Vet88

Has anyone got any feedback these?

And there you have your answer. It's hard primarily because your technique isn't great, you keep falling off your inside edges because you have spent most of your skating life laced up in a quasi ski boot and using the sides of the boot to skate with and with no feedback coming from your feet. Now your brain and suddenly discovered muscles are having to work overtime to keep you on top of your blade. We are genetically designed to do things in the most efficient way possible (otherwise we were Saber Tooth tiger fodder as we ran out of gas running across a plain), as you are falling off your edges your brain is going "this is wrong" as your muscles work overtime trying to hold you upright. Your brain very quickly works out that efficient skating and muscle use is when you are on top of your blade. Try pushing a goal across the ice with someone on the other side providing resistance if you want a really graphic example of how poor your technique might be. No laces is really really hard, even with a perfect fitting skate boot. What I would recommend is you slowly drop eyelets, say drop 2 first off, and skate until you become comfortable with this. Then drop another 2 and repeat. Every time you drop more eyelets it's like you have to learn to skate all over again and you will hate it. Persist with it, it will make a huge difference to your skating. This is how Amazinmets got there. And DON'T play a scrimmage or a game like this until you are really really confident in your ability at whatever stage you are at. Lace up come game time. There is no other training in the world that will teach you how to skate better, PERIOD. I train with no laces but lace up the bottom 3 eyelets to play so I'm rules compliant. Also accelerating hard in game play with no laces is very very difficult and I just can't afford to give away that yard of pace during a game. Once you can accelerate hard, transition front to back and back to front (at speed) and perform high speed escape turns without falling off your edge, you are starting to get there. You will know it because there is no hiding from your technique when you skate this way. When you start hitting every edge perfectly, this is how you measure your improvement. And having been through this, I partially disagree with YesLanges as to muscle strength. It's not that you will develop new muscles but you will use the ones you have differently and this will lead to a lot of tiredness and sore muscles for a while as they build strength / condition. Calves and the outside shin muscles and quads have to work extra hard. Also if you have any alignment issues (feet / ankles / knees / hips) then no laces helps to sort these out but this can lead to sore knees for a while as the torsional forces thru the knee will change as your technique improves. It's never to late to learn and how fast you learn is up to you and how much training you do. If you want any advice or drills pm me, I'll help as much as possible.

Thats just pure bs. He was brought in to a team that Shanahan publicly stated was rebuilding over the long term and he was signed for 8 years, yeh, that's real short term. Sounds like you have never been under a good coach, but what the heck do I know. I'll just let these words speak for themselves: "We have to understand the importance and the imperative of what a coach brings to the table. Is he worth what the best player on your team makes? Obviously, in this case, the Toronto Maple Leafs feel that they need to get a coach of that calibre that is worth as much as probably their highest paid players make," said Gretzky

Or Babcock sees something more over time with the assets he currently has. One of the main reasons I am interested in the leafs as a team, he is one of the smartest coaches around and has a great eye for the big picture, long term gain.

imho you still want to be looking at a single pour wheel but this depends on how hard you skate. If you are into aggressive stops and high speed turns then finding a perfect wheel that provides grip and durability is near on impossible. Grippers are still one of your best options, Hi-Lo Clingers or Konixx Catalyst might work. If you are looking for a budget option the Shooters are a long lasting wheel but you may sacrifice some grip on a ice court.

D's cost them the playoffs, it didn't help that Gardiner had a shocker in that last game. But he is young and hopefully will have learnt from the pressure and come back stronger this year. If they can tighten up in this area they will be real contenders, not just playoff hopefuls.

What surface are you skating on?

Yes, you pay for what you get and generally more and better quality padding will give you a more adaptable fit.

I have had apx2's and X7.0's and then went to Jetspeeds. The Jetspeeds are much softer in the rear quarter, to the point when I put them on a rack to stretch areas in the heel the boot would deform instead of holding its shape like the apx2's. And whilst my old x7.0's aren't as stiff as apx2's, they are stiffer than Jetspeeds. But this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it depends on what you like in a skate, how you skate and how good your technique is. As to balance, skating style etc, there is always a slight adjustment but it wasn't hard and they are a nice boot. Biggest issue I had with the Jetspeeds was I didn't like how the holder was aligned on the boot, they put me on an inside edge much more than the vapours but I notice things like this now, you might not if you lace them all the way up.

There are a lot of sharpeners who will tell you that stock factory steel isn't well known for its accuracy so a profile brings it to true.

Resurrecting an old thread as I have a solution for when the end of your blade falls apart. I've tried various epoxies and found they were either too hard or would not hold in the end over time. Recently I came across a simple trick for creating a hard plastic type product by using super glue and baking soda (google it). Here's the broken end of my Easton: https://imgur.com/ZOkivQm First I poured in a decent amount of super glue, I want it to mesh with the inner foam and run all around the sides so it has a solid base to hold onto. Then quickly added the baking soda, this is my first layer. Now I layer it, super glue then baking soda until I near the top. https://imgur.com/O4xGI1I Now I change to a baking soda layer and then adding super glue to the top as I want to control the layers and how much goes on. Fill the break to the top, round it off and then sand smooth. https://imgur.com/8kCgWgd Yeah, it doesn't look smooth and glossy like carbon fibre does but for a few bucks and a fix at home, it's hard to beat. 6 weeks later, 10 zillion toe drags, smacks against the boards, deliberately whacking it against the ice to try and get it to break, it's still good to go. Simple, easy and effective. Hope this helps someone out who has a similar problem.

If they wont ship direct or you can't find a MSH member to help, use a virtual address from someone like reship.com or shop&ship (I know the courier company behind this company). Google "shop in canada ship to US", check the shipping cost for each one, google for reviews then sign up and use it.

You are in good hands there. Others you may want to consider are Michael Clarke at Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists and Edwin Su at Hospital for Special Surgery. Edwin is a world leader and resurfacing is one of his specialties. He has done a number of sports people, including an NHL player, and I seriously considered seeing him when I was looking for a surgeon but cost was the issue as my insurance would not cover anything for a US based op. They know a lot more now due to the recall issues so its a pretty mature, stable op now with really good results (in the right hands).

Eeek, thank goodness I go out like a light. That sounds goddamn horrible and a THR is one of the most brutal surgeries around. My epidural stopped working about 12 hours out of surgery and I was climbing up the wall in pain until it started again after 30 minutes. I had a bilateral op in April, was skating again by August but nothing worked as it should. Played some pick up in December but was slow af. Around Feb / March I was getting close to pre op skill base and fitness but I did skate every day since August so that was 8 months of hard rehab. When you do go, talk long and hard to your surgeon about how they will reconnect your muscles, inward pointing feet are a bitch to deal with because not enough finesse was taken when they restitched the muscles back together (assumes a rear entry approach).

omg, hilarious. My apologies for the misunderstanding about Keith. I wish I had time to be there on Thursday / Friday, I was going to pick your brains about a whole lot of other subjects but work meant I couldn't make it and the rink was finished at that point (or at least the first layer of ice was in, just). Ha, you don't want to move to NZ and sharpen skates? For those lucky individuals living in Toronto, you really shouldn't be going anywhere else.

If you find your heel is moving then look at the forefoot fit, if this is firm and good it will prevent the heel from moving that much. if you are also loose in this area then your heel will definitely move all over the place. Try this, use 2 laces. Lace the bottom 4 eyelets with one lace, tie this off as tight as you can. Use the 2nd lace for the rest of the eyelets (or no lace at all) and tie as loose as you like. As long as your technique is good, you don't have any foot alignment issues and the forefoot fit is tight your heel should stay in a relative constant position in the skate. @JR Boucicaut or others in the trade, they should be able to help you with info on the SMU's.

Haha, with the challenges they have had on this tour (here is just one - the rink you book to go from the US to New Zealand ends up in Bolivia and then gets seized by Columbian customs officials as it transits thru their country!) be glad you aren't here. The guy I was talking to works for True (he used to be involved with the Bruins) and he is on the tour as their EM (as well as wearing his True hat), we had a wide ranging discussion about all things to do with skates, players, sharpeners, etc. Hell of a sharpener, overall consensus from players who have had skates sharpened by him is that they are up there with the best they have ever had. Sorry Sparx fans but he was not at all complimentary about the Sparx or Keith.

It could be a number of things, any of these are impossible to determine unless one sees you skate and can look at the shape of your foot, stance etc. However lets address this chestnut - getting new skates generally isn't going stop the aggravation of your Bauer bump. Depending on the shape of the boot heel and the amount of padding in there a new skate can make it much worse. The only way to stop your bump from hurting is to remove any pressure on it (or get the bump removed). The cure I have found for skating with a Bauer bump is a 5 pronged approach 1: punch the hell out of the heel to create a pocket and a channel for the bump to sit in (I've done this in my MX3's, APX2's, Jetspeeds, Alkali's and others. I even cut part of the quarter panel out of a pair of Graf Ultras, this did work but it's a radical approach . 2: Pick a skate with straight heel eg like a one100. Now your bump doesn't have anything to bang against if the heel lifts slightly in the pocket. 3: Throw your laces away (and teach yourself how to skate properly, more on this later) 4: Wear ezyfit booties and bunga heel pads to protect the bump. 5: A combination of 1, 2, 3 or 4. 2, 3 and 4 is my current approach, I skate in one100s with no laces (to train) and to play I lace up the bottom and 3rd eyelet up only. The bump on my left heel tolerates this and the right heel is ok (had the bump removed last September) even though I still can't tolerate tight fitting shoes. Once your bump gets to a certain stage of aggravation (insertional tendonitis), you just can't jam / lock the heel into the pocket any more...... Then there is the issue of why you have a bump. Research I've been involved with and read is that if you have narrow heels (which from your post it sounds like you have) and pronate (narrow heels, volume issues and pronation is very common) you have a very high percentage of developing some kind of bump. It is caused by your foot rolling in the skate (even with the laces done as tight as you can), this leads to no heel lock, increased roll and heel lift, the outside of your heel smashing against the side of the skate every time you stride / corner etc and the body reacts over time by adding more bone to the area. FT370's are a low mid range skate, not the stiffest so any roll in your foot is going to put pressure on the sides of the heel pocket and cause it to open up quickly. I'm not saying this is why you now have no heel lock but it could be a factor. Making no comment on how the LHS fitted you, to get a better heel lock here is something that may work, it has for me and others. Get a heat gun and heat up the inside rear quarter of the skate (don't heat the other side of the skate), once it goes soft put it on, lace up firm then lie on the floor with the outside of the skate lying on the floor. Now get someone, without shoes on, to stand on the inside area of the heel and ankle. This will shape the boot to your inside heel / ankle shape and if you pronate slightly it will have the same effect as moving the blade holder slightly inwards. Next day go for a skate, if you are still unhappy with the lock and the way the boot feels on your feet, do the same for the outside rear quarter of the skate. However moving a panel inwards from its natural shape means over time it will eventually move out again. I'd suggest you need to eventually find a boot that has a really tight heel lock in the first place but if FT1's aren't doing it for you then you may need to go the custom route (or try 50k's, they have one of the narrowest heels in retail boots). If you have volume issues stop stressing about getting a boot that fixes it. Find a boot that fits you for shape, length, heel lock. Tight spots get punched, volume can be addressed with eyelet extenders. Now you can go out and find the best retail boot fit wise for your foot without worrying about volume. If you want to test the heel lock, take the laces out and put the boot on. If the overall fit, length and heel lock is good, you should be able to lift your foot in the air and shake it around without the boot falling off your foot. And if you pronate it can be addressed in various ways, it all depends on how much you skate and how much effort you want to put into fixing it. My approach is no laces, strengthen the ankles / calves / hips (backward one foot skating drills until your legs die of fatigue), learn to skate over the center of the blade and control the roll of your foot across the blade. But this takes time, dedication and hours and hours of practice. Others move the holders inwards, even for the pros. I was talking to an EM last week who did this for Dougie Hamilton.

Hopefully they may have something better in the future for this. There is a lot of research going into cartilage regeneration and arthritis cures but I'm not sure we will see it in our lifetime. I researched this for around a year before I picked a surgeon and the implants. Critical deciding factor for me was how many ops the surgeon had done and did he do them all the time, every day, not just once or twice a week. The main reason for failure in implants is due to misalignment (which causes edge wear and early failure) and that comes down to the skill of the surgeon during placement. Went for Birminghams which was a good move given the issues that developed with Depuy and other brands. 8 years on and still playing hockey at a reasonable level.

If they fit you well without the pump then go for it, they are a good boot.

Someone else more knowledgeable about manufacturers stock profiles can chime in here but I believe both are 10' but the Ribcores are pitched about 1 degree further forward. If this is correct then you have a number of options: 1: continue to skate till you get used to it (as most people do) 2: Go for something like a 9' / 11' combo (will pitch you more forward with more blade at the rear) 3: Shift the center back (will give you a little bit more forward pitch and more blade on the ice at the rear) 4: Add a shim to the back (most probably the best option if you want to keep everything else stock and get close to the Ribcore balance). If you do change anything do it one step at a time, worst thing you could do is go for a shim and a combo and a center move all at the same time.

You can fasten the eyelet extenders wherever you want them, it's just that most people have volume issues / lace bite that comes from around the top 3 eyelet area hence they are always pictured there. I have fastened them lower for other people who have the same issue as you. By using these they were then able to buy the skate that fitted them everywhere else but for the volume. Whilst I make my own and they are rectangular shaped, the Great Saves ones are offset so you may need to rotate them to best suit your needs.

Buy a skate that solves all your other problems first - length, width, heel lock. If volume still fails you then buy some eyelet extenders, these will permanently fix your volume issues and you can move them to any other skate you choose in the future. Using eyelet extenders opens up your range of choices so they are well worth the money spent.

If you know what you are looking for then that amount will buy a top of the line the skate from the last line or even the current line. But it means you need to know what you are after, be prepared to hunt for it on ebay, craigslist, LHS clearance specials etc and be patient to find it. For example I picked up a pair of twice worn MX3's the other day for $200, still one hell of a skate even when compared against current models.

With no wheels or extendable handles it is easy enough if you have the tools. My wife used to make sports bags for the school netball team, just up size these and you have the basic hockey bag.