MThockeydad

Final scrimmage to cap off our rookie adult season. This crew learned an incredible amount in 17 weeks. I'm looking forward to playing with them in league and dropin for years to come.

Our U14's won state! and.. Last night was THE most fun game of adult league hockey we had all season. The other team won 3-1, but we held a tie most of the game. Awesome puck battles, races up the ice, and goalies on both sides. 6:13am and a morning jog came early after a late game (and getting home at 1am, asleep about 1:30am), but when my teenage daughter wants to hang out, it's worth it! Edit: A big sister, I must add, who injured her shoulder last spring and hasn't been able to play volleyball or hockey since. The U14 team was "her" team and little sister filled the spot vacated by her and a couple of other girls, and she went to the tourney and was VERY supportive of her lil' sis when she could have been an angry, jealous 13 year-old!

No, it bridged the indent. Holes in the outer edge under my big toe and on the indent under the ball of my foot. The HiLo holes run in a straight line (as you're seeing). Ice blade holders are more contoured and follow the perimeter of the outsole.

That indent was there in my XR5's with a factory-mounted chassis. I think the step is taken up by the poly/felt inside, and the carbon fiber is probably a consistent thickness and takes the step.

It looks noticeable to me. Barely visible differences are noticeable, and that looks VERY noticeably different. You asked if the shop took off too much, then you're questioning my observation saying that they're virtually the same and the apparent difference is an illusion.

That's a COMPLETELY different pitch and profile. Did you pay to get the blackedge steel re-profiled? Your skates will feel entirely different even with the same radius grind.

Good, keep Utah warm! We're headed to SW Utah over spring break the end of March/1st week in April. :) We have a warm spell here, too. It's been 30-40ºF for over a week. Big problem for our outdoor rink when the sun makes the ice soft, and the Montana Pond Hockey Classic had to cancel their plans to use the local lake and are planning to relocate to our rink.

That made my day, Ken. Thank you. :) You were also putting the puck where it needed to be when you had it, as well. Guess that's a good sweet spot post for me, too.

My wifey is a Subaru girl-- '96 Legacy sedan 5spd (fun car!), '98 Legacy wagon, '00 Outback wagon, now an '06 Tribeca. Sold the sedan, bought the first wagon so we'd have room for kids and dogs. Upgraded to the Outback because she always wanted an Outback. She's now had the Tribeca for 7.5 years and LOVES it. They are extremely well-engineered cars. Just give them regular oil changes and enjoy them for years.

I know this is the ice to inline thread, but how about an inline to ice post? I wanted a 2nd set of ice skates and my XR5s aren't being used in the winter time so I went for it. They fit exactly like my x7.0's but have nicer tongues! Mounted using clipped 3-pin #8-20 t-nuts and 1/2" long machine screws. I had to grind a few of the bolts shorter. 3/8 might have worked for all. Tnuts installed in the roller chassis holes, too, so I can reinstall the hi-los again this spring.

Not if someone else is playing it. haha

Sounds like fun until it gets boring about 30min in! I like the pond if I want to skate by myself. I like dropin with at least 10 people so I can be pushed! Sa-weet! Put a TV in the lobby so a few people can keep up on the score (instead of staying home) and enjoy the ice!

My MIL tries to correct my wife's identity as well. Parents' influence has little impact beyond about age 16, IMHO. I believe the things she criticizes most in my wife are the things she dislikes most about herself. Be you. Get well. Love life. Better?

Caihlen, you're nuts; but in a good way! I wish our local dropin would be more consistent with play level. Sometimes it's A-, sometimes it's C-, depending on who shows up. Some of the guys who make it A- could better be described in the "pick up hockey (shinny) pet peeves" thread. It's good to play with people up to a level better than you...but frustrating if they're playing 2-3 levels above you. As long as you're having fun, that's the #1 thing that matters! Get out there, EJB. The best hockey is played on the ice with your kids.

I'm coaching/managing/captaining 4 teams this spring. U14 girls and their parents are like herding cats. Previous manager sent an email every 4-5 weeks. Drove us nuts. I send an email a week with updates. Still impossible to get commitments from girls and their families. Never know if we'll show up with 4 girls or 15. Peewee manager counterpart sends an email and kids and parents just show up on time. Invited a bunch of friends to join me for a tournament. Tourney setup is such that every player registers individually, all they have to do is sign up with their CC and put my name in the team box. I don't know if I'll have 6 or 16 playing with me. If you're in, say you're in. If you're out, let your spot go and say you're out. Wafflers suck. On the flip side, I'm a first-time league captain. People love playing in this league. We have 11 skaters and 1 goalie. 3 of my skaters couldn't come to our opening game and were polite enough to let me know and I had 2 spots filled in under an hour. I'm also running an adult beginner program and I have 14-15 people on the ice EVERY week. It's pretty awesome. Not entirely a vent; looks like I'm batting .500!!

Why do you bring up an infatuation with boys? That's a million times scarier than the thought of her playing Bantams with full checking!

I have 13yo and 11yo girls. In my unscientific opinion, girls can easily hang with the boys until about age 11-12, and from 9-12 are somewhat on par with each other, mostly depending on the time the individual girl has spent skating and handling the puck. Once they hit puberty, 13-14 year-old girls have a HUGE advantage in strength, and they can skate a lot faster due to leg length and muscle strength...but little girls who choose to can still out-hustle them!

That's a well-rounded kid you have there, EJB! I'm really glad I have girls--they have 2x the play opportunities the boys have.

I was called at the last minute to be a league captain and participated in my first draft last night. The local leagues run two sessions per season, and there's a draft for each session. It's pretty cool because even a powerhouse team only lasts two months, and everyone has the opportunity to move up (or down) a division if their play improves (or worsens!). 11 skaters per team, five teams in our C division, so we'll all get plenty of skating time. I think I drafted a pretty solid team of above average consistent players--no crazy hot shots, no slower players, some returning seasoned players who have taken a few years off. We have a great A-league forward on our team this year, our goalie! We also have the best B League goalie on our team--she is skating out with us. :) I'm bushed--played dropin until 11:30 on Sun and Tue, hung out with my rookie skaters until after 10 on Weds, late night at draft last night; I need a nap, but life is good!

My U14 girls team scrimmaged against the Squirts last night. We only had 3 actual U14-aged (2000 and 2001) girls, and the rest were 2004's and 2005's. Girls won 5-2. :) My 2003 played with them and was a beast playing D against her old 2004 teammates. :) The little girls who had been afraid to play with boys their age are suddenly not afraid to play against boys their own age. :) :)

I told you that you are ready!!! Were the church boys there? Whitefish at 9:15 on Sundays, 9:15 tomorrow night, this and next week only. :) It's a faster skate, but people are probably even more conscious to pass to beginners and give you space.

Cool photo, EJB! My oldest was out most of the early season due to a shoulder injury. After an MRI, the Orthopedic doc told her she could play if she wanted to, if she could manage the pain. She told me this weekend she misses it and wants to play again. :) :) :) I love watching her play.

I had to chew my kid out for tripping yesterday. She's a really good kid, learning to play a more physical game in Peewees. She's really learned to play the boards and body contact well. They had a 3-team festival this weekend. Played the other two games OK (teammates aren't passing --she's D, but the forwards weren't supporting each other) and then the other two teams played each other. They're rivals and they split the two games they played. The 2nd game got very chippy and dirty on both sides--5 penalties on each side. Then my daughter's team played the 2nd team and the dirty play came to the game (on both sides). Hooking, slashing, checking, tripping, elbows, cross-checking, cheap shots in the back. My kid must have thought, "Well, the other team is doing it and my team is doing it, so it must be OK." One would have been forgiveable/mistake, but three in a row were a trend I didn't want to see happen. I yelled at her and got her attention with my Dad voice. "NO TRIPPING AND CHEAP SHOTS. WE DO NOT PLAY THAT WAY." It pisses me off that I had to do it during a game. I am not that kind of Dad who coaches through the glass or in the car. I'm really proud of what my kids have learned, but I didn't want to see that sort of thing happening. It pisses me off that I had to yell at her when it pretty much crunched her morale for the next two periods (and an hour after). If I hadn't and she'd hurt someone, I would feel worse. It pisses me off that she'd do that. She knows better. It pisses me off that the refs didn't call it tighter--a lot of the crap (on both sides) happened in front of them. It pisses me off that neither of the coaches said anything--to the kids or to the refs. It pisses me off that the assistant coach (her D coach) told us after the game that he saw her throw an elbow. "I didn't teach her that, but I liked it." WTF, asshole? I don't want my kid encouraged to be a goon. One of her D linemates (there are 5 of them) is a complete little shit who throws elbows and cheap shots with abandon. He skates into his teammate's side and then bitches at them when they're not covering his back (while he leaves his back door wide open). He yells at the goalie, "Missed it, bitch", and tells the other kids he's the best player on the team and that they shouldn't tell him what to fucking do. He skates up the ice and launches floaters from the blue line, never hits the net, and never passes. Oh yeah, assistant coach's kid. The parent meeting is going to be interesting tonight. Half the parents want to tell the coaches to put in better power play lines because putting a goal on the board will boost morale. The other half of the parents see the bullying problem and lack of positive coaching as the issue.

This one?

If the tri holder is out of level, every single set of skates will be off from front to back, no matter how good you dress or adjust from edge to edge. This can happen easily if the tri-holder is dropped by one employee and the others don't know it. If they spot-check only the center of the blade, they may not notice if there's runout on the toe and heel. Edge level is definitely more critical with FBV than ROH. You can't just tilt the tri-holder to get the center of a radius to hit the center of the blade edge (even if the skate is not level!); you have to be at exactly the right height off the table with the dresser and center of blade while held level.