Vet88

I still have my One100's (last skated in them in Jan) - my Jetspeeds would be on par, my AS1's and AS3's are much much stiffer (all are retail skates).

I got them when they first came out and have 3 of them, different colours and weights (4, 6 and 8). I agree with you, they are rubbish unless they are on a completely smooth ice like surface. A green biscuit kills them.

If you or the shop are worried about the stress a shim may place on the boot then you need to plane the shims so the boot geometry remains the same. Take the back point of the shim (let's say it's 2mm high at the back of the boot) then you draw a line that follows the shape of the boot to the toe where it sits on the chassis. Now you plane the front and back shims to follow that line. This is much more work but it ensures the boot shape does not change, just the pitch.

I have no experience with TF7's but have shimmed roller, ice and figure skates for pitch. I have never come across a skate that failed in the sole because a shim was added to the rear or front. Whilst the pitch of the boot may change, there is not a lot of flex thru the middle section because the front and rear are fixed. 2mm was what I would have started with if you wanted a noticeable change however be prepared to try 2 or 3 different heights until you find the one you want.

And here is what the doc also said - "1 in a 100 million chance" (along with a dozen other comments about risk, mitigation, freak accidents etc). Those are the odds you are asking manufacturers to spend money on, get real. Here's a guaranteed 100% chance of avoiding this accident - DON'T PLAY, go find something else to stand on a soap box and harp on about. Or here's your answer, I've found something protective that covers the whole head and most of the body, as you said yourself, shins are just bones so who cares about those.

I don't disagree with you, I think that manufacturers could do a lot better but it's a complex issue. Imagine if you have something covering the area but it disintegrates or deforms from a puck strike sending shards into the ear? And whatever you put there it needs to not impair the hearing or look dumb or cover anymore of a players face. Imho they will address wearing of cages or hybrids first (because someone will die from a slapshot to the face) before they do anything about the ear area.

Sad answer is no. My understanding is it caught him under the ear, the biggest issue is the damage to the carotid artery. Even with a cage there is no protection there other than a piece of plastic if you still have the ear guard in place. It's a freak accident (and from a simple dump in) but one I'm not surprised hasn't happened before (a puck to the facial area) given the propensity of pros to lie down in front of a player who is taking a shot. If you worry about this then I'd suggest you also need to wear neck guards, wrist guards, groin guards and a host of other guards covering areas where a puck or skate blade may strike. And whatever you do, don't look at motor vehicle stats or else you would never leave home to drive to the rink. With any sport, there are degrees of risk, you need to weigh them and decide if you are happy to participate. fwiw I've seen guys nearly die from playing soccer, who'd have thought that kicking a ball around could kill you?

I will ask but I suspect not, a certain large worldwide company (I can't say anymore than that) has paid / paying the University for the rights to the work and I am bound by a pile of nda's. Pissed me off no end especially as I was one of the founders of the research but such is the commercialization by the Uni of research work. I now honestly don't know if anything will ever be published about the pronation, lace free skating, skate mechanics, skate design analysis and a host of other spin offs we studied. I now understand why there is very little research about skating openly published, a lot of it is purchased and then taken in house.

I went back to the University research group I have been involved with and asked the question why linear crossovers may be faster. This is only a theory because I for sure as heck am not good enough to test it (and we don't have the tools) but the modelling they did consistently gave the same result, you can skate faster up the rink using linear crossovers but it's very specific. They analysed dozens of clips of McDavid and others in action. One thing that was consistent is the arc they take when doing the crossovers for speed is very similar and flat. By skating in a flat arc, the skater is able to use the G forces generated from the arc to increase the power they are generating into the skate blade. Like a racing car, the faster you go the more downforce you get. Too much arc and the edge will slip (also see next point), to little arc and you can't generate enough G force. And from analysing the crossover stride they are using, they concluded that it's as close to the mechanics of the way a human runs than any other stride in ice skates. So by mimicking how a human runs they are able to generate maximum power into the crossovers but if the arc is too tight or too flat then the crossover is compromised away from the running motion. AGAIN - this was all modelling and theory but the maths held up and analysing how McDavid skates when at full speed doing the crossovers supported the theory.

Seems Tydan got a cease and desist for ALL sales channels today from Bauer. No dealer, no web, no direct etc. Stock up now while you can.

If you do get one please post on fit. Whilst my 9k is still going strong I know I'm going to have to look for a replacement soon. I'm in a medium and it still fits snuggish, even with the extra 5kgs I've added around the waist this year lol.

Which means there isn't a retail skate out there that will fit his foot off the shelf. You either get volume and a wide heel or a narrow heel and compromise on the volume. I would fit him in Jetspeeds or vapours (pre fit models) or Bauer fit1 and then make / buy eyelet extenders to fix the volume. If you can find anything from the Ribcor 50k range then they would also work for the heel but the 70k range got a lot wider in the heel and the 80k range has continued that.

+1 for the above. I have been studying a lot of old clips of elite players like Bure, Coffe, Lemieux, Orr etc etc and none of then did lateral cross overs. They would beat a player with a step or shimmy and then with their speed they would "glide" around them. Today it's all about generating speed every single time your blade hits the ice. The technology in boots today is one of the big factors that enables this to happen. ps - a great example of this is the empty netter McDavid scored against the Canucks last night. As he approaches the D he does a lateral crossover to the right to sell the fake on the D who bites hard, then a drive off the right foot and 2 immediate lateral crossovers on his left edges to get HUGE separation (from the D if the D didn't bite) and then an instant transition onto his right edges for a couple more lateral crossovers to drive around the D (who by this stage isn't even in the frame lol, McDavid just does them because that is part of the move). And this where, imho, McDavid is rewriting the play book atm. Even if the D didn't bite, this move is next to impossible to defend against, the speed he approaches at, the separation he obtains with the move and then the way he accelerates! around you. I don't care how good you are as a D, when he pulls this on you you are screwed. https://www.nhl.com/video/mcdavid-scores-empty-net-goal/t-277350912/c-7637131

I think you have me mixed up with sailbandy. I have never said it's about strength. I said, wrt skating laces untied, it's initially about endurance. Putting it simply, if you can walk into a rink then you can skate. I would propose that beginners (who I coach on a daily basis) have to use the most strength and energy to get around the rink because of the loads they are putting on their muscles as they skate in a pronated position (barring those who have good bio mechanics from day one). Strength doesn't come into the equation until you begin to push the upper limits of your skating ability.

I have to disagree with this for a number of reasons. 1st, what the OP said, he skated in soft boots and aggro with "pretty much zero ankle support". So all of his experience for skating isn't based around a stiff boot with laces done up or even one eyelet dropped. 2nd, putting him in a stiff boot with a different pitch, radius and boot design and lacing up and he will effectively be learning how to skate (admittedly based on a past learnt skill) as opposed to just reactivating what he knows. Going unlaced in a current generation boot will be about as close he could get to what he already knows and has learnt. Now if the OP hadn't said "pretty much zero ankle support" then I'd agree, start at 1 eyelet down and then go from there. In fact there is no reason why he couldn't do this regardless but given his opening statement I'd stand by my approach that he could start effectively with laces untied as the closest approach to what he used to do. On this I would completely disagree. If muscle memory is the activation (or even non activation) of a muscle (ie muscle spindle) then proprioception is intrinsically linked. May I suggest a read of this: https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/physrev.00048.2011

Putting aside the neurological aspect (muscle learning and muscle memory ie proprioception) imho it's not strength as per se but endurance. When I first started skating laces untied my calves, especially the outside of the calf, would begin to ache after a period on the ice. The more I trained, the longer it took for ache to come on until it eventually disappeared. I put this down to the stabilising muscles / tendons of the calf and ankle being activated so that the body can balance correctly over the ice blade, in normal life these muscles / tendons do not do a lot compared to skating laces untied. As for the OP, the answer is to go for a skate with your laces untied (loose enough so you can pull your skates on and off without touching the laces). There is nothing else that will build your skate muscles and blade control quicker than doing this. It's easy enough to do, anyone of any age or skill level can skate this way.

What volume do you have in the right skate ie pencil test? If you have a little bit of room next time try a piece of foam or felt or something semi soft and squishy under the tongue from top eyelets 2 to 5 just to fill up any space. If this helps reduce the lift then it points to a little too much volume. This isn't suggested as a long term fix, just a thought to maybe give you another piece of the puzzle.

These https://rollergard.com/ Don't laugh, a number of refs at our local rinks use them, they reckon they are the best thing since sliced bread. I have a pair of spring loaded guards but tried these and whilst I won't claim they are the best thing ever, they were pretty good. Now you do need to know how to roller a little bit in them but they stay on and get you easily from point A to point B.

Even if the SP is 2-3mm shorter than the inside of the skate, it shouldn't slide forward if your foot was secured properly by the laces into the boot. If you are saying it is slipping under your foot then thats a poorly fitting insole as your foot should lock it in place. You have said you are sitting on the bench and kicking the heel back into the pocket. That's not because of the insole, that's because your foot has slipped forward due to too much volume.

imho one of the best threads on reddit for ages, if you have an interest in either the how or why or any other question, ask away. https://www.reddit.com/r/hockeyplayers/comments/lcim5n/interest_in_an_ama_with_a_former_zamboni_driver/

Age comes into it, what an 8 year old wants is totally different to what a 15 year old wants. But regardless of age or level, I still think the following applies - Cast your mind back to when you were in school, there were crap teachers, good teachers and occasionally a GOAT and you never, ever wanted to miss one of their classes. Same with hockey, it all stems from the coach and everything else follows afterwards. It could be one of the worst run organisations in a team that gets it's arse kicked every single game but if the coach connects with the kids and makes them want to be there then the rest of it doesn't really matter.

It sounds like you have too much volume, it's the 3rd, 4th and 5th eyelets down that control the lock of the heel into the heel pocket. As you have suggested, try slipping something under the tongue, if it eliminates the slip forward you know what the problem is, the boot has too much volume for you unless you add mods to it.

Go back to the vapour and use eyelet extenders to solve the depth issue? https://www.greatsaves.org/product-page/skate-lace-eliminators or make your own so they can fit anywhere on the boot. Have a look at this thread so you can see how another member solved this problem: The singles are one the 3rd and 4th eyelets but you could fit them anywhere on the boot. pm me if you want more information on how to make your own.

You should NOT be able to slide... If you can slide a bic pen down the back of your heel then the skates are at least 1 size too big. Use an HB pencil, it's straight and slightly thinner and when you can't slide one of those down the back of your heel then you are about as close to a "perfect" fit for length that you will get from a retail skate. But perfect is subjective, some like toes just off the toe cap, some like them further back.

I don't mind the data side, if it tells me what I'm doing wrong and I can go away and train to become better then I'm all good with that. It's this next step they have taken that is worrying, I don't need to train anymore to overcome those flaws, all I need is access to an AI system that will reprogram my brain...... Right out of the Matrix, if they can program random people off the street to land an F16 that's in a flat tail spin then sport isn't that hard a step. There is a lot of money in sport and this is one of the main areas where the problem comes from. What's to stop a team owner picking 20 of the best "physically gifted" up and coming players and dangling an NHL career in front of them? They don't need first round picks, just the players with the best physical attributes, your team cost could be really low. Then program these kids over a couple of years with the hockey IQ they need and then bring them into your team. There are a lot of players out there that have all the skills but no hockey IQ, now there is the possibility that you can program these skaters with the IQ they need. This references directly with a question @SkateWorksPNW asked about a young player who has no drive whilst in game, at some point in the very near future (if not now) the fix will be a neural reprogram. And it's at this point, for me, that the ethos of sport has disappeared.