srv2miker

I think his point was more along the lines of "isn't strange that these gloves cost so much money, and yet players get gloves for free?", as in, "isn't strange how overpriced gloves are?". I don't think he realized that teams still pay for those gloves (although I'd be surprised if they played full custom/retail price for them). He wasn't busting anyone's balls over buying the gloves.

My best sportchek story: I'm hanging out near the skates and overhear this gem from a Sportchek employee regarding CCM/RBK's lacelock feature - "Oh that? That's to help keep your feet warm". I swear sportcheck's training program involves nothing more than teaching kids how to tell what items cost more than others.

Pre-Xmas Update ;) Helmet: Pro-stock Mission Intake (Canucks blue with VN interior) Visor: Hedjuk Sport Straight Cut Shoulders: Itech 445 Elbows: CCM Vector 4.0 Gloves: Eagle X72 Pants: Graf G700 Shins: RBK 4k Skates: NBH Vapor XXV (waxed yellow laces of course) Sticks: Warrior Dolomite II 100 flex w/Dolomite Savard blade | Inno Mania 95 flex in Vanek/Darby-like pattern

Player Profile: Beer leaguer, 6'3", 230lbs, Play 1-2 times per week Previous Gloves Used: Mission M-3, CCM Vector (pro-stock and retail) Background My pro-stock CCM Vectors were getting worn down (rips in nylon, holes in palms way quicker than I anticipated) so it was time for a replacement. Instead of going with a medium-tight pair of gloves again, I decided I would try looser fitting gloves, to see if I preferred the fit. At the time, I considered NBH 4-rolls (a popular choice), Pro stock CCM Tacks, and Warrior's Bully and Fubar pro models. Hockey Monkey was clearing out the Fubars for $70, so I gave them a shot. The Fubar Pros differ from the standard model thanks to a Portofino exterior, mesh gussets, a goatskin palm, and pro style racing stripe design (instead of the lame flames design on the base gloves). Fit Fit was exactly what I was looking for - lots of volume. I find a have a ton of freedom of movement, and I've really enjoyed the loose feel of the gloves. The fingers are a little on the fat and wide side, which makes holding my stick just a little tougher - I think I would've preferred tapered fingers. It should be noted that the Fubar tends to fit a little big, and where I'm normally on the border between 14" & 15", the 14" fit perfect (and I'd be swimming in the 15"). 8.5/10 Protection Thankfully I don't play in a league with a lot of hacking and whacking, but the contact I've received has been handled nicely by the Fubars. They're constructed of foam with plastic overlays, and they seem to do a good job of dispersing the impact. Plastic is only present on the fingers and backroll, and it would've been nice to have something in the cuff, but the protection is above average for it's price point. 9/10 Weight You're definitely not buying these gloves for the weight. They're not cement blocks, but they're not feathers either. I don't notice the weight on the ice, but if you're the kind of person who is more sensitive to it, then you might be bothered by it. 6.5/10 Durability I've been extremely impressed with the construction and durability of these gloves. After 1 year of consistent use they have held up very, very well - not a stitch out of place. The shell is in great shape, with only a few microscopic spots of abrasion, and the palms look almost brand new. I'm not sure there's another pair of $70 gloves out there that would've held up this long. 10/10 Conclusion If I were to build my perfect gloves, they would look like this: - Portofino exterior - MSH2 palms - Mesh gussets - Loose fit - 4-roll design - Tapered fingers - Amazing durability The Fubars scored on every point except the palms and fingers, and while the feel might not match MSH2, the durability of the Fubar palm definitely does. If the fingers were tapered, this might be and all-time Hall-of-Fame type glove for me. Final Score: 9/10

MSH 3.0 Update ;) Helmet: Pro-stock Mission Intake (Canucks blue with VN interior) Visor: Hedjuk Sport Straight Cut Shoulders: Itech 445 Elbows: CCM Vector 4.0 Gloves: Warrior Fubar Pro Pants: Mission M-2 Shins: RBK 4k Skates: NBH Vapor XXV (waxed yellow laces of course) Sticks: Warrior Dolomite II 100 flex w/Harrow 300 Pattern #1 blade | Warrior XL AK27 shaft 100 flex w/AK27 Savard blade

I don't think the gloves were actually worn in the game, because no name was stitched; they were probably sent as spares but never used. I assume the original purchaser got his hands on a virgin pair and desecrated them by actually wearing them to play.

New Pro-stock RBK All Star Gloves form '07. I think they're MIAs in disguise, but not 100% sure. These aren't for wearing, I'm going to display them in my man room once I get the tears stitched up.

LOL, didn't even think of that when I wrote it :P

That's what I figured. I was going to be pretty pissed if you messed with the dolo shaft's KP since I just ordered a '10 :)

I'm reading the catalogue and the descriptions of Linear Taper and Precision Taper make sense, but they don't appear to apply to the correct sticks. For example, I expected the AK would be more of a mid kick point, but it's described as a precision taper (where the flex is concentrated towards the bottom of the shaft). This is contrast to the Dolos, which are marketed as Linear tapers (whereby the flex is spread out along the shaft) as opposed to low kick point. Am I missing something or is this backwards?

Background: 6'2", 225 Type of Play: all ice Frequency: 2x per week Blades Used (in order): - Mission L-2 - RBK 6K Purchase Details I bought this shaft from totalhockey.net in Nov. 2007. I knew I wanted a tapered shaft, and I used the boards here to discover as much info as I could before deciding on either the R8 or a Sickick. In the end I chose the R8 because of the positive comments in general about the TPS shafts. I purchased this in Regular flex, which is a little under 100 on the Easton scale. Initial Impression: When I first picked up the stick I was impressed with the weight, as it was very light. Double concave didn't feel as good as I had hoped, I think I prefer a more traditional shape. Graphics looked fine and blade went in no problem. Grip was only in one area of the stick (the grip zone), whereas I would've preferred the whole thing to be covered. I did like that it was a mix of tactile and sticky grip. 8/10 Flex: I had hoped the regular flex would be stiff enough to drive my slap shots, but it was little light for my tastes. I probably should've opted for Stiff, but it's a hard call to make. Kick point seemed nice and low, and the shaft had a really aggressive taper. I can't fault the flex of this stick for my not liking it - the Regular flex came as advertised, I just made the wrong decision. 8/10 Weight: Nice and light shaft, with good balance. Did they sacrifice too much to achieve this weight? Read on. 9/10 Shooting: I was underwhelmed by the shooting of this stick. Slappers weren't great (which could be explained by the Flex being too light for me), but wristers and snappers were a little disappointing as well. You'd think with the lighter flex I'd really be able to snap those wristers off, but the shaft just never seemed to deliver a good kick or pop - it always felt a little bland. Shots were accurate, went where I wanted them. 6/10 Passing: No complaints about passing. This always seems more dependent on your blade than the shaft anyway. 9/10 Durability: Really not impressed with the durability of the R8. After 10 ice times I discovered a crack near the hosel that was reasonably deep. I had hoped that I would be able to limp along with it, but another few ice times and the crack busted ll the way through and the shaft lost integrity there (never completely broke, but just "crunched" when flexed, if that makes sense). I was out of the warranty period, but only really got a dozen games out of it before it was worthless. Was it a freak accident? Could be, mightv've just been from a slash or puck deflection. But, the fact the crack spread so quickly tells me there were probably durability issues. As I mentioned above, this was a very light shaft, and I wonder if they had to sacrifice too much strength to achieve that weight. 4/10 Overall: Really wasn't very impressed with the R8. Besides the poor durability, it didn't really shoot that well to being with. A light shaft is great, but if it can't shoot and doesn't last then it doesn't do me much good. Definitely wouldn't recommend this stick to others. The final score doesn't tell the whole story since it's an average - the shaft got the worst marks in what are probably the most crucial places for this piece of equipment. Final Score: 7.3/10 (avg.)

Background: 6'2", 225 Type of Play: all ice Frequency: 2x per week Blades Used (in order): - Dolomite II - Mission L-2 (just for a couple of games) Details Shaft reviewed is a pro-stock Dolo II purchased from HM in Jan. 2008. It's at 240 flex (roughly 105 on the Easton scale), and has PolarFiber grip on it. Aesthetics/Construction Really like the look of the Warrior stuff, some of this space-age crap by other companies is starting to wear on me. I don't necessarily like the street thug graphics, but I do like the fact that it's different from everything else that's out there. The Polarfiber was really, really cool, and I wish they provided it on retail models - I much prefer it to the stick or nipple grips they've used. It paired excellently with the Dolo blade (duh) but the Mission fit pretty well too (although I needed to add a butt end to get the length right). 10/10 Flex: I originally bought an 85 flex nipple grip shaft, but had to sell it after using it for a couple sessions and finding it too whippy (side note: when I took the blade out to sell it, found a sticker that said it was 75 flex, which was obviously the problem). I decided that since I was playing more defense, I'd step up to a stiffer flex, to help the slappers from the point. The flex ended up being really nice, although it broke in really fast and lost the stiffness I liked a little to quickly. If the nice stiff flex had hung around a little longer, I'd give it a better grade. 7/10 Weight: Not the lightest shaft out there, but light enough for me. Definitely well balanced when paired with the Dolo blade, which really helps the feel. 9/10 Shooting: Hoo boy, the first time I stepped on the ice I was drilling slappers like never before. Shooting in warm ups my goalie was literally stunned when he couldn't catch up to my shots. Wristers and snappers were good, but I didn't notice the difference on them like I noticed on my slap shot. Accuracy was quite good, and release was adequate. Unfortunately, this Chara-like feeling only lasted for maybe the first 6-10 sessions, at which point the shaft broke in and I seemed to lose some of the zip on the shots. Don't get me wrong, they weren't fluttering in there or anything, they just didn't have the boom boom they used to. Wristers and snappers were unaffected and were still satisfactory, but the power and the accuracy of the slap shots degraded noticeably. A real shame, as the shaft was really great when right out of the wrapper. 8/10 (would've been 9.5 if it hadn't lost that pop so quick) Passing: Passing was decent, I would say this has more to do with the blade than the shaft. No complaints. 9/10 Durability: This sucker was a bleeping tank. Yes it broke in and lost some pop, but in terms of durability the Dolo shaft blows everything else I've used out of the water. Not only does it look almost as good as the day I bought, there isn't a single crack, dent, fracture, or any other potential breakage points. The shaft is going to lose all of it's pop long before it breaks, which I think is a good thing. Granted I'm not that tough on sticks (not a lot of hacking and wacking) but it's still exceeded all of my expectations. 10/10 Overall: I've been extremely pleased with this shaft, and I wish HM would get more of the pro-stocks in so I could order two or three more. If I knew then what I know now I definitely would've picked up more than one. If the pop remained in the shaft a little longer it would be a legendary shaft, but as is it's just a really solid shaft that will last, which for a lot of us beer leaguers is the most we can hope for. Final Score: 8.8/10

NBH Vapor XXV skate Purchased in Jan. 2007 Reviewer background: 6'3", 225 lbs, 9.5EE, Defense, play 1-2 times a week, intermediate experience Other skates worn: NBH Vapor V, Graf 727, CCM 952 Tacks Fit: Tried on numerous skates when purchasing the XXVs, including RBK 7Ks (felt like putting my foot into a boot filled with marshmallows) and NBH Supreme One70 (too narrow in toe cap). As soon as I put on the XXvs I knew I'd be walking out of the store with them. They felt extremely responsive, and allowed me to "get out over my skates" really well in a deep knee bend. Having used them on the ice, my opinion has changed a little. I've built up a huge callous on my big toe from rubbing inside the left skate toe cap, and I also have to skip the 2nd eyelet from the top or else I can't get enough forward flex. If you like a stiff boot, this is definitely one for you. Don't let the stiffness put you off though, because the lacing work-around does the trick and gives the best in both worlds, in that you can achieve forward flex but keep a lot of lateral stiffness. 8.5/10 Blade/Holder: No problems at all with either the blade or the holder. No cracks in holders, just the usual dings and dents that accumulate. Seems to keep a good edge, but I get a shallow hollow (3/4) so hard to say for sure how long it would last with a more common ROH. I felt the pitch on my Grafs was a little too much, but the Tuuks work with my game nicely. 9.5/10 Weight/Protection: Very light skate, which was a big improvement coming over from tanks like the Grafs. The protection has been more than adequate, and I can't remember a single stinger to the foot since I've worn them. The XXXXs might be a gram or two lighter, but if you're working on a budget (like I was) these will feel nearly as good as top of the line, which is saying something when they're almost half the price. 9.5/10 Durability: Very satisfied with the durability of this skate. No cuts, tears, or rips anywhere after 2 years of wear. The only imperfections are the usual assortment of puck marks (hard to avoid in a silver skate), and some of the metal in a couple of the eyelets has started to pull out. No Vapor horror stories here - a really well put-together boot. 9.5/10 Intangibles: The looks don't sway me one way or the other - that's more a comment on me as a consumer than on the skates themselves. Stock laces that come with the skate suck, had to turf them really quickly. 8/10 Conclusion: Extremely satisfied with my purchase of these skates, as they're easily the best I've ever worn. They were about $100 more than I wanted to pay, but I'd say they've been worth every penny. I wanted a skate that would be durable, responsive, allow for forward flex, and provide lateral stiffness - this skate scored on almost every count, with some alternate lacing required for the forward flex. If these skates fit well and you don't want to break the bank on XXXXs, I'd recommend giving them a shot. Final Score: FINAL: 9/10

CCM Vector Pro's (2006) Reviewer Profile - 6'3", 215lb. Play twice per week (beer league/drop in). Fit: After trying on seemingly endless pairs (Eagle X70s, Bauer XX, and TPS HGTs to name a few) it came down to either the CCM Pro Tacks, or the Vector Pros. The Vector Pros had just made their debut that year, whereas the Tacks were the proven product, but I couldn't get over how much better I liked the fit of the Vectors. They fit narrow, but the design of the cuff allows for tons of freedom of movement. The cuff is also adjustable, so you can open it up or tighten it down to your preference. They aren't the tightest glove around, but they're definitely on the tight-side of the market. Not as tight as One90s or Graf 700s, but only a little looser. The cut of the palms is wonderful as well; the palms are rounded out towards the wrist (instead of straight across like the XX/XXX). This rounding means the glove/cuff can be shorter, but your palm still sits nicely in the glove (9Ks have similar design). Where I would've needed 15" in the Pro Tacks, I got away with 14" Vectors. The fingers are much slimmer than the Tacks; I find it lets me grip the stick easier, and my hand feels more nimble. Score: 10/10 (it's all PP, but I haven't found a pair I like better) Protection: The Pro level glove has EPP with plastic inserts. It gives the protection I'd expect from any high-end glove, but nothing spectacular. The only area I might subtract points for (and I've never had a problem with it) is the padding on your pinky finger, which amounts to nothing more than two thin plastic pieces. Score: 8.5/10 Weight: Not the lightest, but you won't notice it out there. The fit and responsiveness more than makes up for any weight. Score: 8.5/10 Durability: After 2 years the gloves have held up pretty well. The exterior looks almost as good as the day I took it home from the shop (minus some cosmetic scuffing). Gussets are in good shape and the palm has stayed stitched throughout. The left palm (top hand) has a good sized hole in it, but this is to be expected after two years especially with digital palms, which never provide the same durability as their Nash brethren. Right hand palm still looks great. I'll subtract a little for the palms, but I knew what I was getting into when I bought them. Score: 8.5/10 Intangibles: The "Vector" wordmark looks nice enough, but I've always wondered why CCM made Vector so big on the cuff - I'd rather it said CCM, but it's a minor thing. I also would've prefered embroidered logos, but that's PP. The other touches to the glove (embroidered NHL logo, mesh, faux carbon fibre, grip on palm) are all top notch, and I think it's a great looking glove to rival the XX/XXX. Honestly, this stuff means less to mean than the first few categories, but to each there own. Score: 9/10 Final Score: 8.9/10 (an average) Conclusion: As you can tell, I love these gloves - they are probably my single favourite piece of equipment. They fit my hand like a dream, and they've held up well for the amount of hockey I've played over the past 18-24 months. What I'll never understand is why CCM abandoned this style after barely a year - these gloves had promise I tell you! I also wonder why they weren't better received at the pro level, but most pro's seem to like the Pro Tacks instead. Despite the big boys reluctance to try them, I'd easily recommend them to anyone, especially if you can find them on clear-out.

Is there any difference between last years 7K shafts and this years?