shoot_the_goalie

That's not what I'm referring too. Slimming down the equipment even further, even if the level of protection is greater, is still not going to fly, cause you're reducing the mass that goalies have to block pucks. Garth Snow didn't have all that huge padding extending from his shoulders to protect his body.

I have a hard time seeing the NHL slimming down goalie equipment again. There was a lot of resistance the first time around, and though it happened, I can't see it happening again in the near future. I'm glad to see the Garth Snows of the world out of the game (not the player, but the padding profile), but unless goal scoring is way down again, I can't see the goalies being on board with reducing their mass even more. However, I definitely can see player protective being much more slimmer/low-profile, with new, innovative materials. Didn't the Bauer OD1N project play around with this? Didn't they made a 3d scanned body suit that was extremely low profile? What ever happened to that? I know they took technologies from that project and applied it to current protective lines, but I would be very interested if they could create a fully customized suit that is very tight to the body, and instead of individual components of gear, could all be components incorporated into one suit. Also, what about the Neuroshield? I know there wasn't much evidence that it worked, but it would be great if manufacturers pushed the science on something like that to help with concussion issues. If they were to perfect something like that, I would say that would be groundbreaking, and definitely worth the title of being innovative.

One of my kids got a bunch of rashes multiple times, recently. (rashes took about two weeks to clear in each instance and were not contagious) Had no idea what was causing it, until I took a walk around my property doing some work and found tons of it in the nearby woods. Apparently they have had an increased spread this year, possibly due to climate change. Add in the increase in tick populations; I'm just putting my kids off limits to playing in the woods now, sadly

It would get people to stop spitting on the ice/benches.

Random question. Being that I haven't played since early March and my Sparx has just been sitting, unused. Would it be wise for me to run it for a couple of passes to make sure the lubricants in the mechanics keep as they should? Or is that totally unnecessary?

Lots of good advice here. The Superfeet was a good idea to try. It'll buy you a little room, but it sounds like you need a bit more still. What kind of socks does your daughter wear? Can she switch to a really thick sock, like sock liners? Maybe even go barefoot? Also, instead of trying to stretch the toe (which is really hard), maybe you can try to compress the heel a bit more, though that might not buy you enough room still. Finally, weird question, but maybe relevant...how long are her toenails? Can she cut them back further, or is it the actual toe that's hitting the toe cap?

Thanks! I just checked it out. The off ice shield does look like those full visors they use in the cycling world.

From ESPN today: "hockey equipment manufacturer Bauer has spoken with the league and teams about medical-grade off-ice visors that coaches, executives, team personnel and others could wear as a measure of protection against spreading or contracting COVID-19. Product vice president Craig Desjardins said the visor, which can attach to the brim of a baseball cap, is "feather light" despite being three times thicker than a medical shield and meeting the American National Standards Institute regulation for preventing droplets." To be revealed today from my understanding. From what it sounds like, it's not for on-ice play.

Guessing graphically, they'll be significantly different? Maybe more True Blue on the skate?

I have the rubber stones direct from Step. They're great, though the shipping was pricey if I remember correctly. I use a rubber stone, then a piece of leather after sharpening. They're not quite the same as a soft gummy stone you'd use for skiing, but similar. Hard gummy stones for skis will micro-scratch the DLC on Blacksteel, so if you're gonna use a ski gummy stone, make sure it's the "soft" kind, making sure it has a rubber coating.

I really wanted to buy one, but was worried it would get me into the habit of looking down at the lights/puck. Do you find you're looking down a lot, or do you use it using more peripheral vision?

Totally hear you. I was speaking more from my personal experience. I can definitely dangle/toe-drag much better with less equipment on. I'm totally guessing here, but maybe for you it has to do with the friction/glide differential when using a GB. I do notice that the original GB "sticks" a bit better when I'm stick handling. Could be the weight too. I also have the heavy duty GB and a whole other different types of roller pucks, and I noticed that with the original GB, stick handling is a bit more fluid and easier. Also could be your stick (if you use a different one for roller) or even could be the difference in your roller skate height vs your ice skate height? Maybe even snow buildup on the blade on ice making it more difficult? So many variables... Agreed... kids today, from even very young ages can do so much ridiculous stuff with the puck. Back when I played, even if if you were good at it, you just didn't do it cause you'd get benched for being too "fancy". Was a different mentality back then I guess. Or maybe my coaches couldn't do it themselves!?

I do find it messes up my stride a little when I go back onto the ice. I ordered the Marsblades in hope that that issue will be reduced.

The funny thing about toe-drags for me, is I only started to really try them as an adult, cause back when I played competitively, my coaches would always berate us for trying to dangle/toe-drag, even if we could pull it off. It would be we were playing too "fancy" or "showboating", so I never really tried to get good at it until later in life. (We also played north/south, dump & chase, poke checked, hip-checked, never drop passed, etc...you get the idea; older style hockey compared to the puck-possession style today...but I digress.) To answer your query, I find toe-dragging/dekes/dangles are MUCH easier on roller, but not because of the puck or whatnot. It's because I'm wearing minimal to no padding, so your joints, wrists, etc are all unencumbered and more free-flowing, allowing you to be more precise with movement. In general I can pull off moves in roller much easier than I can on ice, just due to the equipment factor. Try doing the between the legs dangle on ice after doing it on roller; the first couple of times, you'll mess up cause you can't bend your arms as fluidly, plus your "wider" legs get more in the way, now that you're wearing shins and pants... The nice thing is that practicing stick-handling/dekes on roller (where imho it's easier), builds up your confidence to do it on the ice. So there's a huge benefit to it, cause you're more apt to try it when on the ice. I think Pavel Barber, in one of his videos, says as much. He attributes his stick handling to his roller hockey days. (and in his videos, he's wearing minimal to no padding, so there's that too...heh)

Personally I think that's the best way to go. I've learned the hard way that not making enough passes on the initial sharpening of new steel can be unfortunate. Heh.

I've been hearing rumors that a lot of rinks in the first phase of opening across the country are going to require players/skaters wear masks at all times. Has anyone heard rumblings about this?

You can sharpen the raw steel by making a whole bunch of passes on the initial sharpening. How many passes you need to sharpen depends on the quality of steel. However, in the interest of saving wheels, I have typically in the past, let the LHS sharpen the skates first to establish some type of edge, whether ROH or FBV, and then I sharpen on top of that to get the FBV edge I desire. (full disclosure: I use a Sparx now, but I sharpened for a bunch of years with a Blackstone)

The VH/True thread has definitely gone off the rails at times, hence my previous joke. But for the VAST majority of other topics/threads, MSH is incredibly informative and members are incredibly helpful and respectful. I personally have learned a great amount over the years because of MSH, and I have really appreciated many members' knowledge and input.

1 - Number side up. Confirmed to me by a Blackstone rep. 2 - Blackstone makes a product called Tef Top. It works well, but I imagine any sort of spray/liquid lubricant would work well. You can also change out the felt pad with a new one on the tri-lie holder. 3 - In order to help get your tri-lie perpendicular to the sharpening wheel, you can take an edge gauge (that's magnetic) and slap it onto the holder, and do a visual check. Then you do micro adjustments to get level edges. I find this helps me immensely in getting even edges quicker, without as many test "taps".

Just revive the VH/True Skate thread...that will get some more traffic on here... 😃

Been stick handling and shooting on dry-land tiles a bit. Been really trying to work on more fluid toe-drags, forehand and backhand. Also working on short flip ups of the puck on both sides and cleaner backhand sauce passes. Also messing around with between the leg dekes and shooting through the legs...stuff I'll never really do in a game, so now's the time to try it out. Just ordered a pair of Marsblade O1, so that should be fun.

An aside, and maybe I'm going off topic here, but I wonder if there will be any increase in discipline (for all types of play) for a player spitting at or licking another player (i.e. Marchand). I've seen a player or two spit at another player in leagues I play in (not a common occurrence mind you). Usually it's an unsportsmanlike and a warning, and if you do it again, it's a 1 game suspension and a meeting with league coordinator.

Please forgive my ignorance then and going off topic here... How are others posting images directly in their posts?

I'm thinking it could very well be like this... https://imgur.com/a/7ZWfI6z https://www.coolthings.com/vizorx-bike-helmet-face-shield/ btw...is there a way to insert images into posts now, without using imgur?

I'm guessing this thing isn't going to be as elaborate as people are making it out to be. My shooting-in-the-dark guess is that it's going to be a new type of fishbowl cage that has side ventilation ports, or a much larger, full face, contoured visor. If you re-read the Dreger text, it just says "help protect", which insinuates that it reduces risk, not eliminating it... And I agree with stick9. If these are optional, most will not wear it.