beedee

I'm also in So Cal. I'm not too sure about a good solution to your first question, but for your second one maybe you can call up a few local rinks and see if they are taking donations? Might be harder to donate stuff due do the Covid stuff, maybe?

Micron Mega 10-90 skates and my Easton Donzi shoulder pads from 1991.

I may have to give these a shot in my new Vapors. A few years ago I made a DIY version in my old Graf Ultra G5's, I really liked the comfort.

I think I'm going to give the new Tacks a try. After all, they have the money back guarantee if returned within 30 days. Currently in a Graf Ultra G5 that I have not been happy with for the last 4 years...but kept wearing in order to get my "moneys worth".

Great review, thanks for the pictures too! I'm currently in a Graf Ultra G5, regular width. I had to punch out the mid-foot area a couple times, and after 3 years or so of wearing them, they have never felt "right", or great. I need a change. Over the weekend I tried on a CCM JetSpeed in a D, and a Bauer Supreme in an EE, both 7.5. To be honest, they both felt the same to me width wise, I even thought that the JetSpeed was an EE (I wasn't paying that close of attention apparently). The JetSpeed really fit much better than the Supreme though, almost no discomfort in the arch area compared to the Supreme, and overall it just fit like a glove, just the right amount of snug in all the right places. Unfortunately they didn't have the Tacks in a 7.5 D or EE to try on. Would the Super Tacks fit closer to a Bauer Nexus?

Well all be darned, we won 9-2 on Saturday night, against the Saturday Knights. lolOur team dominated the first period and we were up 4-0 at the end of it. I'm not too certain that it was because we had great shots, but rather their goalie wasn't at his best. He usually plays way better, and he let in the first shot he saw. As a goalie, that crap is impossible to get out of your head! Their first goal on me came in the 2nd period, I joked with my defenseman that he got the assist AND the goal on it. After one blind, backhand clearing attempt up the middle, I stopped a shot and steered the rebound to the left corner, this time the other defenseman did the ol' blind backhand up the middle, right to the opponents stick. The guy ripped a clapper that was going high glove, but the same defensemen redirected it downwards and into the net from about the mid-slot. It was a beauty of a redirect, lol!!! That was it for the scoring in the 2nd. In the third we came alive again, scoring 5 goals. Their next goal came late in the 3rd, our left d'man got beat around the corner and the guy was coming in from just outside the face-off dot, moving from his right to left. I had him squared up but cheated a bit anticipating a backhander from across the crease....however he stayed forehand and squeaked it in between my pad and the post. Oh well.Their ringer that was routinely scoring 3+ goals for them last season isn't playing with them this season, and it is hurting them. They are in the basement with us, sitting at 3-6 on the season so far. I felt like I played well, stopped a few breakaways from their ringer "sub" that was filling in for them. The score sheet says I stopped 15 of 17, I hate to say it, but I think that was fairly accurate, as I really didn't see a whole lot of action. Nonetheless, it felt great to break a 4 game losing streak!!!Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I got an assist on our last goal of the game! I was in reverse vh along the right post, their forward tried to throw it to the slot from below the goal line, in which I broke up the pass with the paddle of my stick, it went right to our star center, whom took it coast-to-coast and buried it for the 9th goal and my first assist of this season.

Totally. The low shots I don't have as much trouble redirecting to the corners with my pads, the P4's do a great shop of putting some velocity on them. Its those chest area ones that have been giving me fits. I know what I need to do in order to cradle them, its just that I haven't been able to execute, cradle and contain them. :(

I agree, my rebound control can be 100% better. This is only my 3rd season in net, I started playing goalie in April of 2015. Constantly learning more each time out, and watch instructional videos and what not when I'm not on the ice. It was frustrating because the rebounds were just barely beyond my reach. Had I been able to absorb them, there wouldn't have been second chances. (as you said)

Our team is now 2-4 this season, in the higher division we got placed in. We lost 6-2 on Saturday night. It was one of those craptastic nights where they scored 2 power play goals on the back door, and another one went off my defenseman leg from the top of the crease and in. Our forwards aren't producing and our centers are being lazy AF on the back checks. I am continuously making first initial saves only to have rebounds (that aren't even that far away) banged in because no one is there to cover the open guy on top of the crease or on the back door. :o/ My defense has been great though and have been doing a great job of tying up their man when needing to do so. They are feeling frustrated as well, there rarely is a winger on the near side boards when they are looking for a break out pass, and the center is no where to be seen in the high slot or not circling back down low.Oh well. My defense and I had a good talk after the game and it was refreshing to hear we shared the same frustrations. In the past they had brought it up to the team, but nothing really changed. I have decided that the only way to keep my sanity is to not let those goals get to me. I can only do so much, and talking to the team about what they need to do isn't going to change anything. Really hoping to get on a higher level team for next season.

Got the shutout Friday night, 3-0! This team beat us the last two times we played them, so it's a good feel!In my opinion we should have worked them since they only had two subs and we had nearly three full lines! And of course they had a golden opportunity with under 10 seconds left....nail biter!

Got rekt Friday night, 7-1. First two were softies that I should have had, goal 6 I should have had. All the others were back door or results of D not tying up the opponents sticks. Not to mention, our team was clearly outskilled. I'd say that maybe half our team should be in the division we are in, while the other half belongs in pure beginner. Going to be a long season I reckon.

wow, gotta love the guy that winds up a full blown clapper from the middle of the face-off circle in PICK-UP! (at 5:03)

On Wednesday night I received an email stating I was selected to play in the 2016 Lakewood Ice Adult League All-Star game, I was pretty jazzed! Each team in Rookie and Copper was to select 2 players to represent their respective teams, and the league would choose the goalies. I was selected out of 20 teams! The league selected 4 goalies, two for each team. I was there representing my Copper team! Here is the flyer: The other goalie for our team never showed up, so I was playing the entire game. No biggie, although I was looking forward to just playing half of it and competing in the breakaway skills competition. The other team had two goalies, and they each played 1.5 periods, and also split the breakaway skills competition. The game had a pretty fast pace, as it mixed all of the Copper levels and there were clearly a handful of sandbaggers that should be playing in the Gold division, how they aren't is beyond me, then again, nothing surprises me with this place (or most leagues for that matter). Anyhow, I had a shutout in the first period, and we were up 4-0 after 1. I gave up 3 in the second period, the first one was whacked out of the air by the ringer, I deflected a pass from the corner that was coming to the slot with my paddle, it went up in the air about 2 feet and as it was coming down, he took a backhand swing and it went in, I have video of this and will upload later. The second goal was a great top corner snipe through a screen, couldn't see it at all, third goal was a nice back-hander top glove by the ringer. I gave up for in the 3rd, our defense was non-existent, even my dad texted me after the game saying that I should thank them (sarcasm) for allowing the other team back in the game. It really was nuts of how bad they got. Two of the goals were on me, one short side goal, and a bad top corner over my left shoulder as I was in reverse VH on the left post. There wasn't much room at all, so I suppose it was a great shot? We ended up winning 10-7, and I won the goalie portion of the shootout competition, only allowing 2 goals on 12 attempts. Each skater had 3 attempts in rapid succession, basically skating in the first puck from the blue line, taking a shot then hustling back to the blue line to get the next puck, shot, then repeat. I was getting pretty gassed as it was non-stop, and again I was the only goalie for our team. All in all it was a lot of fun, I really dig the faster paced game. As seen on the flyer, they did do player introductions, a national anthem and we had some bomb post-game bbq catered. I was given a signed John Gibson Ducks puck, and a nice The Rinks pint glass for winning the goalie portion of the shootout competition. Here are a couple pix of the locker room. It was cool, they had our jerseys hanging with a hat from Teemu's brand, "Aufeis", and "name-plates". They also had a big bucket full of waters and beers for us in the middle. I didn't play in our regular beer league game on Saturday as we were in Big Bear, but I saw the scoresheet and we lost, 5-2. Video of the mid-air puck whack goal. (not sure how to embed youtube on here) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7E4qesB3oY&feature=youtu.be

We kicked off our new season on Friday night with an 8-1 win. Two guys on our team had hatties and the third guy had two goals. I had a shuttie going until about halfway through the 2nd period, fairly easy shot from up high came in, dropped into butterfly and made the easy save, but instead of softening/killing the rebound I kind of flicked my stick and shot the rebound out to the left side of the slot. They had two guys right in the slot, our D had one tied up and of course the rebound went to the other guy, whom buried it just inside the far post, out of reach of my left leg that I kicked out, it was a good shot.According to the scoresheet, I stopped 17 of 18. I will be out of town for this weeks game, which is against my former team.

Hey Opti, how are you liking the lundy loop? Also, i FINALLY got a suction cup mount today, I am going to use it at my game on Sunday night. how high up the glass do you usually put it? Also, what mode works best that won't have too much of a fish-eye effect?

if you are a SoCal goalie and want to join this Facebook group, please check us out. https://www.facebook.com/groups/187224358287509/

nice video opt! pause it at :38, 3 white jerseys all alone in front of you, lol! gotta love the defense in beer league!

Saturday night at 1020pm the puck dropped for our playoff game. We finished in 2nd place and were playing the 3rd place team. This team was in the higher level of our league, and dropped down after getting waxed the first 4 games of the season. The last time we played them it was close, but I think they edged us out 5-3, ironically, that was the score this time around too. They had one ringer who definitely should be in Silver, not Copper. I was happy to have stuffed him on multiple occasions Saturday night, he ended up with goals 4 and 5, both of which were garbage goals...i.e., I made one or two initial saves, no one cleared him or the puck and he banged them in. Overall the game was a blast, I saved 27 of 32, and as usual, the scoresheet doesn't indicate the types of saves I made. Many two on ones, a couple two on 0's and even 2 breakaways, all were stuffed by me. (humble brag) The game was back and forth, they went up first, then we tied, then they went up, then we tied, then we went up, then they tied, then they went up late in the 3rd and that was it. First goal- bang bang bang passing play, it was a beautiful goal, not sure any goalie would of had a chance. the final bang was on the back door and i had no chance. Second goal- we were short handed, i dropped and saved a clapper from the point, directed the rebound towards the corner....where someone was on the backdoor, and he had the easy tap in...again, no D there on the guy Third goal- my BIGGEST pet peeve, our winger flung a no look pass across the middle from deep in our zone...right to the stick of their center, he promptly fired a wrister from the top of the slot (which i didn't see at all), it went wide right but the rebound came out on my glove side...i didn't even see the shot released due to traffic, by the time i saw the puck, it was out of the corner of my eye on my glove side and a guy was shooting it in the net, i didn't even move. :( Fourth goal- garbage rebound after making first initial save Fifth goal- see above. All in all I had a blast, it was much more fun to play in a tight game that was back and forth. I saw a TON of action and came up big many times, my team and the other team would give me props after making a big save. This coming Saturday is our consolation game against the team we blew out last week, it means nothing. It should be fun though, as I have a few new acquaintances on the team.

Saturday night was out last regular season game. We won 4-1, I had a shutty going until about half way into the third. The guy sniped me top blocker corner, it did glance off my shoulder though, but it was a great shot, no denying that! Our team dominated the play overall and I'm surprised we didn't have more goals than 4. A handful of easy tap ins were missed, but whatever. I stopped 18 of 19 according to the scoresheet, seemed about right. There were a few breakaways that I stuffed too. The team we played had some people on it from my Throwback Classic team, including the guy to the left of me in the pic that i posted a few days ago (african american dude). He is really fast, and has a great shot, he is the one that beat me for the goal. Early in the second he had a somewhat breakaway but I remembered he liked to shoot high, so I was ready for it, and sure enough, high snapshot to the glove side, boom, save! The "oh sh!t" moment came midway through the second where a hard shot came from just inside the top of the left side circle. It caught me in the chin (see pic below) and ended up blowing out a screw on the opposite side of the mask! Talk about energy transfer!!! Luckily I was able to find the screw and nylon spacer/washer and upon further examination, the female portion of the screw actually broke. I played the remainder of the game with only 3 of the 4 screws holding my cage in place. Playoffs start this coming Saturday, we finished in a solid 2nd place, going 10-4-1. Here is a pic of my mask, you can see where the puck nailed me in the chin.

Best part about that, it kept the registration fee down to $100. :) That included: 3 games plus the potential for 2 playoff games, we got 1 playoff game. Gatorades/Beers/TigerMilk bars/Tape in the lockers before/after each game 1 Flex Fit tournament hat 1 Tournament hoodie (from Violent Gentlemen) 1 Ticket to a Ducks game (I'm a Kings fan, but who cares, it is free and I chose the game against Washington, so I will see J. Williams and Mike Richards play) 1 admission to the Tournament Kickoff Party at Honda Center with an open bar. So, not too shabby in my opinion.

Well this past weekend I partook in the 6th Annual Ducks Throwback Classic Presidents Day Tournament. The games started on Friday, and end later today. There were 8 divisions, with 8 being the lowest, and the one I was playing in. Our schedule and win/loss:Friday, 7:45pm, 7-0 winSaturday, 7:00am, 8-1, loss (I didn't play)Sunday, 2:05pm, 7-3, winMonday, 7:00am, 5-3, loss (I didn't play) Our first game was a snoozer, I think I literally saw no more than 7 SOG the entire game, the other team was very green, and was made up of all women. The highlight is when I was hollering for a D on our team to cover the wide open girl in the slot. Here is what she said to me, "STFU, You guys are up 7-0, and I have never scored a goal in my life!!!".....at first I thought she was joking, but she wasn't. As she skated away, she flipped me off! I was dying and just put my arms in the air in a shrug motion, it was amazing! Second game, wife had to work so I couldn't make it. But the team we played I guess had played together a bunch and probably should have been in a higher division....then again, I think our team should have been too. Third game, again another team comprised of all women and one dude. This was also a snooze fest for the most part, but it was fun because many of the opposite team play at Lakewood in Rookie and Copper, and some guys wives and girlfriends were on that team. Not much action for me, however late in the third my shutout was cracked on a nice backhander, spinner from the dude on the team. Kind of a scramble int he low slot, I went butterfly and paddle down but it squeaked through and in, just inside the far post. The next goal was the WORST GOAL I have ever given up. A medium powered shot along the ice from my stick side face off circle, the top of it. Instead of dropping and redirecting it into the corner (like I always do) I decided to just stay standing, and square the puck up with my blade....oops. It hit my blade, bounced up and over in slow motion, through my legs. I actually had time to turn around and try to snatch it before crossing the goal line but failed to do so. My wife happened to catch this on camera, it is pretty funny! See the pic below. The third goal was another slow-mo back door play that I read well, but almost over committed in my butterfly push and it went in-between my arm and torso and I slid over to make the save. All in all it was a good time. I wish I could have played this morning but like many others on our team, I had to work. Here are a few pictures my wife snapped. Ohnoooo, the worst goal ever! Just sitting here, bored. Some Reverse VH. And our team photo after our first game/win. Our regular league game was cancelled because they tried to reschedule it from last weeks cancellation, but so many people from both teams were playing in this tournament that neither team had enough people that would be able to play....so it was rescheduled again.

Can you live-stream it please!!!

We won last night 7-1. I had a shutout going until part way through the 3rd. Shot came from the point, redirected off my defenseman's stick, then off my stick and in. Our team put up 36 shots, and they only had 18. Nothing major to report so I will keep it short.

^ just followed you.

After no game last weekend we were back in action on Saturday night. We won 12-1, I felt bad for the other goalie, as he had zero support. It looked like they only had 4 subs too, and half of their team was older fellas. On top of that, their goalie didn't look that experienced. I could tell after we were up 7-1 in the 2nd period he was over it. I know that feeling, it totally sucks. Their goal on me game from the high slot in the middle of the 2nd. I was screened by two of our guys and one of theirs. I was looking to my right around the screen and the shot came through to the left of the screen, d'oh! Oh yeah, I also stuffed a penalty shot as well, my buddy took video of it, (it is on Facebook, so not sure if it is viewable if we aren't connected on Facebook). Link for video: https://www.instagram.com/p/BA6S5GHOoTAmVW-6jE49T3oFV1In0pDpwVBPCs0/?taken-by=bd.30