Davideo

Agree on all counts. Though with regards to dispersion, in a non-check game, force directly to the shoulder seems pretty rare. I find the flatter caps annoying because they can shift on me, but I don't know that I can think of a time I had a strong force directly to the shoulder where improved dispersion would have been advantageous.

Like nearly every decision in life, it's a cost-benefit analysis. And "cost" meaning the negative aspects, not the monetary price. For example, I always play with a full cage. I got used to it playing over the past 30 years so the cost is relatively low to me. And the benefit is quite large. I get hit with a stray stick or puck or something at least a couple of times a season, so probably every couple years I'd be needing to get stitched up or visit the dentist. So low cost - pretty high benefit, to me personally, of wearing a full cage, so I do. The benefit of very protective shoulder pads (high end) is not much more to me than lighter, more mobile pads. Random cross checks, collisions, deflected pucks, etc. are handled slightly better by nicer shoulder pads, but typically only marginally so. And so usually the improvement is a smaller bruise. I do find the cost of mobile shoulder pads to be relatively low and well worth the benefit they provide over nothing. But the cost-benefit of moving up to more protective ones is not generally worth it, to me personally. I do make an exception for certain games/tournaments that have a higher number of let's call them "aggressive drunkards". I do wear high end shoulder pads for those games. And the only moderate to serious torso injuries I've experienced as an adult were in these games, while wearing good shoulder pads: a cross check to the spine between the shoulder pads and pants that hurt for a couple months, and a cracked rib when a player suddenly decided checking should be allowed. If I really wanted to minimize my chance of injury as much as possible, I'd just stay home.

Yeah, that was my first thought...

Eh, you can still get hit on the knee with thigh rises depending on how your leg is angled, hence the usage of knee pads currently. And beefy knee pads are still much smaller than the average thigh rise. I do find it interesting that thigh boards were made illegal, but a a thigh rise is perfectly fine.

I would eliminate thigh rises on leg pads. I've never heard any reasonable protection justification for them, rather simply to block pucks. Until I tore my groin I played goalie some and had old pads with no thigh rise and when I tried some pads with just a modest +2" thigh rise the difference was noticeable. Much easier to close the 5 hole and block pucks low, inside the post.

As one anecdotal data point, I had a pair of shin pads develop a small crack in the knee. I assumed the crack would expand, but went another half a dozen seasons without expanding. So it's possible that it does not get worse.

They were very hot as I recall as well.

Base might be the only company actively manufacturing tapered blades. If you don't need tapered then you have a lot more options. I still use 2-piece sticks, but regular shafts and blades.

To be clearer, I should have said he *had* a lot of volume in his skates. It of course is eliminated when he tightens them. But as far as a portion of his foot sticking out of the skate and failing the pencil test, I would imagine he would ace that because he has so much wrap.

Skate tongues are typically pretty pliable and form to the shape of your shin. I wouldn't think a V versus a U would make much of a difference.

Ding, ding, ding, winner! Depending on brand and use case, I vary a full size in street shoes. I've also seen people insist they are a particular shoe size and then use a brannock device (metal shoe sizer) and they were off by 2 sizes, typically smaller then they think.

I'm confused. Wouldn't he ace the pencil test? The eyelets on the two sides of the skate are very close together indicating that he has a lot of volume in his skate?

If you want a curve with good retail availability, I agree the 88 would definitely be the closest fit. As someone coming from mid-90's Tacks skates: Ribcores and skip the top eyelet was my solution. I initially tried some RBZ's, but the fit wasn't great and felt very stiff. I know some older guys who like Grafs as well, but I don't have any personal experience. Proper fit is definitely the most important parameter though. The reality is also that you will just need to get used to newer equipment. I would imagine that you will adapt pretty quickly. For kicks, I used an old aluminum shaft with a wood blade that I used 20 years ago. It was terrible, but at the time I thought it worked very well.

Do you know which model/generation it was? Previous TRUE blades had issues with breaking near where it mates against the shaft, but have not heard of issues more recently and never with splitting or chipping.

The factories we work with are not up and running yet. Workers not coming back after Chinese New Year can already be a problem, rumors are that factories may be short staffed for a while.

If you compare how close the two sides of the skate are compared to a more "normal" fitting skate you will see that yours are much closer together. This isn't necessarily a problem, but I'm guessing is what is leading to the creasing.

I'll second CCM Tacks.

Agreed. Though if the width is ok, and it is just a volume problem, i.e. your foot is too thin, you might try putting a piece a felt or something on the bottom of the tongue to decrease negative space. It's not the ideal fix, but could work.

Extensively, and as a lifelong 2 piece user have some points of comparison. I find performance to be better than any other blades I've used previously, and it pairs very well with the TRUE shaft. The biggest difference in what I've experienced is that other blades go soft and the TRUE blades do not. That being said, I have had two basically shear at the hosel and break off. One happened on the second skate, the other was probably after 15-20. The others have actually been very durable and last upwards of perhaps 100 skates. I would estimate other blades (I've used Warrior more recently) start breaking down after maybe not even 50 skates, and are pretty well shot as I approach 75. There have also been a few versions of the blades and each one seems to advertise improved durability, so perhaps the hosel breakage is no longer an issue. And the last time it happened was on a blade probably two generations back. I did have to switch from a PM9 type curve to an 88 in making the switch to TRUE. But that may have been for the better overall. I feel my shot is slightly improved and with very little impact to passing or backhands. RIP Modano curve 2 piece sticks 4 lyfe.

It's a "variable" flex shaft. Here is their marketing speak for their "Smart Flex Technology": "Our composite design technology offers an optimized, varied stiffness distribution throughout the shaft." There are ways to adjust the flex point besides taper.

I feel the performance is very good for what works out to a $150 stick. And I rarely break shafts, but do go through blades more quickly. So yes, the economics of a $50 replacement blade are much better. I also switched from a PM9 curve a few years ago as they were becoming more scarce and it was easier and less expensive to try a few different curves.

Ah, looks like they are switching to the new AX9 and I'm guessing they pulled down the old line from their site and haven't put up the new one yet. Thanks. I was starting to panic a bit...

Does anyone know if TRUE is discontinuing their blades and shafts? The direct link to the relevant page on their site is still active: https://www.true-hockey.com/true-products/sticks/shafts-blades. However, I can no longer find a way to navigate to it from their home page. I ask because if they are, I need to seriously stock up.

It seems that 25 likely have stepped up in the neutral zone to break up the pass, but as he would also have to change direction it would be a bit risky as he likely couldn't have cleanly intercepted the puck and there is a reasonable chance the winger can pick it up and go in 2 on 1. I'm guessing it would have successfully broken up the play, but given the somewhat lower intensity of the game in general, it isn't surprising the move isn't made. 25 being too late to turn is the only clear "error" in my opinion. A second earlier and he could drive the forward behind the net or at least to a sharp angle, poor percentage shot with no opportunity to cut in front of the net. The forward didn't make much of a move, just blew past the D. That being said, I've seen much worse D performance...

It's been about 6 years since the last shaft review, so I figured one was due. Background: I have played hockey for nearly 30 years, topping out as an ACHA club player and now just in pickup/adult league. As someone who breaks blades but very rarely breaks a shaft using a two piece makes more sense to me. It is also much easier/cheaper to experiment with different curves. I have not tried any Base shafts but starting from Easton aluminum's have used quite a few different shafts from a number of manufacturers. The performance and feel of a shaft is obviously strongly correlated with the blade being used. I've used a few, but settled on using a TRUE blade as well as that seemed to have the best overall feel and performance. Though in general I think my comments hold if using different blades. Specs: TRUE 6.0 ABP Shaft - Flex 75 Usage: ~2 Seasons and still going strong (I have been told that differences with the latest version are minor to non-existent). Weight: I've never been one to pay all to much attention (see usage of Easton aluminum shafts 20 years ago...) but it compares well to other higher end sticks. Total weight of course matters greatly which blade you put on. Performance: I'm mostly of the opinion that once you get to around the mid-range of sticks there isn't much difference going higher in price, and things like flex, feel, weight, balance, etc. become more important. It is definitely the highest performing shaft I have used. Flex profile can be very specific to the individual, but the flex profile works very well for me. It is advertised as a variable kick point and works quite well across the board: passing, wrist shot, snap shot, slap shot, one timer, etc. I broke a blade the other day and had to switch to my backup with a Bauer shaft. The difference in flex and feel were very noticeable, and much worse. Durability: I've used the shaft for almost 2 seasons now, which I would estimate to be about 200 hours of ice time. It has some scuffs, scapes, and dings, but nothing that seems to be affecting things in any way. With the exception of Base, it seems most equipment manufacturers have either stopped manufacturing shafts or at least stopped caring about putting out the best product possible. In my opinion, TRUE does still care and puts out a top-notch product. I know the market is quite small, but I'm very glad that they do. Before I found the TRUE shaft I had started trying some one pieces thinking I'd have to make the switch as they were much better than the shafts I was using, but the TRUE shaft changed that for me and I personally don't think I would gain much by using more expensive one pieces.