Vet88

As part of a rink build I'm doing, I ended up talking to a True EM today who is on tour in our part of the world with a Canadian and American team. He had a pair of True skates for one of the Canadian players that was in my length. Haha, it took me 5 goes to work out how to get the boot onto my foot. These had built in shot blockers and would be the stiffest pair of boots I have ever seen!!! I will get scanned just to have a look at the process but sadly I think these are not for me now that I've held one and tried it on. I don't think I can go back to a boot that locks around the ankle now that I skate lace free. But I do appreciate why they would be the one of the best fitting, if not the best, pair of boots most players will ever own.

It may bake out but it depends on how much effort you put into it. If you really want it to be successful you pad that area out using something like neoprene rubber or gel pads, then the bake is more likely to move and set with room for your foot. But anything these days can be punched or stretched and this is the most common way to deal with pressure points. Even with an experienced fitter, you should be aware of how the boots should fit. Length (pencil test), heel width (measurement), forefoot width (measurement), volume (pencil test), heel lock (no laces, heel pad lock) are all things you can test yourself for fit and comfort. But if you are thinking of buying a high end boot then there is always the custom route offered by True, Bauer or CCM.

He can stay in a stiff skate and get more forward flex if he drops an eyelet or 2. Then if he really wants to work on his skating, at practice keep dropping eyelets until he can skate well with his laces undone. This, more than any boot you will ever put on his feet, will make him skate better.

same here, boring af. Flopball is what my kids call it with all the diving and theatrics that go on these days. Last good thing that happened was when Eric Cantona kung fu kicked a fan, that was brilliant.

I'm not sure about youth skates but in the junior sizes both CCM and Bauer are now the same construction as their senior skates. The scanner is a good start but remember that the scanner is fitting him to the largest dimension it has measured, for example his forefoot could be a nexus width but his heel might be a vapour width yet the scanner will recommend a nexus. You can help him by learning how a skate should fit, how the different model ranges fit and what type of foot shape he has. Forefoot width, heel width, pencil test for length and volume, look at his foot on a footbed for an overall shape, put the boot on his foot without any laces in and see how the length and heel lock is as he lifts his foot up in the air and shakes it around. If you are satisfied with all of these and you buy a pair, make sure you examine his feet after the first few skates, you are looking for any excessive red marks that will show pressure points on his foot, a punch should fix these. Just about every kid I have met has no idea how a skate should fit and don't know what to tell you when you ask them if it fits ok, to them if it doesn't hurt then its a good fit.... Teach them, once they know what to look for they can give you good feedback. As to the level of skate, everyone will have an opinion about this but here is my 2 cents for what its worth. Sticking kids in stiff skates is one of the biggest crimes that is going on today. They need to learn how to skate properly and use their ankles to balance with over the skate blade, not have the boot hide poor skating technique. Until he can skate balanced over the blades, the softer the better. And if he thinks he can skate, undo his laces and then send him out for a skate, until he can do this easily then he has everything to learn yet. It may set him back for the next couple of years but he will thank you for it in later life if he sticks with the sport.

lol, at 28 you should be be healing ok. Now if you were 48 or 58 then it's a different matter. But a compound fracture is a complex beast and I think a key indicator is that you still had a visible fracture 7 months after the break. It's taking a while to heal. My surgeon put it in simple terms:- do the rehab, let pain be your guide. Once you return to full mobility and strength then you can put it behind you. But do look into the cast, a team mate had his wrist rebuilt last November. No games or scrimmages yet and still can't load up shots but is coaching and skating again with a wrist brace on.

One of the biggest factors here is your age, things take much longer the older you get...... I suggested a soft cast, whilst I have never used one I know a few players in our local rugby league and rugby union clubs who have returned to playing after a broken arm and are wearing these to protect the arm.

If you search here and in other forums, there are many posts / comments about the edge holder and the runner coming loose in them. Bauer should apologise to the hockey community for this travesty they have released on the general public. If you can, go back to where you got them from and complain. Otherwise as Monty22 says, replace or try Teflon tape. It's really noticeable when you put the boot into the clamp for a sharpen, the boot flops downwards alarmingly. I use Teflon tape all the time when the customer does not want to pay for new holders, oversize it and then hammer the runner into place. It's a short term fix as eventually the runner starts to come loose again. and yes it is a concern, it means your edge is shifting under you as you skate and it will only get worse the longer you leave it.

If you are still worried about it, ask your surgeon about playing with a removable cast for a while eg an exos.

I've used the A&R visor kit, it worked ok. https://www.hockeymonkey.com/accessories/helmetaccessories/helmet-hardware-kits/ar-hockey-helmet-accessories-visor-kit.html

The grinding wheels, can you tell me the dimensions please?

I suspect its because they are from different manufacturers. Each has their own mould of the curve and these are the subtle differences you can see.

Typically its caused by the shin guard rubbing against the boot. if you take them to a shoe maker or a boot repairer they can wrap a leather patch over it. Ideally you get the eyelet replaced also so the patch can be fixed firmly in place. Or you can get shorter shins or you can stay in the same shins but cut the bottom part that is rubbing on the boot off with a dremel or some other suitable device. Those with a shin that fits over the top of the boot have the same issue except it is the bottom of lining of the shin guard that gets destroyed.

Haha, yes. The one that is the most popular sport in the world...

The final was what I hoped for, 2 teams that had never won the cup before. I wanted VGK to win, it was a fairy tale story all the way and they made me a fan. I thought both teams were pretty close across the board but VGK made more mistakes at the wrong end and these hurt them big time, 2 in that last game lead to 2 goals. Congrats to the Caps, they finally break their duck and and win the Cup.

Played in the UK for a few years when I was 16. 2 bad tackles later, doc said if it happened again they might not be able to put my right ankle back together properly so I had a choice, be able to walk properly on 2 feet or the possibility of just one. I took the former and quit. But the damage was done and despite all my rehab over the years, when skating the outside edge on my right foot is sometimes really weak when I unlock the ankle.

Yeah, that's what I had plus a flattened femur head. I played a lot of basketball and pro football with a lot of hard ground running, current research shows competitive / pro level hard surface athletes playing through their teenage years have a significantly higher percentage of femur head deformation than soft surface athletes. Surgeon reckons if they had got to me 20 years earlier they could have saved the cartilage and helped prevent osteoarthritis in the joint. From everything I was told it's worth getting the spur removed for the primary reason that it should help to reduce inflammation in the cartilage and hence cut the risks of problems in later life. Good luck with your recovery if you get it done, if you go in fit and healthy you come out the other side much easier.

We use Lapport 3" grinding wheels (31A, A100, K) but for some unknown reason they have become really hard to source out of the UK and I have had no luck chasing them out of Singapore (and the manufacturer keeps referring us to the UK distributor so we go around in circles). Does anyone know of a supplier in NA? Or a recommendation for a high end 3" wheel? We have used ones from Mexico and the Blademaster 3" grinding and dressing wheel but they aren't, at least in our opinion, anywhere near as good as the Lapport. Cost isn't an issue.

I had some small limitations for a while but a long term niggling strain in the front of the groin that wouldn't go away was the main issue (every time I worked hard skating backwards it would flare up). This led to xrays after acupuncture and rest didn't work and a sad diagnosis. An MRI picked up some extension on the edge of the socket and this is what the arthroscopy was going to be for to give me more freedom of movement and stop the pinching on the bone but I had bigger issues that needed to be dealt with. So before everything turned to crap and I was still really fit, I skipped the arthroscopy and had the hips done. Is it the socket and or ball with the cartilage getting lifted or the edge of the joint?

i nearly had it done then went for a replacement as that was where i was going to end up anyhow. 3 months before I started skating again, 3 months after that before things started to work ok again so 6 months in total for bilateral hip replacements. If I had had the arthroscopy the surgeon said it was 6 weeks off before I could skate again and then it was up to me how fast I recovered.

Age is a big factor. 10 years ago (was 45) I had bilateral hip replacements, was back skating in 3 months, playing again in 6 months. Last September I had right heel achillies surgery and I still walk with a limp after a skate or any exercise (just can't load the tendon up). My surgeon said 6 months for full recovery but another surgeon (looking at getting a bump removed from my left heel) said at my age it will be at least a year before I can put it behind me and get full strength back. For us males, when we go past a certain age and fall off that performance cliff everything slows down really fast. Take it easy, I hope your next op goes to plan and you get back on the ice bag free.

Oh if only this were true. Over the years I've coached many people who, as soon as they step on the ice, I can see something is wrong with how their skates fit. Later on when I quiz them and have a look at their skates and how they fit, they are in skates that are 1 - 2 sizes too big for them or in a EE instead of a D. Why I ask? "because they don't hurt" is the reply. I know that for us gear heads we have a good understanding of how skates should fit but the majority of people out there (and I'm including people who have skated for years) sadly have very little idea of how a skate should fit. Ergo customs like True are a game changer for them if they ever get into them, they don't have to understand why but finally here is skate that fits them (as long as the measurements etc are correct).

Whilst I agree with everything else you said, this is wrong. The primary reason for a boot breaking down (going soft and opening up on the inside ankle area) within 1-6 months is because of poor technique or pronation issues, skaters lean too heavily on the inside of the skate. Going up to a stiffer boot doesn't fix the issue, it just hides it. And if you don't believe this there is a simple test, rip your laces out and go for a skate.... And this isn't reserved just for the lower level skates either, I know a bunch of pros that replace their skates every 6 months or so as the skate goes soft. However these guys all know how to skate having managed an over aggressive inside roll with years and years of practice, replacing skates is just part of the job.

It most likely means you are marginal in one or more measurements for the 7.5EE so it will always recommend the next size up, this is just how the software works.

As with a Bauer scan, it will recommend a skate that your largest foot measurement will fit into. So yes, extra wide feet will throw off the length. I've said it before, I would personally like the results broken down into parts per line, for example a Jetspeed fit is: length is 6D, heel is 6D, forefoot width is 7EE, depth is 8D. Now you can work out which skate will fit you best based on your individual foot measurements. If all is lost for a retail boot fit then it makes it an easy decision to go custom.