IPv6Freely

I'm out this year unfortunately 😞

Well, the season finished yesterday. I haven't played in that league since September I think. I've played in maybe 3-4 pickup games since then, as well as Winterfest. I also subbed for a league game at the other (20 minutes closer) rink. I definitely miss playing. I've been tracking my old league. The top three scorers all had more than double the goals of the person in 4th place. I get beer league stats don't matter but when it's THAT glaring... yikes. I had an email exchange with the league director as I was trying to figure out what to do: Me: Him: Me: Him: Okay, so theoretically that should make the decision easy. I asked the director (who I have a good relationship with) to try to find me a team for their next season, but he wasn't able to before this one finished so I had to make a decision. I had played in the Anaheim Ducks Throwback Classic tournament (that we won our division) and that was great, and had a bunch of guys from my old team. They all said the same thing - that the league was broken, that the director doesn't care and won't fix it, and that they are considering switching to the other rink full-time. They said it could all be fixed if the director ever actually watched one of the games (and saw how ridiculous it is to have a guy skate around dangling everyone, going right to the net, and then deciding to NOT shoot because he knows it would go in and wants to pass it off to one of the other guys to score instead - as if that makes the eventual goal less irritating). But they got rid of the D4 division there so either these guys play in our division or he loses their money which obviously he's not gonna do. So anyway, today I got a text from the captain. He said they all talked after the season ended last night and decided that everyone is going to be in for one more season to see if things get better since apparently they're just going to give us a couple D4-level guys so we can be competitive. I don't think THAT'S the solution but at least it makes it more eve, I guess. I asked him if the guys I played in the tournament were going to play this season too because they were considering leaving, and he said he was considering leaving too, but they all decided to give it one more shot. So from the sounds of it, if things go to shit again, he's planning on moving the entire team to the other rink (again, 20 minutes closer to me), so that's actually kind of the best case scenario for me. So... I agreed to join them. Because if it sucks again then I get to stay with them when they move. If it doesn't suck, then it doesn't suck. I think just about the only major downside is I've taken up softball and now play that Sunday mornings. So my Sundays are basically 100% shot now. But... I have an MRI next monday for a suspected labrum tear in my throwing shoulder so my short lived adult softball career may be over pretty quickly. So then it won't matter anyway. As for other life stuff... my job just gets worse by the day, and I can't relocate to take another job so I'm stuck. I think that's the most frustrating part. It also always blows my mind how many people are able to just up and relocate when they have a spouse. How? Do they not work too? I've also gained a shit ton of my weight back, 50lbs of the 70 I lost initially. And eating like crap. And haven't been doing much hiking. And my wife's health isn't great either so it's really difficult for me to find the energy to do anything. I kind of want to buy some new pads or skates or something. That might boost the excitement to play a bit. We'll see how it goes.

I think I’m going to go get scanned for new goalie skates. Does anyone have experience at either Pure Hockey in Anaheim or Hockey Monkey in Irvine? It’s about an hour away either way. I just want to make sure the fitters are competent and they use the correct techniques when baking.

Can you PM me pictures of the RBZ shoulders? Both in general and of any wear spots, if any. Thank you!

Not quite, it was actually a 3-way deal. But that’s beside the point of your post. He pretty much immediately posted his pad mockup, maybe an hour after? It was pretty damn quick either way. They look pretty awesome. Lehner always has great looking pads.

Yes, Frontier sucks.

Okay guys leave the VT stuff in that thread. We don’t need to rehash why it’s meaningless every time it gets brought up

I assume you have permission from Bauer to be posting that here?

I’ve had mine for almost 5 years and have had no issues. Just some normal wear.

That's also one of their biggest problems, from a retail perspective.

I had to re-read your post a few times to figure out what you're asking. I'll go ahead and fix the title for you. I don't know anything about a new skate. I would seriously doubt the legitimacy of any reports suggesting one.

As far as sticks, brands do their own measurements which is pretty stupid. The "standard" way to measure (if youre talking to other goalies) is from heel to paddle, measured like this: It's going to be all a preference thing, but the paddle length changes where your blocker is. These days, the position of your blocker and stick while in the butterfly matters a lot more than when in your stance (though plenty of people will argue that I'm sure). I'm 5'8 and use a 26" Warrior, which I think is more like 27.5 actual inches (I don't have it in front of me so I can't remember). Or, at least i did until I started cutting a custom grip shape into my paddle - now I use a CCM 27 which is about the equivalent of a 26 after I cut my grip. You can ignore all that, though. I also started cutting off a couple inches from the shaft just because I find stickhandling easier, but again that's not something you should worry about yet. As far as type of stick, I still think foam core sticks (thin wood paddle filled with a lightweight foam, usually with a wood shaft) are still by far the best feeling as far as pucks hitting them, and there was a point where composite sticks were more expensive than their performance warrants but nowadays you can get composite for under $100 so that's the route I'd go if I was you. Avoid wood sticks - they're cheap but good god they are HEAVY. Just like me starting out with pads with leather straps so I don't know any different, which meant I didn't need to get used to something different, I would do the same with sticks if I were you. Start with a composite just so that's all you know. That's the future going forward anyway.

Well, that’s no less a scientific analysis than the other rating, I guess.

Oh yeah no question it’s the heat!

It happens when you only skate out 2-3 times a year 😉

I wouldn’t say overthinking it, I’m just making a decision based on the evidence I have. Maybe a good experiment to try if I didn’t have to pay for one but after one stick I only got a couple uses out of, I think I’ll pass.

Wait, who is mad about it? I stated explicitly in my first post that I'm aware that it's my fault. I also stated that none of my other sticks have had this issue. I started the topic to ask if others have had the same experience, which they have, which tells me that because my environment the sticks will be stored in isn't going to be changing I should stick to the other brands so I don't ruin another stick. It's really not that big a deal. Anyway, I got what I needed out of this thread now. Thanks everyone for your input!

I didn’t say it was new old stock. I said I bought it about four years ago. Im not sure how your basement is relevant. Does it get over 100F in your basement on a regular basis?

I don’t know why it wouldn’t be usable, besides the grip. It’s only been used maybe 5 times. Regardless, I’m not taking the chance.

For stink, soaking in a bathtub of hot water and oxyclean is the best way to clean all your gear. I do mine every 6 months or so. The water in the tub is GROSS, though if MINE is gross I can’t even imagine how nasty it would be for people who don’t hang their stuff up in front of a box fan after every use! 🤮

Sure, I could do that. But now that I know it’s not just mine, I won’t be buying True sticks anymore. I don’t think this is relevant to the topic, unless I’m misunderstanding.

Mine is definitely neither of those things. I use tacki-mac grips and my gloves stay pretty much like-new.

I can’t find the receipt email. I think it’s a A4.5 from about 2015-2016 or so. I’ll check when I’m home.

Has anyone else noticed True sticks having their grip coating get tacky? Like seriously sticky? As background, yes I keep my sticks in my garage. Yes it gets hot in there in the summer. So I do accept that the damage is my own fault and I don’t expect True to do anything about it. But none of my other sticks, both newer and older, have had this issue. That said, has anyone else had this happen? It’s maybe 3-4 years old at this point and only been used a couple times (and not once since I noticed the stickiness last year). Like I said, I don’t necessarily blame True but I do want to know if this is typical as at this point I would not buy a True stick again because I’d be worried about this happening.

There’s just no reason not to.