cougarscaptain87

my 10 year old skates on a 9'/10' and loves how it feels and I like how he looks on it, I skate on a 9.5'/10.5' and the difference between a straight 10' profile is noticeable but it doesn't feel foreign. 9.5' up front gives you a bit more agility but doesn't make you feel like you loose any speed, could be all mental but I think it's a great profile for a vast majority of adult sized skaters.

I couldn't say about youth true sticks and their flex over time, but I have to point out that your sons size seems bigger than most kids who would use a 15 flex stick. Generally someone 75 pounds would use around a 30 flex, could use a 25 could use a 35 depending on how they load and shoot but I would think 15 might end up twisting and flaring more than they would like it to. My son is really small, he's maybe 51" tall, 80 pounds and uses a full length 30 flex, I think he could bump up to 40 but I have some 35 flex on order for him to bridge the gap. If it wouldn't hurt the pocket book to give the 15 flex a shot by all means I could be totally wrong and he could love it but based on my experience the 10 and 15 flex sticks are for the 30-50 pound mini mites.

Stumbled on these guys on IG, the team I coach is a 2013 AAA team and last season the kids must have went through 14-15 CCM, Bauer, and Warrior top end youth and junior sticks last season. $200 a piece or so and they'd last 3-6 weeks with only one warranty I was getting frustrated. We tried Hockeystickman first, that wasn't great and never was used in a game but then I read a ton about prostock and for the price on the juniors I decided to try it out. My kid came from a youth trigger 7 pro 30 flex p28 and I ordered these as close to that as I could, same length after I cut them in the low kick junior build, 30 flex and the p28 but my kid insisted on the gorilla grip. Once they were delivered it was pretty clear these are a step above the hocekystickman product, after cutting and taping I threw it on the postal scale and it was 18 grams heaver than the trigger 7 pro, not bad and I think a lot of that weight is in the grip coating, prostock grip seems to be thicker and more substantial than the ccm grip coating and the texture of the gorillas has to add some weight. Balance is just as good as the CCM, and the kid says it feels just as good for whatever that is worth. He went through 4 CCM sticks last season, 3 jetspeeds and one trigger and they did not last very long, trigger was more durable than the FT4 but still cracked the first month or so, prostock custom has seen about 5 weeks of use, there are a few scrapes and chips of paint but to the naked eye zero cracks and the blade is just as stiff as when we got it. I also like that the junior blade is a hair bigger than CCM offerings but still has the same lie, almost like a max blade junior which I see no downside to. I'm going to order him 3 more in varying flexes for as he grows, my kid loves them and we have another player on the team who has switched with a few more playing around on the online configurator. Awesome product in my eyes, fair price, and I like his online personality on his IG page, I'll keep going back as long as he will let me!

I have 2 pairs of skates for my little guy that have gone rogue for the last 3 weeks from Canada, we're in Michigan and the package got to my local sorting facility on Dec 14 but since then nothing. Fingers crossed everyone gets what they're waiting on!

we switched to a 3 gallon bucket, can carry the bottles for all the kids and the pucks at the same time. Clip a towel to the handle and you're good to go!

I have a pair of custom one95s that are the full custom, when I went to get my new skates I knew I was going custom and was told myBauer was the new way they did customs. My one95s have two different lengths, increased height in the quarters to add volume, I was able to get an E/A last that fits my foot nearly perfectly, clarino liners, extra stiff, additional ankle padding, double stitching, lower cut boot height, and on the one95s I had the mega flop white felts, I wasn't going to get those this time but I had A LOT more options my last go around. This was obviously well before foot scans were available at least to mere mortals like myself so everything was done based on tracing and tape measurements around 4-6 points on my foot and ankle and the skates fit 100% perfect in my estimation. Not to get off topic but I went in wanting CCM total custom AS3 Pros, between my supreme one95s and my new skates I wore first gen one piece boot super tacks in just a retail build, they fit well but not perfect. I thought the AS3 was the next logical step but I couldn't get over the feeling of my toes going numb with the new tongue attachment system and I was told you can not have the tongues sewn in opposed to the new system even at the total custom level, as well as they had done away with offering lower cut boots and additional height in the comfort pad (I was going to get 3mm off the stock boot and add 3mm of comfort pad) so then I started trying on the ultrasonic since I had experience with Bauer customs in the past. At about 45 minutes into the fitting it was seeming as I wasn't going to get what I initially came in for so I started to settle, I was told you can only do FIT 1 2 or 3 even in customs, no more option for forefoot and heel width, you can't add height to the quarter package, and you can't remove height from the boot cut. I was recommended a fit 3 on the scanner but every fit 3 in the store felt too deep and wide, but fit 2 was a hair snug in the width from my ankle bone to my toes and the volume was a bit shallow so I had to decide that I thought going with a fit 2 and the low profile tongue would open up the volume of the boot but that still didn't solve the width issue. I ended up ordering 9.25 on the right 9 on the left, fit 2, molded felt tongue pulse Ti steel (wanted to try the power profile but it came with a stock 10') and the standard ultrasonic liner because it seemed better than the one very similar alternative, would have loved clarino the only reason I need to replace my Super Tacks is the microfiber liner is falling apart on my right skate. I received the skates a few weeks ago and they fit alright, now with the molded felt the volume is a bit loose, width is a bit tight (opened up a bit with two bakes) and the insoles were way too short, when I asked for some that fit the only ones they had were from the APX2 vapors and they don't really fit great either, small thing to complain about but at nearly $1200 I do expect the insoles to fit properly. I really wish I could have gotten the skates in the 9.25 and 9 lengths, E/A last, increased quarter packages and ankle padding, clarino liner, lower boot cut, traditional felt tongue, and double stitching. I still like my new skates but I do feel like they could have been done a bit differently based on my past experiences.

@SkateWorksPNW can all retailers process full customs? I was told that myBauer is the only choice and now I'm feeling like I was mislead, I was also told that no manufacturer was offering a lower cut boot like the CCM total customs had last year... starting to feel like I got the raw end of the deal on my latest pair of skates

I ordered customs and I was excited to try the quad power profile until I looked over the order form and realized the employee selected no profile on the blades 🙄 They were delivered with a stock 10' profile, I had my own 9/10' profile applied but I will say the steel is significantly better than years past. It's not in the same category as step steel in my experience but the added height, in addition to the titanium coating has greatly improved the stock offering. The steel feels much harder than Bauer steel tends to feel, but in a solid stable feel not harsh. I generally skate on an 11/16" hollow but I'm contemplating going down to a 3/4" the edges seem to have a bit more bite, I'm not sure if that is the titanium coating or placebo but I do think most people would be able to get away with one less hollow on their edges and have the same if not improved performance as before.

I'm currently in the first super tacks that has the one piece boot in a size 9EE they fit decent but are a hair short and are a hair shallow. I ripped the liner, the outer skin is peeling, and I'm honestly just ready for some new skates so in my mind the AS3 in a custom size were going to be my new skates but I couldn't find a size that didn't crush my toes/where my toes attach to my forefoot and I also had the numb toes very quickly. I ended up getting Ultra Sonics in the sizes I needed and the retails felt great other than the length discrepancy my feet have. I was told you can not have the tongue sewn into the boot to eliminate that pressure so I crossed CCM off my list for this product cycle.

Anyone else experience a ton of pressure downward where the tongue and the toecap meet? I wanted to get a pair of these so bad but in D and EE there was too much material where the two parts met making my toes go numb in minutes, I was explained that this isn't something that could be fixed with customs so I went with a pair of custom Ultrasonic instead. I had my heart set on these coming from Super Tacks but I just couldn't make them work retail or justify the risk on customs when I didn't have that problem at all with the supreme.

Cavs sold me 2 Patrick pro stocks and they were P91A MAX and they were awesome! I did see he had an O'Riley toe kink at one point which I'd really like to try at some point but I think the majority of his blades do not have that.

From age 12-27 I used a 57" stick that was to my collar bones on skates, I always kept the puck near my feet and I'm tall with long arms so I could still get leverage on shots but I was also more flexible and in shape. When my younger son started playing I took my old stick out and thought everything was going to be good to go, wrong. I was over skating pucks, missing passes, and wiffing over the top of the puck on some shots, I realized my age had reduced my flexibility and athleticism and I went to a 60" full length adult stick, that was a lot better but I still felt I could use a bit longer, I sourced a 65" warrior and quickly realized that was too long cut it down to 63" and liked that a lot more but pucks in my feet were tough and shots seemed to take a while to get off with so much stick to get through the puck so I went down to 61" and I've bounced between 60-61" depending on the stick and application for the last 3+ years. I've added velocity to my shot, I'm a bigger target for a pass and I've got a better reach to get around people, or stop people from getting around me. Stick handling was a transitional period, but with some adjustment I've had more success stick handling now than I did when I was younger but I also switched from a p91 to a p88M or p38 type curve so we're not exactly apples to apples on that comparison. Like anything new it feels weird at first but I do think if you take your time and realize it's going to not be fun for a little while as you relearn to do things you already know how to do it will benefit you in the long run.

I've had the exact opposite experience with Step Steel. I have super tacks that came with the black oxide steel from CCM, that was junk really soft and didn't hold an edge for anything. The CCM steel had to be sharpened so frequently I had to have my runners replaced in 14-15 months for the date of purchase. On the CCM steel I was getting them sharpened every 3-6 hours depending on what rink I was at and if I was coaching or playing, hard ice was hell for the CCM blades and games I'd always end up with a good size burr or rolled edge from hitting another players skate or stick. Now I have the standard Step steel in my SB 4.0 holders and the difference is honestly night and day, the steel is taller which seems to give better cornering and tight turns, it will also last longer with the added height. With the step steel I've waited as long as 20 hours before I had my skates sharpened, Step steel is without a doubt of higher quality and better performance in every sense. I'd have to imagine you either got the short straw and got a bad set of runners which will be covered under warranty, or the person sharpening your skates is overheating them causing the poor performance you're describing. You said you air them out every skate and take the skate guards off so I'd have a hard time thinking corrosion, but I wouldn't rule anything out, reach out to Step I'd imagine they're going to want to help and not ignore your problems.

I have the OG Super tacks and they came with the SB Black on the 4.0 holder, that steel is trash. I used it because I'm stubborn and didn't want to pay for step steel until I needed new runners. With the poor quality of the stock black steel I had to get new steel after 14 months, it had to be sharpened weekly and left me with not much steel to use. I have been on the standard stainless step steel and it feels as if it is 100x better than the stock steel. The added height makes NO difference in feel or balance in my experience, but obviously adds to longevity and apparently may help with cornering and tight turns with the added height, I don't feel a ton of difference in that but the longevity of the sharpening, the time between having them sharpened have increased dramatically. I can go all month and have my skates sharpened one time, versus the 3-4 times a month I'd have the stock steel sharpened and I'm skating the same amount of time if not more per week than I was on the stock steel.

I don't know how to post a picture on here but Barzal is wearing what looks to be the new Tacks skates, anyone else catch that during the game against the rangers tonight? I have a photo if anyone wants to teach me how to post a photo I can!