VegasHockey

What is your overall "go to" brand for skates, sticks and protective?

I tend to bake my skates at least 3 times to speed up the break-in process. This is typically over the period of 3–5 weeks. Obviously, this varies by brand, as some tolerate baking better than others.

They have been long gone for ages now. Sorry.

The 75 is still made for Team sales. Not retail. 2023 is EOL for it.

You can punch digi comp just fine.

Ribcor 90K

Swing weight.

That is going to be tough. Not sure if I would suggest a 254.

You can always warm up the shins and then use a C clamp to make them more narrow. I have done this for many players with smaller width shins.

On what size and model of skate? Anything is possible, the holder might just hang off a little on the toe and heel.

Re-Akt 75, Re-Akt 85, Re-Akt 150, and 2023 Hyperlite2 are the current and soon to be released helmet options. None of them are close to the Re-Akt 200 in design as that helmet was stuffed full of foams. If you like the Re-Akt 200, you should be able to find one on SidelineSwap.

Most of these "small company" sticks are light but lack good puck feel and whip out quickly. YMMV.

June.

AS3.

They have been around for a little bit. Not sure how good they are. https://bjornsports.com/product-category/ice-hockey-blades/

I am looking at a medium and large side by side, seems only the length is different and the width is the same.

Thats how I lace mine as well.

There are a couple of good guys (NCAA D1/Ex-NHL) I skate with that likely skate on something close to a 3/8" or 7/16". They have a friend who is a retired equipment manager who sharpens their steel, and they don't even know what hollow they skate on. I checked their steel with an HDI, since I was nosey, and it was between 5/16 and 7/16 so I assume its 3/8.

You might want to consider going with a large tongue. I had to do that with my Cat Pro skates. If I pushed them far into the toe cap they didn't come high enough to fit under my shins without popping out mid game. I went from a Medium to a large and that fixed all of my fitment concerns.

Thats correct. The older Tacks model the holes were closer together and in the revised toe cap the holes are slightly wider.

I had a guy come in once and pay $120 to run 120 passes on each of his new LS Pulse TI steel blades on our ProSharp machine to decrease the height. I told him profiling could accomplish the same thing for less and he insisted that he just wanted them shorter, and he didn't want to relearn how to skate. I smiled, said no problem, and tossed them on the machine and let it do its thing. When he came to pick them up, I asked him what to sharpen them to and he told me 3/8". I asked him twice to confirm he did indeed want 3/8" and he confirmed both times. I didn't even bother trying to offer him a more shallow hollow at that point. I knew it was a lost cause. Moral of the story, some people really dislike change.

Custom or Pro Stock. Going from a 254 to 263 isn't that difficult and most shops can do it. Keep in mind the cost for holders, labor, and steel would be about $250

I would say 95% or more players do not use that area and only use the "working area" on the steel. However, there are about 5% of elite level players that do in fact use that portion of the steel. Some skating coaches, like Katy Jo for example, are really focused on trying to get players up on their toes. I think many of these skating coaches who are teaching this were previously figure skaters, so I have mixed feelings about such.

Does that shell have the velcro loops for a girdle?

Yup!