IPv6Freely

Just buying Bauer because that's what all your friends have is an incredibly stupid way to shop. Buy what fits, not what your friends have.

Sending PM

Lots of sticks added!

Alllllrighty. So as you may have seen in the Show It Off thread, I picked up a pair of skates today: Bauer Reactor 2000, Size 8EE. A bit odd since my makos (and previously my Vapors) were 8.5D, but these are extremely well fitting. The best way to describe them is the toe box of a Nexus with the heel of a Vapor. He said I could bake them but really there was no point since they're such a low end model, and that if I decide to stick with goalie they can pull the cowling off and put it on my Makos later on if I wanted). The very first thing I noticed was the complete lack of ability to rock forwards and back onto my toes and heels. They asked what hollow I wanted but I didn't know (I always thought goalie skates used larger diameter hollows, but apparently not?) So they gave me a 1/2" because that's what I used before I went to FBV on my player skates. A friend of mine who plays goal also suggested I could get them profiled at a smaller radius so it's not such a completely different feeling, and then gradually go back to whatever is on them now (I think he said 30'?) Not sure if I'll go this route. I also had him size me for leg pads. Kind of awkward since I had no idea how to actually put them on, he had to show me all the straps and how the toe tie worked. Whatever, I can't be the first he's had to show. Anyway, he came to the conclusion that if I buy CCM or RBK, I should go 32" but if I buy just about anything else (Bauer, Warrior, Brians, Vaughn) I should go 33". But he said because I was basically in-between (32.5) that I could PROBABLY go either way with any of the brands and LIKELY (he stressed that) be okay. The nice thing with 32" is that they're going to be cheaper because that's INT size. He also suggested I try the intermediate gloves instead, after he looked at my hands and I told him I wore a 13" player glove. I tried on both SR and INT gloves, and he's right - the INT were definitely more comfortable and fit to my hands better. I looked at masks but didn't try any on. I certainly plan on going back again at some point in the semi-near future, depending on how the skates work out. Going to give those probably a couple months of skating on before I even think of buying pads.

Woo hoo!

Damn dude that's a hell of a haul!

I'll send a PM your way.

Just goalie stuff at this point :)

Maybe 6 months or so. Some of the graphics have worn off but the padding is still thick and pretty clean (I've hung them up to dry after every game and put the liners through the wash a couple times). I'd still be using them if I hadn't switched to 13".

List updated after site recovery :)

LOL yea pretty much.

Hahaha this guy? I laughed so hard when the Leafs twitter account posted it.

Good 1st period!

Hah, you're probably right (though I'd rather order from IW whenever I can), but if they get me fitted I might as well get them there. The last player skates I had that I liked before I went to the Makos were RBK, so I imagine that would be the place to start. But definitely going to try everything.

Kings vs Hawks via my Raspberry Pi... with Bob Cole commentating. Angry Orchard in my hand. Doesn't get too much better :)

I friggin loved my 11" MBA when I was traveling a lot! Switched to 13" RMBP though. Really hoping the rumors of a 12" RMBA are accurate, I'll buy one the day its announced!

Wow, thank you all for such awesome advice! I think I'm definitely going to start with what Gummer suggested, and get a pair of skates and just see how that goes. We have GoalieMonkey close by here, so I'm going to make a trip up there sometime soon. I don't want to go crazy on skates, something in the 250-300 range I'm sure will do just fine. You can't even imagine how often I'd click on the site from my browser start page and say out loud "oh, right... crap" during that time! It was a huge void for all of us! :)

I just happened to already have mine laying around :)

Supposedly some have had luck using a heat gun and rolling the top edge of the padding outward, but I haven't had any luck there. I actually just cut the bottom out of one of these, basically straight across about 2 inches down from the top:

Thanks for the heads up - I too went from a CCM V10 to a Re-Akt.

So I've been thinking about trying goal, mostly because I don't see myself as ever becoming an especially great skater/shooter/stickhandler. Also I played goal as a kid (until I quit at age 8). I was a catcher in baseball and actually get a bit of a thrill at the idea of an object flying towards me at ridiculous speeds :) So my question is: where do I even start? Obviously I'm not going to just one day buy some pads and just start playing goal for a league team, but on the other hand as an adult there is almost zero opportunity for practice. Pickup is as much practice as you can get around here. So where do I start? Buy some pads and work on basic movements at home? Just buy a glove and work it in when I'm watching TV so it's good to go eventually? Buy skates and get used to how they fit (do goalie skates feel all that different when just skating around?) I really don't want to go all out and just buy an entire set of pads, C/A, skates, everything else right away without having a plan in place. Any advice is appreciated :)

That's one reason I went with the Mako shins, I was a huge fan of how flexible the knee/shin joint was. I don't think I could go back to a solid joint now!

testing :)

In a private box for tonight's kings/coyotes game. Awesome!!

it's not always that easy if you don't know what your potential actually is I would look into anything that sells for Power Skating or Dynamic Skating. Hell, the getting ice time can be the hardest part.