JAG

That's all great advice, thank you. when I'm in sneakers, I do stand on my inside leg only... and try not to be flatfooted. When I practice shooting, I also try not to be standing still, but i try to emulate what it's like to be on ice as much as possible. I think I'm going to be on rollerblades from now on to try and get closer to the feel, cause you're exactly right, no matter how good my shot is on the tiles at home, as soon as i hit the ice, it all falls apart.

It's been a minute. I'll try polishing and see if all of a sudden I can't sauce on tiles either. haha

Thanks for chiming in. I actually use a shortened stick when I'm in sneakers so that the stick is the same length relative to my height. If I'm on roller blades, I use the same stick that I use on the ice.

When I'm practicing my sauce passes on my training tiles at home, I sauce like a pro. Completely smooth, the puck just floats. It starts flat, saucers through the air perfectly, and lands completely flat. I'm also getting better at putting it exactly where I want to, and also getting it pretty high in the air even if I only sauce it a few feet ahead of me. But when I get on the ice, using all the same techniques and everything, I can't get the puck to sauce anywhere close to what I can do off ice. I don't understand it and it's quite frustrating. The puck wobbles, bounces when it lands, and I usually have to "shoot" it to get any kind of decent sauce to it. Forget about short sauces, it'll flip and tumble like punted football. Do you guys have any tips or suggestions? Anybody else experience this same thing?

She gave me the right hollow as i watched her put it in. She did not, however, do any sort of test to see if i had uneven edges. And I'll admit it is possible and that is why they felt so awkward. I'll mention this the next time i go in for a sharpen.

The rink I'm at doesn't have a pro shop or sharpener. The woman who runs the adult league purchased one (mainly for her teenage son), and she brings it to the rink and asks for donations if you sharpen your skates on the machine. I've used it 2 or 3 times. I have to say I'm not that impressed. I felt really awkward on my skates at first, and even after "getting used to it", it just didn't feel right. I don't know if it is the machine, the hollow I selected, or maybe she didn't put the skates in the machine correctly (I can't imagine how... it seems pretty idiot proof). I'm going to be shipping my steel out to get profiled and sharpened by a professional. If the sharpening is as good as the reviews say, I will definitely continue to ship them out. If not, I guess I can get used to the Sparx sharpening.

Lol, well that's sort of what I was getting at. I was assuming you (Hilary Knight), maybe chose that cage because it offered better sight lines as opposed to a "proper" fitting cage. I guess we'll never know.

I am by no means an expert, but at the angle of this photo, it looks like the cage is a bit long for your face. Is it just the photo, or do you prefer it that way?