shoot_the_goalie

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.

Tacki Mac wrapped for me. Haven't torn a glove palm since.

did it ping when making contact?

Hmm. I really liked the CCM RBZ pants. Super light, protective, and fit really well on the waist and hips for me...but then again fit is subjective. Sadly the stitching came apart on mine after only a month, so I got it replaced under warranty, but since the RBZs were no longer being sold, I got QTL in exchange. (which are good, but not as good as the RBZs imho)

AS1 & AS2 lines pretty good, but ST was indeed such a mess. Ultra Tacks was my all time favorite. Next gen, they should just re-release the old Ultra Tacks w/ new graphics. Call it like the Super Ultra Tacks...lol.

Not when back in the day you covered all the logos by mummifying your ankles with tape!!!

That was a sweet skate too. Grafs were the bomb when I was growing up, but they were kinda hard to find unless you special ordered them where I grew up.

I had the Micron Mega 10-90s and they had the white "Power Clips". They were totally gimmicky and it was a real problem if they broke cause the eyelets were a part of the clip. That said, I wore those things for almost 7 years (playing 3-4 times a week) before one of the clips broke and I had to trash them. They were indeed a fantastic skate. Comfortable, durable, and looked good (though I wasn't a fan of the blue Tuuks, but they were all the rage then cause of Gretzky). Think Bauer eventually bought them out?

I guess if there's any silver lining to this, maybe rinks can resurface their ice for when hockey/skating resumes, improving ice conditions all around. However, most of the local rinks here are completely dark.

I've been playing since 1990 and I gotta say my current True Skates are the best piece of equipment I've ever owned, and worth every penny. Never had a skate fit this well, this comfortable, and this level of performance. 2nd place is probably the CCM Ultra Tacks stick.

Yes. It's jaw-dropping playing against elite talent in any sport (who are probably not even trying their hardest if you get the opportunity to play them)

Hockey sticks are generally about 5'-6' long, give or take. I think I'm gonna take a hockey stick with me on the few occasions I go out now.... it can be used as a social distance measuring tool, a self defense weapon, and well...a hockey stick. lol. On the reality side, did anyone catch CTV, taping their mics to hockey sticks in order to interview people on the street?

Get out of here! You mean to tell me your beer league games don't draw big crowds or scouts!? heh.