IPv6Freely

Didn’t care for the way a XXL player shell fit over goalie pants, so got an actual goalie shell and did some surgery 😉

Damn dude. It's just never-ending BS for you 😞 It seems like the crap that goes along with the health issues is just as shitty as the issues themselves (okay, probably not, but still... it certainly doesn't make the situation suck any less!) We're pulling for you. Hoping your 2020 is way way WAY better.

Yeah it was nice, and this is a good group. They've been playing together for literally decades and this is an invite-only group so they weed out the idiots pretty fast. As an example, they had a guy who was actually a regular and I broke TWO of his sticks by accident while skating out in league play (I dunno man, get stronger sticks? They shouldn't be breaking that easy...) and I guess he decided his revenge would be to fire slap shots at me. Didn't matter where in the zone he was, he'd load up and let it go. Did it more than once while basically standing on the goal line. Made me laugh a bit... if you want revenge, why not try to score rather than hit my pads? LOL. Anyway, they got rid of him after the second week of that. I kind of wish the skill level was actually a bit higher. This particular pickup is always two lines that are two different skill levels (hence the annoying siren you hear for line changes - they force line changes every 2 minutes just to ensure you don't get a mixing up of the skill levels). The lower level...whatever. The upper level used to be much more skilled on both offence and defence. It was like playing in a real game. It's really dropped off over the last year or so. Now the play is really... well, slow. And scrambly. I'm almost more tired from trying to find the puck when its bouncing all over the place in front of the net than I would be from a structured game with more difficult shots. And I totally know where you're coming from. I wanted more ice time a couple years ago back when I first started playing goal, so I joined a rookie league as a goalie. It was BRUTAL. Some of the guys on the first day of the four weeks of skills clinics they do first were like "I have no idea how to actually put this stuff on". Thats how beginner they were. (As an aside, it still blows my mind that they managed to find ~30-40 adults all wanting to learn to play hockey, all at the same time, in San Diego of all places!) Anyway, those games were rough. Just like the pickup, they were super scrambly. Just garbage goals all over the place. Off three sets of skates, right over to their *defenceman* who is beside the crease for some reason, and he'd swing three times until it went in. It became kind of a running joke. The hard shots were easy saves. The easy shots went in. I loved playing with those guys but I think that was some of the least amount of fun I'd ever had as a goalie because it was beyond frustrating. It was more than made up for though by making some new friends (the only team I ever played on where guys actually go for beer and wings after every game). Most of those guys are now playing in my normal division that I just quit a couple months ago. Other teams bring down their D3 or D4 buddies, or guys they went to college with. We brought up guys from rookie league because we liked them. So even on the RARE occasion we managed to get more than 6 or 7 skaters, they were all former rookie league guys and while many of them had a decent skill set, they don't have the experience to do something like cycle the puck, so we'd get stomped every time. So, this is where I'm at. Playing pickup every couple months and thats it. It kinda sucks. But I also don't really miss the hour drive just to get absolutely destroyed week after week. We lost 7-6, 10-2, 4-1, 3-2, 7-1, and 12-5 (and won one game 3-2 in a shootout) before I pulled the plug on that team. The league ditched their D4 division for low attendance (only had two teams) so those guys either moved on to the over-35 league, or down to D5. Now we have 7 of the top 10 goal scorers are new players. Guess which team DIDN'T get any of the D4 guys? Just one guess 🙂 But, more of that should have really gone into my "hockey feels like a chore" thread. Whatever.

First time on the ice in two months, and only the second time since I quit my league team. This was... bad. I was slow, and exhausted, and way out of shape (the weight is coming back on quickly these days). Winterfest is going to be ugly. I also had a really really bad bruise on my right knee that made it really painful to butterfly. I can't believe how slow this is, both me and the play in general (granted its a pick-up where the average age is probably late 50s). Oh boy. EDIT: Oh, I was also trying a Bauer 2X glove. Wasn't a fan. The break angle was the only thing close that I've found retail that I've liked, but otherwise it felt kind of off. I could probably get used to it if I had to, but I think I'm going to stick to Passau.

The wait time IS 6-8 weeks. If you get them quicker than that’s a bonus.

What did the retailer say? You mentioned True is “ignoring” you, but no mention of the proper channels for making a complaint.

Or paint pen. Though I guess those are solvent based as well so maybe not.

Agreed, time to move on.

Any assistance with these goalie pants? MHPGPROS.SP ? These are Crawford pro returns I have been using for a couple years, but I want to find the same model but plain black. Shells are an option but they never seem to fit quite right.

LOL

At least they know what’s causing the issue. Gotta take every positive you can!

Yep, for sure! For many people, they are trying to decide between a Sparx and something like the X01. You see lots of encouragement to go manual, until they do, at which point they apparently become idiots who should be bashed for trying by the god sharpeners because it’s an ART that only THEY know how to do.

That’s why I have a Sparx

I had major abrasion issues with my Makos, and absolutely no issues whatsoever with rubbing in my VH.

The nice thing is that top section should be easy to sew some padding to if you wanted it, assuming you have a machine capable of it. I really should learn to do some gear repair with my industrial machine for a couple extra bucks here and there.

I wonder if they could put Lundy loops on player skates and rig up a removable tendon guard and use the same pair of skates for both positions, just changing steel on the old step holders.

I’m sure I could find another one, and hopefully one that doesn’t take over an hour to get there. It’s just a matter of finding a team to hook up with. It’s not like hockey where you just sign up and the director finds a team for you. You have to know somebody.

No but they certainly could have rotated me in once in a while. Or at least ahead of the guys who aren’t even on the team and we’re just subbing. I definitely won’t be playing with them next season. I had just already committed to playing this weekend. Hopefully worth the drive and the hotel cost... Yeah at least a rotation or something.

Curious, what do the skates look like without the tendon guard? And what do they look like with the nut/bolt instead of a rivet?

I wrote this a couple weeks ago but it looks like it didn’t post and was saved as a draft, so re-posting. — Joined an adult softball league. In fact, it’s a gay softball league. League rules allow up to three non-LGBTQ players per team. But that’s mostly irrelevant. Anyway, I joined them for their 6 week fall “season” which is just a couple of friendlies each Sunday. I used to play competitive softball until I was about 20 so while I was going to be rusty at first, I definitely do know what to do. I was a catcher in a fastball league for years. I was one of the better players and especially hitters. Anyway, for league play it’s two games each Sunday, one at 3rd base (where I’m most comfortable) and the other in right field (horrible idea, I can’t judge fly balls worth crap). That’s fine. We just played a weekend tournament. 6 games (incl 4 round-robin) on day one and 2 games (until we lost our second game - it’s a double elimination tourney) today. Saturday game 1 I was an “extra hitter” which basically means you get to bat but not field because you have more than 10 players. I thought: “okay, whatever”. Second game they change it up so they only bat 10 (a full lineup - our league uses a rover). So I sat on the bench the whole game until we were up by so much that they allowed me to bat but not field. Then, I got my big break and they let me play right field where I promptly misjudged a fly ball. Next game, back to the bench. Didn’t get called up to hit. Next game, RF again. Didn’t have a single ball hit to me. Game 5 RF and I got to field one ground ball hit between 1st and 2nd. Game 6, bench. So keep in mind that I was one of only three guys who was on the bench at any point. One of the three has some physical disabilities and actually never plays in the field and only ever hits during league games. During the tournament, he was on the bench (and first base coach) for the whole thing. That seemed wrong to me. So he’s on the team, plays his league fees and just because he has a disability they don’t let him hit like he normally does? Guys, HES ON THE TEAM. We win with him and we lose with him and personally I’ll take an out of that’s what it ends up being to have everyone get to play. To cap it off, we had grabbed a couple extra players from other league teams for this tournament. I don’t know why but for some reason they always try to get AT LEAST 12-13 players when you only need 10. So of course those two guys played every game, one of them at 3rd base. He was a guy in his 60s with knee sleeves, an ankle brace, a desert-style sunhat and was rubbing bengay on his legs between innings. I guess that’s the better choice? I... seriously considered just not even showing up the second day. But I said no, I’ll drive the 90 minutes back there in the morning, maybe they’ll let me play. Nope, wrong. Since we had lost game 6 the previous day we were basically in a must-win game every game from that point forward. Even less incentive to let me play. So I show up, and game 1... bench. They eventually let me hit once we were up by 20 (yes, 20 - they called the game on the mercy rule shortly after I hit). Game 2? Bench. I have never ever wanted to have my own team lose a game so badly in my life. Of course, when you’re not actually invested in the games you’re gonna hit like garbage, which I did. So that doesn’t help. If my time playing goal has taught me anything, it’s that you play way way way better when you have the adrenaline pumping and the heart rate going. My 3rd periods are always infinitely better in goal. I knew I had to get some reps under my belt for it all to come back but man, sitting on the bench isn’t going to help me. It just blew my mind that in a low tier gay softball league tournament that means nothing they’d not play everyone. Like shit, if it matters to you that much and you think that little of me then I’ll just stay home so you can win that tshirt! — And now, about a month later, I’m headed to Palm Springs to play in another tournament with them, against my better judgement. I already talked for the captain (she doesn’t ever actually play unless we’re short - she doesn’t actually like playing) and basically said when she asked if I was in “well, if you already have a 3rd basemen going then you don’t need another body taking up a roster spot” or something like that. Trying to convey “don’t waste my time or pull that shit again” in as diplomatic a way as I can. She knows I was pissed though. She knows the other guy who was benched was pissed too because he played as little as I did. So hopefully they make some adjustments. I dunno maybe I’m crazy, and this is no big deal. But to me this feels like telling your below average hockey teammates that they don’t get to play the last couple minutes of a game because it’s too important to let them screw it up. Its not so much that they made me sit, but the fact that their “strategy” changes so much for a tournament. Guys, I’m part of the team too and I paid to be here like everyone else. If you’re gonna bench people it should be a rotation or something. Or at the VERY LEAST, you should be doing the “EH” thing. Well see what happens... EDIT: Holy shit I basically wrote a novel. Sorry aboat that eh.

If you’re using taller steel you should use the risers. That’s what they’re for. Besides that, adjusting the height is worth a shot. See how it comes out.

Finally made it to a Vegas Golden Knights game!

I wish I lived somewhere that a 35 min drive is far... lol.

Part of me would prefer to remain completely ignorant to how the top end sticks play, just to keep my bank account in the green....

1. VH 2. Easton Mako 3. Reebok 8K Pump (didn’t fit, but I still think they looked fantastic) I don’t have a #4 or 5. Have never worn anything else that didn’t hurt.