RickDC

I think if you demean people for having a different attitude to you, then you’re a distinct minority in ANY community. But go you.

Maybe it's just me, I don't really care what the score is, I try my hardest on each and every shift, I don't care whether it's 10-1 or 1-10 - if the other team are dropping the puck in our zone and we're 10-1 up and they still want to play, hey I'll play and respect them for it. We're there to play hockey - I think anything else is just condescending towards the other team and I'm not there to give pity, or take pity. If they give up, hey, I support them doing that as well, not my preference, but I respect that not everyone is the same as me. Personally, I find it super exciting to try and go for goal in 10 seconds, or defend against a goal in that time, and I'm there to be excited by the game. If people are dicks with that many seconds to go, on either side, then they're going to be dicks at any time. I'm just there to have fun, for exercise and to me, being pressured IS fun. Giving up, not pressuring - is just not fun and I think where people start to just take hockey for granted and lose interest - if you're not challenged, then what's the point?

I think if there's 6 seconds left and we're in the oppositions zone, I wouldn't want to run the clock. I'd rather have 6 seconds of trying to make it 2-6 than just giving up. If it's in our zone, I'd chat to a team mate and ask them should we run the clock, if they shrug, then yes.. but then there's the danger that the ref would just drop the puck and then we're caught in a scramble - it's happened ;-)

I sweat a lot on the ice.. especially now in the summer season. I figured I was getting sweaty hands and hated the feeling in my gloves (I loved my old reebok 30k which had ventilation and now on CCM super tacks which are on the warm side). Palms would get funky and feel gloopy inside. On the off chance I got some wristbands and find they've now stopped about 90% of that feeling. They also cover my Fitbit as an added bonus. I don't find they interfere at all with my elbows or gloves.

I'd be interested in the exact weight as well as that seems heavy.. my standard CCM Super Tacks pants in a Medium come out to 2.96 pounds

Absolutely, that was not my point though, my point was the complete lack of after-sales support by Bauer. If I can't contact them about spending $500 on 2 helmets, then what happens if I have a problem with any other piece of equipment? :-)

Why only Bauer? I bought 2 ReAkt-100 helmets when they first came out, like many people I want to protect my brain with the best bucket around. At the time it was heavily marketed as being able to help reduce concussions. Then the Virginia Tech study came out and found it to be poor performing (I respect that people see that study from different angles). My concern was, that I emailed Bauer on 4 occasions, asking them for information and why it was marketed as helping to reduce concussions when the study found it didn't. They replied once saying they would get back to me, and then never did (and I followed that up with 3 further emails which were ignored). So rightly or wrongly, after spending C$500 on 2 brain buckets, I was pissed and I've now, personally, barred buying anything Bauer. I've emailed CCM and Warrior and got a good response from them, so now have a Fitlite 3D.

Actually the old RICE (Rest Ice Compression Elevation) is old and unadvised now.. unless you need immediate movement, like during a game, ice constricts blood supply slowing your body down from healing itself and causing further damage because your body isn't able to pump its own fluids into the area to heal and protect itself, which your body is pretty good itself. I'm a strong advocate for using gentle, warm heat (like heat bags) and slow regular rotational movement, hot tubs and compression in the form of support. http://www.macleans.ca/society/the-end-of-the-ice-age/ It's like when I see people "warming up" on the ice by stretching straight away... ever tried to stretch a cold elastic band, it fractures and breaks.. just like cold tendons and ligaments.. warm up by skating hard until you feel your muscles warm.. then stretch a bit.. then skate hard again.. then stretch. (BA in Sport & Sports Science)

I had this fairly recently after changing my holders (I'm in Mako 2's and finding it tough to get new step steel so changed over to Speedblade 4's). I was getting pain under my big toes. Moved over to Superfeets and it stopped.. but I'm not liking how unsupported and higher up my heel is with the superfeets - with a thinner insole (like the Speed Plates) I feel planted and solid, with the superfeets (after 10 odd sessions), I'm not feeling the same and feel less connection with the ice.. But changing the insole might work in your case as well..

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Gatorade and energy packs etc are really meant for long-endurance sports, not short-term high intensity burst sports like hockey and are really nothing but sugar with some salts. It takes 30 minutes+ before anything hits your bloodstream, so by the time you've drunk it or eaten anything, it's too late. I drink flavoured water, only because I don't like plain water during a game, even then mine's usually a few sips and that's it.. If you notice many of the nhl players spit their water / gatorade out.. If you're gassed at the beginning of a game, it might be because you've eaten too much, too close to the game - I've noticed this hugely if I eat and then play within an hour or 2 of a game, I feel like I'm skating with weights on. Digesting food takes a lot of energy (that's why you fall asleep after eating Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner, because of lots of calories and nothing to do with anything like tryptophan). I play 4-5 times a week, and I'll eat a fairly light meal minimum 3 hours before a game. On the way to a game, then I'll grab a drip or regular coffee and a banana. I keep track of HR and I've found now that I can play pretty intensely right up until the final whistle by playing more tactically in the first period, ramping it up in the second, and then going hard in the third.. Quite a few times I'm sharing centre, so playing 50% of the game and lots of ice. It might be best to keep a log of what you did, and how you feel during a game..

One huge immediate issue I can see is that as you sharpen the flared blade and naturally wear down the steel.. Then when you start out, you'll be on wide flared steel, after multiple sharpenings the width is going to get thinner and thinner until you buy another flared steel, whereon you'll start again with large flared edges. Now, most people can feel when they change a 1/16 of a sharpening, or 1 degree of pitch.. how is this going to feel when you're 80 games into a flared steel and the next time you need new steel? Are Pro's going to trust that in a play-off game? I think it's a gimmick, just the same as heated blades were..

Honestly, I take offence to this... We have a couple of hockey stores in the area, and I bought a Blackstone X01 primarily to do my own skates a couple of years ago.. Over time, I've got more and more people requesting my sharpening because I take my time and check absolutely that 3 areas of the blade are completely level, there are no waves, each edge is consistent, there's the correct hollow and sides are deburred. I've had bad sharpenings before, I've given myself a bad sharpening because I didn't check my work early on. But I never made that mistake again. I take great pride in my work and the fact that my team-mates and neighbours trust me to do theirs, backs that up. Being called "scum" because I choose to do that, and not do it for the money (simply I find it relaxing to do as not as stressful as running 3 successful businesses), is extremely derogatory and immature.

@PFraser If you have numb toes then there's either nerve pain or your tying your Mako's too tight. One thing with Mako's is you don't need to because their wrap is so good (I'm a long term Mako user). Just do them tight enough so there's no movement in the laces, don't yank on them.. The other thing I do is miss the second eyelet from the top and go straight from 3rd to 1st. The other thing you could try, which has helped me in the past, is superfeets, it will move your foot slightly in the boot, and it might be enough to alleviate some of the pressure. You can re-bake the makos when you change the footbed...

We won't call you stupid.. if Trump wins the US election, I think us, here in Canada, will opt out of being in North America.. ;-) So it's fair to say - North America and Canada ;-)

I had the mako bumps problem in both my Mako 1 and Mako II's (however strangely enough not in my M8s).. All I did though was heat up the back area of the top of the boot, with a pair of pliers, I flared out the both of the rubbing bits (just by the guard), put a baseball in, and clamped it down so it flared out the top of the boot.. Clamped the ankle area together to prevent it from getting wider, left it overnight. No more bumps... :-) Just permanent scars now!

I had the same problem, but I simply put the rivet on the edge of my vice and whacked the insole side with the end of the ratchet extension bar with a wooden hammer to re-flatten out the rivet. I did this on all of them and they haven't moved in 3 months or so.. I also put silicone sealant around each of the posts of the runner as there was quite a bit of space and had a thought that ice and crap would get underneath the mounts and accelerate rust / rot (even if it didn't, what harm could it do!).

https://www.sportchek.ca/search.html#q=easton%20skate I'm not associated with SportChek.. but they've just taken off about CAD$250 off Easton Mako's: Mako 2 - C$549 Mako M8 - C$419 Mako M7 - C$259 Free shipping. If you sign up for their newsletter, you also get 10% off your first purchase. These are not marked as sale price, so the discount should apply..

Just for those that have Mako's... my tendon guard on my Mako2 snapped the other day.. no damage, but decided to crack halfway through so it was floppy and cut into the back of my heel. No problem I thought, as these guards can be unbolted. I contacted Easton support and offered to buy new guards (boots are about a year old and not expecting warranty coverage). The told me flat out that they couldn't be replaced and that they couldn't help me any further. Just something to be aware off if you have them.. Fortunately my LHS (TheHockeyShop) in Vancouver is absolutely awesome and is helping me out way more than I expected..

They did say that this had been fixed in the v2, but myself and a couple of other people have them again... I actually got a free "upgrade" from v1 to v2 because of the breakdown in foam as well as mako bumps.. They're back for me too.. and whilst I hate the feeling of thicker socks, what I've found that REALLY works is these: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=wrightsock They're actually 2 pairs of thin socks in one and have completely cured bumps for me as well as some rubbing areas on my pronounced inner ankles (which have increased bone build-up because of the Mako 1's)..

When I met the designer, he did state that they were in the middle of designing v3 with the feedback gained so far.. larger quarter package, better foam, possibly redesigned tongue and they're working on the "mako bumps" issue by making the top more flared out..

I actually met Dave Cruickshank, the designer of the Mako 1 & 2, yesterday at my local Hockey Shop. Was fantastic to speak to him for about 20 minutes about the design.. as well as the issues (mako bumps, break down of the tongue leading to lace bite, interior foam break down and rubbing points on the leather / lining transition). He seemed genuinely interested in feedback and making the problems they have in the skate better.. A shout out to http://TheHockeyShop.comin Surrey BC, their service still surprises me :-)

I've just had my Mako 1's replaced under warranty. For the first few months they were awesome, replacing my NXG's, it felt like the difference between a tin can of the NXG and soft gloves of the Mako 1. However, within a few months, both ankle padding (on the inside ankle) started to degrade and my bones started rubbing on the hard shell (so instead of shell, gel, liner it was just shell then liner). This caused bone growth and huge pain after skating. I was also getting consistent mako bumps on my ankle and severe lace bite on my left foot (causing quite a bit of swelling and a lot of tenderness). I contacted Easton directly, showed them photos and explained the problems I was experiencing. I received a short and unhelpful reply about trying to heat the areas with a heat gun, and that was it. I explained that I had done this, tried different footbeds, rebaking and pain was still occurring. I didn't receive a response. So I called TheHockeyShop in Surrey, where I bought the skates, they told me to come and meet the local Easton Rep. Spoke with the guy and wow, extremely helpful. I was expecting them to try rebaking again, or at the very most replacing them with another set of 1's. They warrantied the skates and now in Mako 2s and it's a world of difference. More padding around the ankle and different liner. Thicker and 'fluffier' tongue together with a lace bit protector (piece of rubber) on the front of the tongue and I'm not getting the rubbing I usually get on the back of the ankle. Took them out as soon as I got them and played 4 games, 2 each day, absolutely perfect, no pain, no rubbing, perfect fit. Played every other day since and all the pain has gone :-) A huge thanks to TheHockeyShop.com and the Easton Rep for making me a happy customer - if not a customer with slightly larger inside ankle bones because of it! ;-)