Flop_N_Pray

To follow up, I answered my own question with a pair of 2017 Jetspeeds (specifically Xtra Pro / upgraded FT370 SMU) I picked up on Sideline Swap new for $100. They are perfect for my feet in 5D. Forefoot feels significantly wider right behind toebox than Supreme D but narrower than Vapor EE. Negative space above toes about the same as Vapors with Powerfoot inserts. Midfoot width also between Supreme D and Vapor EE. A shade closer to the Supremes. Heel /ankle narrower than Supreme D / roughly the same as Vapor EE. Depth from top eyelet to tendon guard closer to the Supremes. Depth at the instep slightly (like 1-2mm) higher than Vapor EE. And the tongue feels better out of the box. I really like the Vapor X800s now that they are broken in but the Jetspeeds fit even better.

As someone it has worked for in the past, I notice three differences: (1) The way the pressure feels distributed at the top eyelet (where most people get bite) changes outside in, inside out, or with a lace lock loop. I'm confident I could tell the difference blindfolded if someone else tied my skates. (2) When you pull the each row tight inside out the pressure goes into compressing the tongue first. Outside in it goes into folding the eyelets over first. The same amount of "pull" leaves the skates a bit looser because there is more friction at each eyelet. It's also a little more awkward to grab / really reef on them once they are snugged up. (3) Outside in, especially with waxed laces, seems to keep tightness from moving down the boot, if that makes sense. That's usually my big issue as someone with a high instep. At the end of the day I think 90% is just the increased friction of outside in tricking you into lacing a little looser. It obviously doesn't create more physical volume in the skate. But if the placebo works for tons of people is it still a placebo?

Fair question. Short answer? I just like to fiddle. Long answer. Each one is slightly better suited to certain tasks (stickhandling, sauce, flat passing, flip clears, etc). Just depends on my mood, what position I'm playing any given day, and the relative skill level of the game. P91A I use for stay at home D or forward if I'm going to do work down in the corners or park in front of the net looking for those trash goals. P88 or PM9 shooting a lot from the point or if I'm looking to pass first. Also my go to for shinny mostly to keep the puck down. P28 or P92 I'll pull out if I'm playing wing and looking to shoot first. W71/P77 I usually just use screwing around at stick and puck but sometimes at D if I'm feeling extra pinchy that day. Could I probably be better if I stuck to one? Maybe. But not enough to change my level of play at this point. I'm a good C or mediocre B level player at any position and with any curve and have no aspiration to play at a higher level in my mid-30s. It's the archer not the arrow. If anything I've found that playing different positions with different curves and different mindsets has improved my versatility, creativity, and hockey IQ far more that it hurts any part of my game. Occasionally I switch shooting hands for a game too and rotate between two skate models. Gotta keep things fresh. But I skate 3-4 times a week and spend 10-20 minutes a day doing dryland stickhandling so YMMV. To be clear I am not advising that switching curves constantly is a good idea. Just that if you are switching, there may be a better way to find the right length than just standing against the wall and chopping it the same as the other one.

Like many others I've noticed that when switching curves just cutting sticks the same length - even if they are the same lie - results in less than optimal shooting power and accuracy and forces you to change mechanics. Cutting sticks to the same landmark on the body or even same measured length from base of blade to end of shaft fails to take into consideration three important variables: blade length, blade rocker, and curve "sweet spot" for shooting. I rotate up to six different curves: P91A, P88, PM9, W71, P28, and P92 and through trial and error found a length for each that maximizes my shooting. Switching between the curves is quite fluid (for me) with only minor adjustments to stickhandling and hand position when receiving passes. Here's where it gets wild: my P91A is 2.5" taller than my P28 when stood against a wall, and each stick is anywhere between 1/4" and 1" different from the next closest in length. I set out tonight to figure out how why it works (for me). I discovered that if I put a puck and my feet in fixed, marked locations, held my hands a fixed distance apart, cupped the blade over so the bottom felt flush (or in the case of the P28 so the toe lie was flush) and located the puck on the sweet spot (close to heel on P91A, up in the toe pocket for P28), my top hand ended up in . . . almost exactly the same spot, both in terms of location in space and amount of wrist roll. I used a mirror to confirm I wasn't cheating with posture adjustments. This was true on all 6 curves except the PM9 which was a little short / left my top hand further from the body. Coincidentally, I'm least accurate (shooting) with the PM9. Results were the same with chest facing the net and perpendicular. TL;DR: Consider using a fixed foot, puck, and hand position and seeing where the curve ends up, then adjust length to move the curve into the right spot, rather than chopping every stick at an arbitrary eyebrow/lip/chin/collarbone height.

Baking and alternate lacing has helped with the Vapors quite a bit. Made a lace lock loop at the fifth eyelet from the bottom which takes pressure off my instep and also lets me lace the rest of the eyelets loose without it transferring back down into the foot of the boot. Got my Superfeet back in with no lace bite. Midfoot still feels a bit too roomy laterally but I can walk around on the toes of my blades with zero heel slip which is a first. Keeping an eye out for Jetspeeds at the right price but I think these may work for a while.

Yeah depending on who you believe the Ribcor is either narrower and lower volume than a Vapor or there's a bunch of reviews on here from 70k line that say it is v-shaped with a medium high instep. And of course the local stores are heavy on Jetspeed and Supreme but have little to no Ribcor or Nexus. The heel lock for me is less a function of heel shape / size and more that the Vapor ankle locks me down better than the Supreme did for whatever reason.

S29 were warranty returns (unrelated to the fit) so I'm in about $230 shipped on the Vapors, which I'm actually pretty confident I can make work with a combo of alternate lacing and a gel pad on that foot. There are a lot of good deals right now on junior clearance skates in my sweet spot (about two tiers down from the top) so if there is something a bit closer to that Goldilocks fit in retail I figured it's a decent time to go look. I'd have to eat the full cost of 3-5 clearance junior retail skates before I'm into custom money, and less than $100 returning a few pairs if the fit is glaringly wrong. I only baked the Vapors because they were/are very, very close. I'm cheap, not broke. I could go full custom now but considering my weight, level, and frequency of play, and my otherwise non-deformed feet, it might be worth at least trying on a few more retail skates. With that said, maybe there just isn't a v-shaped skate with a slightly higher instep than Vapors.

My LHS is out due to terrible selection and terrible customer service. The next closest good shop is over an hour away and doesn't stock a lot of higher end skates in my size (Junior 5 / 247 ish holders). Over the past few years I've had: Graf 635 - heel too wide and hated the forward pitch. Made them work for years but the not much left of the runners so this year I was "fitted" by my LHS into Supreme S29 5.0D - a bit loose in the heel and a bit too snug from the midfoot forward but felt good after a stretch just behind the toebox. What I now know is too much volume through the top 5 eyelets (full finger under pencil test), which allowed heel lift after about 30 hours because I don't lace the tops of my skates very tight. Got warranty returned - long and unrelated story - and replaced with Vapor X600 5.0 EE - Heel lock is better and forefoot is better. Played a game in them before baking and they felt great, at first. Pencil test passes just barely on both skates with stock insoles but I get lace bite if I use Speedplates or Superfeet in them. Which I need for my med/high arches. Toebox feels good but midfoot does not feel as snug / pleasant as the Supremes did. Bauer scanner puts me in 5.5 D Supremes but says my feet are both between D and E width with my right foot being almost 1/4 size bigger. In 5.5 Supremes neither foot brushed the toe cap so scanner is definitely only a starting point as others have noted. So I'm looking for heel and toe fit similar to 2017 Vapor EE with slightly more volume and slightly snugger through the midfoot. The "good" shop I visited over an hour away recommended Jetspeeds but didn't have them in my size. Also not sure how much I trust them because they said the Supremes have better heel lock than Vapors which was not my experience at all. I would prefer to find a '17 model skate on clearance and save some $$$ if I can. Help?

Long time no post hope this thread ain't dead. Looks like the usual suspects in this thread were alive and well as of late September. Got the big BHL call-up a few weeks ago to go sub without strapping on the pillows for six months and came away with a big 3-1 W. Went to drop - in last week and played just for the joy of hockey. Got lit up because I gave it zero effort and had a ton of fun. Brought out a bunch of the retro moves - pad stack, Hasek roll, CuJo splits, old-school standup stance. I also skated the puck end to end and managed a wrap-around attempt that got stuffed. Capped the day off trying to Heisman pose my way through center ice with the puck in my glove when I was ingloriously body checked by one of my friends. Skating out in my league this season though so I feel like kind of a traitor. Yours in mismatched equipment inappropriate VH goodness, Flop

Well it's been a minute, but I finally have time to get out and skate again. First time on the ice since last season ended. This should be interesting.

Drive down into butterfly focusing on keeping hips up and having both knees hit the ice at the same time, repeat x 1000. From that position, stand up on your right skate, drop your left knee to the ice, push laterally with right skate, repeat x 1000. I had the same problem for a while except in reverse. Watch the Wogtech videos. Over and over. Until you hear him in your sleep. Visual lead - find the new angle. Rotate - square to the new angle. Load, then load some more, and then, load some more, and gather. Push. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

Also, for anyone considering a Passau, here is a reference image to show how big this thing really is. Does my C/A make me look fat? Yes. But that's ok. I am 5'9.5" between 180 - 190 depending on the week, athletic build. Hard to believe from this angle, I know. This is the pro pack model with Maltese chest protection and the additional rib protection, worn outside the pants. It is STOUT. I have yet to feel anything in it. And that's not hyperbole. Against lower level shooters, I know I got hit in the chest by sound only. Arm mobility was excellent out of the box, but I am still trying to get the shoulder floaters locked down for full head mobility. When it first arrived, they were up by my ear holes, but they have been getting better from wearing the unit. Overall I'm very happy with it.

Second league game went much better. Won 3-2. Our team got the go ahead goal. Got beat top corner after getting caught out of position and then somebody managed to sneak in a wraparound on me (which was odd, because I felt like I had a good seal). Shut 'em out the final two periods. Team played a lot better as a whole. Action shots: Watching the breakout: Breakaway stop: In the corner: A decent shot of my stance:

Well, my BHL debut ended in a 6-3 loss. Which sounds pretty awful, until I get into the recap. Before the whining commences, let me preface this by saying I still had a blast . . . As I mentioned in my earlier post, the teams were formed after a tryout. I ended up on one of three teams that has one less skater. Our top rated player decided not to show up because his daughter is looking at colleges - which may clue you in that the average age of my team is well over 40. We had another skater decide not to show up as well, leaving us with 8 (I think) playing out. Our lowest rated player is the one guy in the league who had never played an actual hockey game in his life, not even a drop-in (to his credit, he scored one of the goals). Compounding the issue, the team we played somehow has an average age around 30 and half of them know each other. After watching everyone else play tonight, I can say without a doubt they are the best team in the league - no real superstars, but tons of depth compared to the rest of the league that has 1-2 standouts and then a bunch of guys who can barely skate. One of the coaches from the class I just got done with told me they stuck me on this team on purpose, so I'll take it as a complement. The goals - #1 - great position on initial shot, hit the right elbow floater and took an odd flip, landing about four feet ahead of me . . . opposing forward was crashing the net with no defensive help #2 - my defenseman deflects a cross-crease pass from way down the wing right to their center in the low slot; I dove back across and almost nabbed it as the puck trickled across the line #3 - tic-tac-toe goal to an open guy on the backside (I found out afterwards that my team was trying to play a zone, which explains why I kept looking up to see between 1 and 3 of the wrong color jersey standing right around the goal, undefended) We were tied 3-3 until very close to the end of the second. #4 - mad scramble / ping pong in front of the net with one defensemen and 2-3 opposition #5 - breakaway by their best player; I played it well and got a piece of it with my left arm, but not enough, deflected into the top corner #6 - kicked into the net by my own player I would say I faced 2-3 shots every time they came into our zone, which felt like an overwhelming majority of the game (I'm guessing I faced 25+ compared to maybe 10). I didn't let in anything soft, and felt that my positioning and recoveries were good. Didn't give up any bad rebounds besides the first one, and managed to jump on a few more that probably should have been goals. Still need to work on my ability to play the puck. I think we will fare much better against the other teams in the league, especially considering they are going to play man D next week.

Got to play for the first time in a few weeks last night, wearing my new Passau. It's YUUUUUGGGE compared to my old one; it took some getting used to but I'm very happy with the mobility out of the box and the protection. Played ok for the first 26 minutes, then let in two quick goals - one on a rebound and one just under my left landing gear. I also got beat with a great shot on the shootout. Overall, I felt pretty good considering two weeks of rust. I decided to join the summer developmental league as a goalie . . . the scouting / drafting skate is on April 13. I would rate myself the #2 or #3 goalie out of the guys who I know are playing. Hopefully I don't get put on a weak team to "even things out" after seeing the frustrations people have with playing in novice league.

My new Passau chestie is here . . . and it's pretty awesome, but I have to admit I really have no idea how to get it properly adjusted. There are a lot more adjustments than my old one. I need help adjusting the neck height - is it by putting the velcro on the back higher or lower, or by changing the shoulder attachment? I also need to get the floaters squared away - I like them to fit close to the top of the shoulder but they seem to stick way up no matter which buckles I use.The arms seem to fit pretty well length-wise, but I need to move the elbow cups up a bit (which I know how to do).

Got totally blown up on Friday afternoon, decided I needed a mental reset and skated out Saturday night for the first time in a month and the 4th or 5th time since I started playing again. Scored four goals! I felt light as a feather without goal pads on. It helped I was playing with people from the beginner skills camp I normally goalie for. Good times.

Today's drop-in was frustrating, to say the least. My technical abilities have been getting better and better every week. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter when your defensemen insist on standing right in front of you while simultaneously leaving a backdoor pass open. I let in about four today that I really want to have back. Of those, three were in the first ten minutes, and I wasn't even close to warm, so I didn't want to drop. Otherwise, it was all the usual odd man rush / backdoor tap-ins. The icing on the cake was a travel team that decided to come watch and heckle for the last half hour. In better news, my Passau chest / arm is in production.

I really want a GoPro. What's the cheapest setup I can get away with for making this kind of video? There are so many options. I'm very familiar with still cameras (used to be a professional wedding and sports photographer) but have no idea what features I actually NEED in an "action cam."

Drop-in report: Played my semi-regular Sunday morning game today. Three goalies were there so we played 20 minutes on, 10 off, which was a pretty nice balance. Teams were stacked heavily to one side. Strangely enough, I played much better against them. I think I'm one of those goalies who does better when I'm seeing a lot of shots. Played very well until my last 10 minute shift when I let in two goals in 30 seconds. The crease was really gouged up again, causing me to trip on a t-push and fall over, and then get stuck on a backside push. Should have had two easy saves. I'm really working on integrating reverse-VH properly, as per this article http://ingoalmag.com/technique/reverse-vh-common-issues-proper-execution/, and it payed dividends today. High blocker is still my biggest weakness and my puck handling is still really sketchy. Regardless, everyone had nothing but good things to say and they keep asking me to become the regular goalie, so I'll take that as a good sign. I've also finally figured out my pad strapping (I think). Considering playing again tomorrow because I'm feeling fresher than usual after today.

What's the exchange rate on 16th century European currency these days? Better than the USD / CAD? lol

I have no visible bruising today but there is some swelling and I'm definitely feeling it in the muscle. He got me right on the outside of the pec, almost in the armpit, and I don't carry much "natural padding." Got called in for an extra shift at work, which I'm taking as a sign that I should use the money to buy a Passau. Finally shot an email that way. Luckily, the boss thinks the gear for my hobbies all looks the same; maybe I can squeak this under the radar. And then I really, really need to be done buying goalie gear. Still cheaper than insurance deductibles, I guess.

Clinic report: Due to unforeseen scheduling and weather issues, I haven't played since last Wednesday. Surprisingly rusty after just a week off. Sleep deprivation didn't do me any favors either. Really struggling with high blocker and low glove-side stick saves. Even better, the drills tonight were all odd man rushes and breakaways. Since breakaways mess with both my psyche and my mechanics, I played the shooter tutor game for most of the night, then turned it on when it (kind of) mattered during a shootout competition at the end, stuffing 9/10. Ended the night with a nice stinger in the chest from the one other guy I actually talk to at this clinic. I really need a new chest protector. On a positive note, my butterfly slides were actually pretty good for once. Apparently a week of visualization actually helped.

Small ice 3v3 or 4v4 is amazing for learning how to relax in the crease and stay with the puck during scrambles. Honestly, 5v5 hockey feels like slow motion after playing a couple small ice games. The only difference I notice in angles is that you have a lot more time to come above the crease and attack the shooter in a full 5v5 game. It's less about squeezing the thighs together and more about how much hip rotation you have. My knees are apart and I still close the five hole due to my flexibility. Closed 5-hole = knees together + feet forward + (thigh-rise height, kinda). Honestly, its a trade-off. I have such a wide flare that I rarely get beat to the corner, but my knees are so far apart that unless I have good stick discipline I will let them go right through the 3-4" gap in my 5-hole. I will say from my limited experience you get way less guff from the skaters getting beat to the corner than you do getting beat on a shot right up your midline.

Today's drop-in report: In short, I had to follow my own advice about save percentage. We had four goalies rotating on ten minute shifts, which is the perfect amount of time to just get cold before going back in. The other goalie who is a regular at this game let in 6 on his first 7 shots. I fared slightly better. Out of the entire session, there were maybe 3 I would really like to have back. Now that I've played a few times with this group, I notice they aren't taking many straight shots on me anymore; they're really working to cycle the puck, which I take as a compliment (by comparison, they shoot all the time from everywhere on the other guy, who lets in a lot of soft goals). My defense hustled hard but were simply outclassed by the other team today. I've improved my butterfly slides but was having a hard time tracking the one-timer as the pass was usually coming from deep in the corner or behind the net. I also had a harder time sliding than usual - the other goalie is quite a bit heavier than me and really gouges up the crease. He doesn't clean up any of the snow, either. It was hard to skate on, let alone slide on. Overall I thought my angles were solid and that I made 98% of the saves I could reasonably be expected to make. My breakaway play has improved dramatically and I stuffed a few more than usual today. I am starting to feel much more relaxed in the crease and I am not getting exhausted by scrambles anymore. I'm not losing sleep about giving up easy tap-in one timers or a tremendous point-to-point clapper that went top corner. What I am irritated by is my sudden inability to recover from awkward positions. They definitely had some easy chances they didn't take due to me being sprawled out. Since I flop so much, I think I'll start specifically working on that. A guy on my team also tackled an opposing player after he crosschecked him in the slot and then started hacking at me while I was covering the puck, so that was exciting.