rather than thinking about “THE BEST,” the about “these are fine.” Get something that does its job and you don’t notice them much, and spend the money on sticks or drugs or something fun. Protective stuff generally won’t improve your game like sticks or skates might*. Just find something you can be content with and don’t overthink it. *these really don’t either, but let’s pretend.