DarkStar50

The old school Jofa hard cap chin cup is back in the RBK grills.

He got them last night!

There is a line of skates in development. CCM/RBK did not want to rush them to the marketplace for 2007. I don't think we have seen the last of Tacks skates. At least, if I'm in charge of marketing, we haven't! I saw the new Vector gloves today. The 10.0 is extremely comfortable. The 14" sample was snug but not as tight as a ONE90. The 3 piece thumb works very well. The mobile cuff on the wrist is better than Easton's. The 8.0 will be a great value at $100 US retail. The 10.0 and 8.0 are available in 14" and 15" only.

I do not stock the Supreme Senior 2" shin guard strap. They are in stock at NBH. Ask your LHS to order them for you.

Let us know what you think of the titanium cage after Santa stops by!

The Supreme Pant line takes a lot of earlier features from the Supreme Pant line just discontinued. NBH has changed the outer shell materials to stronger nylons with better abrasion quality. The zipper feature is new for this year's Supreme series pants.

Zippers are featured on ONE90, 70, 50, and 30 pants.

The entire Nike V series of protection is discontinued. NBH used the elbow cap mold for the ONE90 EPs.

The Pro LIGHTSPEED shoulder pad, elbow pad, and shin pad will actually be priced higher at retail than the ONE90 series. They have beefed up the new LIGHTSPEED shoulder and shin pad over the current level of protection. The new LIGHTSPEED elbow is similar to the 2006 6000 with extra protection on the inside of your elbow as well. The same stretch nylon padded middle strap is there as was in the 6000 elbow pad. The NIKE Grip print featue has been added to the shoulder pad, shin pad, and elbow pad on the LIGHTSPEED. The marketing push will be ONE90 protective but the Supreme Pro LIGHTSPEED will be more expensive.

I heard that Carbo re-arranged the "seating plan" in the room to break up some of the old habits...and avoid the cliches (sp?) they had last year... Well Carbo should do that given this bit of history: During the 95 lock-out year, I was in Montreal with bunch of guys to play a few games. We had some time off and took the Forum tour. When we got to the hallway with all the photos of the Habs captains, we heard this story from the guide. In the 80s, GM Serge Savard let the players vote for the captain. One particular year the players vote was split 50-50 between Chelios and Carbo! Savard said vote again. They had the same result. Savard said vote again and now I'm too old to remember what happened! But anyway, the players' loyalty to their "brethren" goes back to those days when Carbo was playing and of course, long before then.

About the locker room pictures: CCM had a skate party at the Bell Center during one of the last CSGA shows in Montreal. We were allowed to tour the locker room as well as skate on the latest model skate they were introducing at the time. The famous Canadiens saying with the Torch is written above the photos of the great Habs players. The goalies would sit right inside the door entrance, first in, first out. I also thought the room was rather small. Put 20 guys in there with gear on and there would not be much room. In the mid 90s CCM had a skate party at the Forum to launch the CCM Pump Tacks. The locker room in the Forum was the same shape but definitely smaller than this one. The interesting thing to note is who sits next to who. The Quebec players huddle together as well as the US guys would sit next to one another. I have been in the Rangers and Devils home locker rooms as well. They are both bigger than the Canadiens' room.

Lets move on. Lock and load.

Yabba dabba do!!!!

I can't wait to hear the complaints when the skates hit retail and "they don't fit my big fat Fred Flinstone feet!!! WHAAAA!!!! WHAAAAAAAAA!!" Half of you guys are setting yourselves up for a major letdown if these skates don't fit you perfectly.

I was just thinking about my favorite skate, the Daoust 301 National, circa 1981. Then I thought, wait a minute, what if I could get that boot with a few 2006 custom specs added. Here is my "Custom" skate: the Daoust 301 National boot, leather and ballistic nylon upper, with the heavy duty white cotton felt tongue, as they came out of the box. The boot would be traditional brown leather with black ballistic nylon, as they were back in the day. I would take out the leather inner sole. They always rotted out from sweat and then your rivets had nothing to sink into. I would replace that inner sole with the inner sole from a 2005 Vapor XX. No problems with those. They don't rot out and they would be lighter than the stock leather inner sole. I would replace the old plastic outer sole with the outer sole from the 2005 8090. That would also be light and get a lower profile for the boot to the ice. I would install Tuuk 2000 Clear holders(with plenty of back-up stock for repairs) in size 260. That was always my favorite Tuuk size, not the 254 I skate on now. My steel would be stainless. If that Daoust factory were still around, I would place this order today! What do you want if you could build your skate with technology mixed from all the vendors?

Interesting idea.........