marka

Howdy, Did you notice a big difference in heel width / fit / lift between the regular and wide versions of the same size? Mark

Howdy, So, sizing... I currently wear a 7.5D Mako m8. Comfortable. I think I have a little more volume than the skate is designed for (I fail the pencil test some), but never had an issue with lace bite. No issues with heel lift or anything. My toes don't brush the endcap, but aren't far from it either (if I loosen laces and move my foot forward to check). The True sizing chart at Ice Warehouse has CM measurements as well. I traced my feet, then measured (along the center axis of my foot). Left is 26.5cm, Right is 26.7cm. On the sizing chart, a 7.5 is 26.4cm and an 8 is 26.8cm. Given what's been said above, I was figuring I'd be more like a 7... Fore foot width is 10.8cm on both feet (outside of ball to widest part of the other side, measured horizontally across the tracing) Recommendations? Mark (Mostly I'm just curious here... If I pull the trigger on these I'll almost certainly go to the local KO Sports to do it)

Howdy, So, for you guys using/fitting these things... Are you finding that @Hills is right and they fit a half size bigger than "normal"? I.e. that if you wear an 8.5 commonly, you want an 8 in the retail Trues? Mark

Howdy, No games today & tomorrow. Just watched the player press conference from Edmonton. Really great to see them standing up together like that. I can understand why it didn't happen yesterday. Awfully late notice and hard to get everyone on the same page quickly in the midst of bubble life, game day routines, etc. etc. I hope the increased awareness does some good. Its encouraging to see some folks in the NHL sphere talking about how to make the game itself more accessible / affordable / whatever. Of anything, I think stuff like that is the most likely to happen. Nothing but a win for lots of people involved in the business side of hockey if the sport grows through more inclusion. Mark

Howdy, Yep, taking the year off from reffing here too. Luckily my family is in a position where that income was never the primary factor in reffing, so it just made sense for me to take a break during a pandemic. Mark

Howdy, I bet it fogs less than the Bauer thing where they fill in the vent holes in the concept 3. When I raced motorcycles, shield fogging on a full face helmet was a problem in certain weather conditions. Some helmet manufacturers made a piece sorta like a mask that covered the nose, with the goal being to direct breath down and away from the shield. Wouldn't surprise me if the CCM mask did something similar. Mark

Howdy, So, noticed that the local rink was having stick times. A buddy said they weren't super crowded, so I gave it a go. Felt pretty safe. No reason to be within 6' of anyone pretty much ever. Not super crowded. Could do things by myself basically. There were maybe 10 to 12 folks inside the rink all breathing / exhaling hard w/no masks though. It stayed within my safety comfort level and I'll keep doing them. Skating / hockey wise it was probably better than I feared. I legitimately was worried that I'd have atrophied in terms of skating ability. Happily I didn't really notice anything like that. Edge work / whatever felt normal. I mean, nobody will ever mistake me for someone that played hockey growing up, but that's the way I was... My feet never hurt either, which I was worried about going from skating four or five times a week to nothing for 6 months. Stick work wasn't horrible either. My top wrist got a little bit sore towards the end, so I'll "keep an eye" on that. After I hurt it last year I'd started wearing a support brace that I didn't wear today. I'll see if I can strengthen in some without it, but fall back can be to put the brace back on. Anyway, super nice to get back on the ice, even if it was basically by myself / nothing like actually playing a game. Mark

Howdy, The only reason I haven't already gotten a pair of TF7's is because I'm shut down hockey-wise with the virus. Specs-wise, its like they went inside my head and extracted what I wanted in a skate. Mark

Howdy, I have that same thing available here (Youngstown, OH area) with a couple different groups. We also have mens league running now. I've not been going because while I know them all, I don't have any realistic expectation that they're taking precautions as seriously as we are. I don't think they're going to pandemic parties or anything, but still not as serious as we do... I just dread the idea of starting playing, one of us getting the virus, having serious issues with it, and then thinking "boy, that was stupid". Having said all that, my wife has been making noises that maybe I should go play hockey anyway. It appears I've been more grumpy than usual... Mark

Howdy, Because if responsibility actually started with him, he would be the one getting let go. Mark

Howdy, And... All the Pens assistant coaches (except goalie) are now unemployed. Sullivan's press comment was pretty uninspiring given that he still is employed... "But when teams with high expectations, such as ours, don't have success, change is inevitable. ... We all have to take responsibility for it, and it starts with me." https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/2020/08/12/penguins-mike-sullivan-firings-assistant-coaches-mark-recchi-sergei-gonchar-jacques-martin-dwm/?fbclid=IwAR0lSwaTFYzr346RIctb5NFPHs3YvHU_pjrHBgdZ24ULYQ5npQvJuVkRTrE I'm guessing this is mostly happening because their contracts were up for renewal and his wasn't, but what a tone deaf comment. Mark

Howdy, I like tight gloves. Been really happy with the Warrior Covert QRL and QRL Pro. QRE and QRE Pro are nearly as good, but they seem to have slight shorter fingers, which isn't as good for me, but still work (and might be better vs. worse for you). Tacki-Mac grips were the best thing I ever did to help glove wear. I no longer use them because I use a huge knob now to try and help my wrist, but I really liked the (lack of) glove wear with them. Mark

Howdy, Kinda happy that I don't have a reason to upgrade. Mark

Howdy, Is there any word yet if the True scanner will tell you how good a fit you'll have in a retail model / make retail model size recommendations? Mark

Howdy, I think my biggest disappointment was Sullivan. Everyone talks about what a great coach he is. What I see is that the Pens have been shit since Tocchet left. Factor in not using Reeves, having some personality conflict with Cole, NOT STARTING THE ALL STAR GOALIE, not even giving Riikola / Ruhwedel a sniff vs. Johnson/Schultz... Yeah. Not impressed. Mark