LkptTiger

...and I thought my brother has a warped way of trying to rationalize his gaffes. *edit* - that just sounds awkward, but after a night of cramming and 45 solid minutes of sleep followed by a day filled with two exams at approximately 12 hours at the rink (only 2.5 of which I was on the ice for), I'm too damn tired to sit here trying to find a way to make it smoother - mostly because my brain can be compared to a scrambled egg at this point, which means I likely wouldn't be able to make it any better, even if I sat here and tried.

The mitts look great. The rest of the protective stuff looks kinda bulky.

I'd love to be there to see it, too. Oddly enough, we've never received any "morning after" phone calls from anyone complaining that their cab hasn't arrived. Not while I've been working there, anyways. Our number is ***-*92*. Theirs is ***-*29*.

Not really something that customers at our shop do, but more something that we employees have to deal with...every once in awhile I'll answer the phone and the conversation will go something like this: Me: "Front Row Sports, this is Rob. How can I help you?" Caller: "Uh, yeah, Airport Taxi?" Me:: "No, sir, this is Front Row Sports. You have the wrong number." Caller: "Oh, okay, sorry." click Ten seconds later the phone will ring again...exact same guy, exact same conversation. I give him our number, and I give him Airport Taxi Service's number (which are similar). click The phone rings a third time, five seconds after I hang-up. Me: "Airport Taxi Cab Service, this is Rob. How can I help you?" (I don't disguise my voice or anything - you'd think that the caller would realize it's the same guy...you'd THINK...wouldn't you?) Caller: "Yeah, I'd like to order a cab ride to the airport tomorrow morning." Me: "Okay, I'll need your name, number, and your pick-up location and time, please." Caller: *gives me his information - I whack at keys on the register keyboard to make it sound like I'm loading the information into a computer* Me: "Okay, we have a pick-up for *time* at *location* to the Buffalo International Airport. One of our drivers will see you in the morning, sir. Thank you for calling Airport Taxi Service." click

...Oooh. I <3ed my TFGs.

Don't joke - one of the guys I work with really is a nut bag. I've seen him after a day or two without his meds, and, while it's sorta funny, it's kinda scary at the same time.

That's fine, dude. It's the people who have to walk around and compulsively touch anything that catches their sight that bother me - the one's who obviously have no interest in a piece of equipment beyond "Wow, that's a big number on the price tag, there." There are adults that come into the store that display the same level of maturity and discipline as the kids who come in and drag their jacket zippers along the shafts of the sticks on the racks. When people come into the shop simply to touch shit, it bothers me - especially since it ends-up in the wrong place 75% of the time.

I like the people who come into the shop, ogle the stick rack, eventually find the R8s (in the Afinogenov pattern), yell "Oh, Max Afinogenov's sticks!" and pretty much lay eggs right on our floor. There have been a few times when I've chimed in and said "Yeah, 'cause Max sometimes switches it up and shoots right-handed and uses a variety of retail flexes." I get a kick out of people who try to take blades off the racks and shove them into a shaft - then try to play all cool when I approach them and ask "Do you need help with anything?" Most of the time I'm pretty chill, but there have been a few times when I've let people have it. I HATE it when parents try to buy kids skates that are two and three full sizes too big so the kid can wear 'em a few years and they'll save a few bucks. I typically just tell people something along the lines of "I'm not comfortable putting your child in a skate that doesn't fit him properly," but there have been people who have been so vehement that I've refused to deal with them at all - at that point I usually just tell them "If you're just looking for someone to take your money and ignore the fact that you're buying the wrong skates, go to Great Skate. That's not how we do business here." People who feel the need to touch absolutely EVERYTHING in the store get on my nerves, too. It's bad enough when we get little kids practically doing hot-laps around the shop, poking every stick and glove and skate he passes - but then we get adults who do the same thing. People who piss and moan about the $1 charge to cut sticks not purchased in our store, or the $1 fee to install stick blades they bought at another shop are something else, too. "A dollar? Are you fucking kidding?" No, I'm not fucking kidding, douchebag. People who crowd into the store to watch the hockey or football game we've got playing on the TV: Seriously? There are three more, much larger televisions in the lobby with chairs and tables and the works - why the Hell do you want to stand in the middle of a cramped pro-shop with your necks jerked-up in an awkward position to watch the same game that's playing out there? Move your asses - customers have to be able to get through. As pissed as I get when they're standing in the middle of the shop watching the game, I'm even more pissed when we have to turn the game off so they'll leave.

WNY Federation ("Fed" = school funded - on-ice everyday, some/the majority of equipment and travel costs covered, etc...practically free for the players) High School hockey. I only played that one year as a freshman. Western New York's travel organizations (as well as those in quite a few other regions across the country) have a "split-season" so that players can represent their high schools during the winter...which almost caused me some problems: My school didn't have a team, so I had/got to enter an appeal to the state (if I didn't play HS hockey, I wouldn't have been playing during the split). From there, I was entered in a sort of lottery - the "winner" of which then held my "rights." If that team (and all of the lower-level teams from the same school) were to have cut me after try-outs, I would have been up for grabs for any other school team in the area. I think the process has since been revised somewhat - though I'm not entire sure what changes were made. The competition was great for me as a freshman (and probably would have been okay for the next three years), but I felt like I was eventually going to be held-back (there obviously aren't entire schools of AAA hockey players, so the rosters were made-up of a lot of AA and A guys, too). The next season I said "fuck this" and went to play for an organization across the border where I wouldn't have to worry about any sort of split. The great thing about Fed hockey was the amount of support we got from the other students and people in the community - the place was packed for every game. The intensity and energy that went through the building before and during the "rivalry" games was unreal - and I was always a little amazed at how seamlessly I was sucked into the emotion, even as an outsider from another school entirely. The "student sections" were absolutely crazy, and usually spent most of the night chanting back-and-forth to each other (we could hear them from the dressing rooms before the game - and you had to scream to talk to someone right next to you once we were on the ice). That place was fucking loud. Given my experience with high school hockey, I can't even imagine what the atmosphere at a place like Yost must be like during a Michigan/Michigan St. game, or Lynah during a Cornell/Harvard match-up. It's gotta be absolutely unbelievable. Hell, I'm pretty sure the high school games around here leave a whole lot to be desired when compared to the ones in Minnesota. (P.S. - yes, to those of you who've played at Nationals in Amherst (Buffalo), NY: that is the Feature Rink at the Pepsi Center.)

Old-ish pic...in the middle - #17.

He might be: Patty Kane told me that Chicago is making the rookies responsible for one dinner each. He got hit HARD on his night.

#44: I have to laugh at the similarities between the "I'm only wearing this because I have to" visor and the "I'm not going to fight you" visor.

Of course you hold out on us - I get the impression that's how you get your rocks off ;) Is that cuff as long as it looks, Chadd?

Yeah, dude - you'll be waiting awhile.

I didn't use the M-1s, but I had a few Pulses which felt a hair soft, and the Fuels that I've tooled-around with have typically felt pretty whippy for whatever they'd been stamped at.

True, but the Ti-Pros I was fooling around with in the shop today felt a touch stiffer than marked.

Has switched to the AK27.

Just taaaaaaap it in.

Look at the sig, mack - fucking Chuck Norris bullshit. That should act as some sort of indication of what we're working with, here.

Each pair of gloves in my shop is zip-tied together at the thumbs and hung on hooks. We don't have too many problems with the mitts. Shin guards, on the other hand, are always a bitch. I like the people who try to bolt out of the store without paying for a sharpening. my store is just a pro shop so the second we finish sharpening payment is made. You guys should implement tagging the skates with an alarm or something. Or better yet chase the guys take their skates and bang it on the cement. We're just a pro shop, too. The problem lies in the fact that the store is relatively tiny and gets rather congested when two or three entire teams decide to come in and "kick tires." We try to ring people up as soon as they bring their skates in, but when there are a lot of people in the shop, things can get kinda hectic and discombobulated. People have been known to take advantage of such situations. Our SmartHockey balls are kept in a clear plastic case with some other products on top of it and a big "Do NOT Touch SmartHockey Balls - If You Wish To Buy One, An Employee Will Hand It To You" sign on the front. It's right near the register, so it's relatively easy to monitor.

Each pair of gloves in my shop is zip-tied together at the thumbs and hung on hooks. We don't have too many problems with the mitts. Shin guards, on the other hand, are always a bitch. I like the people who try to bolt out of the store without paying for a sharpening.

The shop I work at used to sell them. I see the same four or five pair of carbon t'Blades come into the store on a fairly regular basis. Given my impression of those four of five pair, I'm of the opinion that they're essentially the same thing as the "traditional" white and black t'Blade holders.

All the ones I've seen can best be compared to gold-plated jewelry.

The carbon t'Blades are pretty much the same thing as the "originals," only they have a sort of weave wrapping. Nothing drastic or worth the extra money, as far as I am concerned. As for t'Blades in general - I switched to 'em awhile back for the sake of consistency. Playing AAA hockey means that, more often than not, you're playing in a different city every weekend. Unfortunately, this means that, even if you get you skates done by someone you trust before you leave home, you're eventually going to have to end-up in a situation in which you're forced to hand your skates over to someone you don't know in a town you're not too familiar with. My skates were way wrecked too many times - and eventually I had enough and decided I wasn't going to be passing my skates around (with or without the "5/8, please" post-its). I got the t'Blades put on so I could keep a few extra pair in my bag in the event that I lose an edge during a tournament or something. No matter what, I always knew EXACTLY what I was going to get. Convenient and worry-free. I've since switched back to conventional steel (PITCH 3s). It was a difficult transition (as far as skating mechanics are concerned), but I didn't notice any real change in performance. I've also taken to keeping a spare set of sharpened, profiled steel in my bag in case I blow a tire while on the road.

...the carbon finish is going to chip and flake.