towson80

Those black Tuuk Edges can always go on, lhs is great to me and god knows these skates are going to be slightly modified :) Anyone else thinking I should have went with the black instead of the white? ;)

First part of the CCM Pro Tacks transformation into Frankenstein is complete... Tuuk Edge installed with Step Steel. Anyone know about those tongues??

Alright, phase 1 of the Frankenstein has started... I got the holders taken off as the few times I was able to skate on these just before and during the pandemic here in Toronto, I didn't feel right with the Prolite 3 holders. I'm getting some *white* Tuuks (even though I have those black ones I couldn't do it lol) put on and though I considered the, much praised, new CCM SB holder I went with what I was use too. And besides, the new SB lines up with the Tuuk holes so in the future I can always change. My next thing is looking at the getting the tongue replaced if I can... despite the excellent condition of the exterior of the skate the tongue on these Pro Tacks is somewhat uncomfortable due to whoever owned these prior to me. Does CCM still offer the old 652 tongue? I found this photo of old UND/Omaha coach Dean Blais wearing a pair of CCM skates... I think these are the 652 tongue. Is it possible to buy these or are they only offered on new custom skates? Doesn't matter to me if its black on white felt or all black. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I will be posting an updated photo once the Tuuks are on these Pro Tacks 🙂

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Thank you Vet88, I will reach out to him and see if we can meet up sometime this summer to figure out what I can do with these almost brand new Pro Tacks... I forgot to post a photo of the skates I am going to have to mod to suit me. Hopefully they won't look too Frankenstein by the time I'm done with them! :) And I am not going to put on the black Lightspeed Edge holders, it was the only photo I could find at the moment and didn't want to go downstairs to grab the skates :) I love the black holder look (I had them on my Bauer skates in the 90s) but I don't think they'd work with these 2004-05 Pro Tacks :)

Yes I noticed that about the True skates and the tendon guard... any idea of True is open to meeting with lowly, horrible players/coaches like myself to work with them and find a proper skate?

I will be looking into Graf for sure. Thank you for all the suggestions. Thankfully Toronto has been able to open up and once I am less busy at work I will explore the Graf option.

krisdrum: Thank you for letting know about Graf and their Classic line... since it doesn't seem like I can get any company to work with me, leather skates are way easier to mod to suit my issues. caveman27: I appreciate the info about the Bauer goalie skates. I think I will look into bandy skates and hope I can find some older leather models if my Pro Tacks mod doesn't work out. And about the ego thing... I pulled down my track suit pants a little further than normal when I had the skates similar to the Softec on :)

Monty: My 2004 Pro Tacks are in mint condition, almost new. Thats why I picked them up casue I knew one day my Bauer Frankenstein would fall apart and I figured the clarino liner would be easy to mod on my own.

These are some great ideas!! Thank you so much vet88 and skatedoktor ... I never thought about adding shot blockers to those softec skates, plus it will make them less noticeable to teenage boys who definitely would give a little chirp to their coach 🙂 I am in the Toronto area so it shouldn't be too hard to find someone who can work with carbon fibre. I chose the older skates because their leather build offers a lot more in trying to Frankenstein something compared to the new boots that are out there. These wonderful suggestions aside, I take it that major manufacturers only cater to their stars and the days of helping the little guy are long gone?

boo10: Believe it or not, I have tried something similar however when coaching an errant puck could do some damage as I'm coaching high school age kids.

The old Bauers were punched out in certain areas yes as my leg condition had worsened since the original heat molding and remolding didn't do a heck of a lot. Further I had to cut out certain parts on the inside with an exacto knife and glue in my own padding. It was truly a Frankenstein skate 😉 I looked into bandy skates as well because like the newest goalie skates they did not have the tendon guard. Is it possible to order goalie skates as just the boot at which point I have put on whatever holder, Tuuk or XS ?? Thanks for the reply caveman27!

Buzz, thanks for the reply. I didn't want to get too detailed about it in my first message but these lesions/bruises I have on my lower legs and almost onto my foot are extremely painful esp around the tendon guard (which I cut off on my old skates and crudely lined with foam/leather where I cut) as well as certain parts of the upper boot where I had to add extra padding. Unfortunately, as the years have gone on, I have gotten more of these lesions and they never heal and never will for the rest of my life. The bruises can easily split and bleed for days as the skin is so thin that it cannot be sewn nor can steri-strips be used cause the sticky part of those rips off more of the delicate skin. If I can't find someone at Bauer/CCM/True then I will have to Frankenstein these Tacks that I have much like I did with the Bauers. I appreciate the reply Buzz, hopefully I will be able to find a solution :)

First off, I have been on this forum for 16 years now and it is such a wonderful place for information and expertise so I am hoping for some feedback on my issue. Years ago, I got a forum member to heavily mod my skates to deal with my disease called nodular amyloidosis (very, very rare) which has riddled my legs with bruises that never heal. Those old skates finally kicked the bucket months before the pandemic and my backup pair of Tacks from 2004 or so will need a lot of mod work to even allow me to put them on. Unfortunately, my illness has progressed to where I can't play hockey anymore however I skate with my children but not for very long. I also coach nowadays though I prefer to run practice from the bench because of my issues. What are the chances that companies like Bauer/CCM/True would be willing to work with me to find a custom pair of skates where I could get back on the ice without having so much pain and problems? Money isn't an issue, it is being able to find someone from one of these companies who, essentially, will take pity on a nobody in the hockey world like me to help me get back on the ice pain free. I asked a few LHS's around me years ago and there wasn't much help. Any suggestions/recommendations/help, even if it is just saying I'm s**t out of luck, would be greatly appreciated! 😉