Harkonnen87

Devils got a hell of a deal and added much needed scoring talent to the roster. However, they' pretty much wrecked their D-corps as it currently stands since he was considered the best defensive prospect/player the Devils had. Over the last two seasons Larsson has turned into a fantastic defenseman who was getting top line minutes in Jersey. He wasn't flashy but he did provide much needed stability for the top defensive pair, routinely playing in all situations. I'm pretty sad to see him leave the Devils, but the a deal this good doesn't come along often. This will be a much better looking trade for the Oilers if Larsson continues to develop and improve as he has in New Jersey over the last few years.

My girlfriend started in goal a year ago after skating out for about 5 years, she enjoyed it but always wanted to play goalie so after saving up she got her gear. As far as playing goes she loves it and doesn't even consider changing back to skating out. When she got her skates she spent a few weeks just skating on them at public sessions and getting used to the differences. She had also spent about 6 months strengthening her legs and core as well as stretching to increase her flexibility. As far as gear goes she bought all new stuff just because she is rather particular about her gear and also figured the investment of so much money would motivate her to stick with it if she got discouraged when playing initially. Biggest advice I can give with the gear is if you want to get used that's perfectly fine, but make sure you're helmet is good quality and fits well. Pucks to the mask are no joke. Also look at clearance gear if you want if you wait until the new years gear comes out you can find some sweet deals. My girlfriend was able to find top end skates for less than 200 and a pro level chest protector or 250. For women there really isn't much you can do for fit. Usually intermediate sizes work well, but my gf went with a senior small chest rig so she could get the pro level pads. It's not ideal but unless you get custom pads made you're kind of stuck. Best option is to try on everything if you can and find what works best for you. If that's not an option do your best to find the right size and then play around with the straps to get the best fit possible. Last note is invest in some good knee pads, it may not seem to bad on the knees but the constant dropping does take a toll on them so better to save them for the long run.

Used the shoulders 3 times over the last week (1 game, and 2 stick times). The pads have been great so far. They have a fairly low profile, that said I'm coming from a set of warrior dynasty shoulders which I use as my comparison, and I hardly noticed them throughout the times I was wearing. As I mentioned in my first post they seemed pretty solid when it came to the protection level and so far they have lived up to it.

I ordered the Stallion Shoulders that arrived today. They look and really protective almost like a hybrid of lacrosse pads and hockey pads. More like a lacrosse pad tailored for hockey honestly which I am really happy about. They have a very dense feel to the padding and the sternum and spine guards have high-def polymers and plastics that seem like they can definitely absorb quite a bit of punishment. The shoulder caps are a little big but no overly so but consist of the same padding and materials as the rest of the pad. Overall fit is nice with a lot of extra room to either tighten up or loosen the side straps to adjust the fit to your preference. I still have yet to try them out on the ice but as of right now I'm really impressed with the pads

I noticed in the new RX stick line they listed a X28 pattern is that supposed to be W28/E28 clone?

The easton helmet is interesting although it looks too heavy and cumbersome for use in our game. If you look at the models of football helmets that are rated as 5 stars a lot of them come with inflatable padding to adjust the fit and portions of the helmet that flex with the impact keeping the padding on the head, so a lot is going to depend on proper fitting and proper wear of the helmet. As far as the article goes I agree that any outside testing is good so long as the information and research methods are sound. I will be more interested in the peer review of the study and what possible issues are brought up. The biggest things I can see is that football and hockey while both contact sports deal with different types of hits. In hockey you stand a much higher chance of multiple impacts in the same over all hit (i.e secondary impacts of you being checked and then your head slamming into the boards or slamming your head on the ice). As other have said and I will reiterate there is no way to ever prevent a concussion fully. Also since a concussion is essentially your brain hitting the inside of your skull any blow could cause a concussion, hell soccer players get them when going up for headers during the game. Since the brain sits in the skull surrounded by a thin layer of CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) it has space to move and hit the inside of your skull. I think the article released by ESPN is rather irresponsible but it is typical of most news stories these days in that they are looking for the shock factor of the news story than actually presenting the full story. The article, or at least the tone and bias of the article seem like they are designed to shock/scare your average reader. Also found this article on the methods used in the research for the hockey helmet study http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/285/art%253A10.1007%252Fs10439-015-1278-7.pdf?auth66=1427756208_103e2542c16650245c5b11e419ef201d&ext=.pdf

Helmet: Warrior Krown Cage: Avision visor/cage combo Shin pads: Reebok 20k Pants: Tackla 2440 Shoulder pads: Easton Stealth 75S Elbow pads: Tackla 1051 Skates: CCM RBZ 70 Gloves: Reebok 7k Stick: Easton V5E / CCM Rbz 60/ Warrior Covert DT3 Skates were a recent addition. Had to modify the cage combo to get it on my x-large helmet but over all so far its awesome.