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Howdy, This seems like a good place for this article... https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/12/04/hockey-covid-transmission-outbreaks/ Lots of "we don't know" going on with this stuff still. Interesting that typical rink air handling may be exactly what you DON'T want. Mark

Howdy, Sports psychologist sounds like a good choice. Your description makes it sound like he isn't sure what he should be doing in full game context. I see these "game awareness" type training things... Maybe that would help? Might also be pressure to perform... Any player knows there's a difference between the game and practice. If that's the case, and if he sees himself as having to perform for his team, I wonder if dropping him to a "less important" role would help him gain more confidence? Take some of the weight off his shoulders. But really... Sports psychologist sounds like the best idea to determine what's happening. As to how to introduce that to him... Depending on age and what the parents are like, I might go through them. Wouldn't hurt to have an example of someone he looks up to that's used a sports psychologist successfully as well. Mark (Way not an expert. And I haven't stayed in a holiday inn in forever.)

Howdy, I know that's the excuse they use. But I can't see it without thinking that someone is throwing a ball to a sad elephant / elephant that had an unfortunate encounter with a car and got its trunk run over. Mark

Howdy, That's the hammer cocking so that the trigger works. Mark

Howdy, 5 best: Coyotes, Capitals, Jets, Rangers, Stars 5 worst: Pittsburgh, Detroit, Islanders, Blues, Avalanche 5 honorable mention: Ducks, Vegas, Flyers, Jersey, Carolina Pittsburgh in particular is a disappointment. Just come out with a totally blank jersey if the best you can do is spell your team / city name across the front of the thing. Horrible. Agree that Detroit looks like a practice jersey. 100% agree that the Islanders just didn't want to play and sent in their current jersey design. The Avalanche jersey is more about a stupid logo (why is there a sad elephant on a hockey jersey) and "Hey Quebec, we took your team away, but at least we made a jersey to remind you of that". Outside of that, the jersey itself is fine. The Ducks jersey has promise, but its like someone snuck in and stole the logo before the designer had time to add color. I actually like the Vegas jersey, but no team that's been around for 3 years gets to have a retro jersey. Stop it. Always liked the Flyers colors and this retro jersey looks good. But its not some huge departure from normal and I live in Pittsburgh, so I'm not allowed to like it anyway. New Jersey's colorway is good. Uninspiring in terms of logo though. I feel like I should like Carolina's throwback, but the colors mostly kinda suck. I have a little less of a "hey we stole your team, here's a jersey" reaction. Not sure why. Maybe because they stole the team from Hartford rather than the land of hockey. But really... Mostly I'm posting just because Pittsburgh's jersey is such a disappointment. Mark

Howdy, Style is such a personal thing. Outside of the whole "Can't see" thing, I like that quite a lot. 🙂 Mark

Howdy, Yeah. I'm back to this. After thinking that I could play two mornings a week and was pumped to get back out there. That CDC article (and their new definition of what a "close contact" is) really rained on my parade. 😞 If masks were required on the ice, I'd play. But they're not around here, coupled with numbers going up at a pretty good clip, so... Guess I'm not going to play. Mark

Howdy, This article was linked on The Athletic... Ugh. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6941a4.htm The "other team players infected" part is the part that bothers me the most. I can do lots of different things to mitigate risk of locker room in particular, but I'm pretty darn close to being back to "not willing to play unless everyone is wearing a mask". Which fucking sucks. Mark

Howdy, Just looking at the pictures, for a half shield I think I'd just wear the UA mask. I don't see any particular advantage to the CCM half-shield setup. Mark

Howdy, In the length pics from @SkateWorksPNW, are those with the back/bottom of the boot resting on a reference block or the holder/steel? Just wanting to confirm that you're seeing boot sizing vs. fore/aft holder mounting location. Appreciate the sizing info... I don't immediately need skates, but the TF7 is what I'm thinking I'll go to reasonably soon since my Mako M8's have seen better days at this point. I don't really care what number they put on there, as long as I can get some that fit! Mark

Howdy, Curious if players on the other team were infected... Do you know? I'm trying to evaluate risk of infection in various parts of "they hockey player experience"... I.e. risk in the locker room changing, risk on the bench, risk actually on the ice, etc. Has anyone heard of anything at all scientific about that type of thing? Mark

Howdy, Dave, are you using the CCM mask in conjunction with the Bauer Concept III? I just ordered that setup. A little worried about the weight of the bubble vs. the cage I use now, but I definitely like the idea of having more of a particle shield for my eyes. If I can't stand the concept III weight, I'm considering going to a visor and trading off puck to face protection for particulate protection... Mark

Howdy, Played today (for the first time since... March? Holy crap was I horrible) with the UA mask. I honestly didn't notice it on the ice, other than that there was more sweat on my upper lip. Didn't seem to affect my ability to breathe well basically at all. On the bench, it was more of a hassle, because to drink you had to unclip the cage, pull down the mask, then drink. Then pull the mask back up (which is now looser / not the same feel as it was before, since you were screwing with it), and clip the mask straps back in. When I got home, I ordered the CCM mask. I figure it will have the good parts of the UA mask and still get out of the way better when I want a drink. Planning to use it with a cage, but also considering getting a fishbowl to maybe help with virus entering my eyes. Of course, there's basically zero studies out there on how much any of that matters, so its all a guess as to if that's reasonable, insane, etc. For you folks that have played with the Bauer thing... How's the fogging? I'd have guessed that would be the major "playability" drawback of that design. edit: One benefit of the UA mask vs. some others we have around is that it didn't turn into a disaster due to sweat. Yes, it got damp, but it still basically held its shape, etc. The other masks we have are either disposable or cotton-ish fabrics and I can't imagine they'd do well soaked in sweat. Mark

Howdy, Darn glad Pittsburgh dodged that bullet. That's CRAZY money given his play the past couple years. Maybe he gets back to something like what his was. I hope he does, for his sake. But that's ALL the money. As for the Pens... Writing was on the wall that Jarry was the way forward pretty much since January. Sullivan didn't get the memo in the play in round and Pittsburgh was packing early with promises for shakeups across the organization. Sounds like there's some interest in Fleury coming back and being a mentor / safety valve for Jarry, but I dunno how much of that is wishful thinking. My bet is probably not, and DeSmith moves back up to backup duty in the big club. Mark

Howdy, For sure. When this whole thing started, I figured it was 50/50 that some team would be eliminated because 8 players got the virus or whatever. Not only didn't that happen, but no positive test at all? Crazy. I'm curious if they had any positive test for any of the hotel/service staff. Those folks weren't bubbled, right? Really nice that they were able to pull this off. From a fan perspective, it honestly was pretty great. Really feel bad for the players who won the cup that weren't able to have their families join them on the ice though. Mark

Howdy, Does it have to be the actual skate its going to end up mounted in, or will any skate do? Because a trip to Play it Again for some ragged out boots might help if its the 2nd one. Mark (Who frankly doesn't like the super secret squirrel approach to these types of things though and would use this as a motivation to move to a profile you can get actual specs for, but still...)

Howdy, I think Cooper announced he was done period now, right? You've got to think that in the game he came back, he re-injured / aggravated everything to be much worse. Glad for him that he was able to get out there and contribute in that game though. Mark

Howdy, Wow. Just a super weird shot landing in exactly the wrong place? Or did your glove fail or something? Mark

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