puckpilot

Generally speaking, the right flex will help you more with form and technique than a change in kickpoint. With that said, for me, the Covert flexes a lot smoother and easier than a Alpha. To test if a stick is too stiff for you, just put it into shooting position and try to flex it one inch. If you can't do it with almost zero effort, the stick is probably too stiff for you. When working on your technique, IMHO, it's better to err on the side of a little too whippy than not whippy enough. You can work with whippy, but not so much with too stiff.

Imho if you were meh on the tc4, you probably shouldn't go for a p30. It's another toe curve. If you didn't liked the E38, the other brand equivalent is th p88, so avoid that. According to the chart found here. https://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/sticks-buying-guide-and-advice-part-3.2515143/ The p92 curve is probably what you want. It's a jack of all trades. But one thing you should also consider is lie. If you're used to one specific lie and try using another, it can throw you off a whole lot until you adjust regardless of curve.

I was using a 12' radius and just recently switched to a 13' with a neutral pitch, and for me, I love it. I had switched to a 12 with a +1 pitch last year. At first it felt like I was losing some agility in turns, but after a while I stopped noticing. Now, it feels like I've gained agility because the extra stability lets me hit turns and crossovers way harder. Since I went up to the 13' radius, I also found I could loosen my skates around the ankles for more mobility and better feel for my edges, which I feel has translated into longer strides and more power. Honestly, right now, it feels like I turned back the clock ten years and found my old legs again. Now, I'm a smaller guy in junior skates so ymmv with senior skates. But like I've said, it's been nothing but positive for me. I've even been playing with the idea of a 14' radius.

I went down half a size last time I got skates and ended up with smaller steel. Ended up with a similar issue, on my toes more and less stable. I simply went to a larger profile radius, 12' with a +1 pitch, which evolved into a 13' radius and a neutral pitch. You can probably get things sorted by tweaking your profile.

It's funny, someone on another forum made a thread asking how to deal with an a-hole around the Seattle hockey community. https://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/question-for-older-players-about-handling-a-serious-problem-player.2637201/

Doesn't seem like they have that much more than what you'd find in retail right now for Intermediates and juniors. Was hoping they'd have the option of a p28 in a lie 6. Nope. Hopefully more options to come once things have been running for a bit.

The only rule is what you're comfortable with. If you're being an ass, you'll get chirped. If you get chirped for doing nothing, that person is the ass. There's a difference between playing with high level players vs low level players. High level players are in control most of the time, from where they shoot to how they wield their stick. They tend to be aware of what's going on. Low level players are wildcards. They'll aim low stick and send it into the rafters. They'll skate like they're baling hay, poking and jabbing guys all the way up the ice and not even realize what they're doing. In general, they can be menaces to others and themselves. So if you're playing with low level players, strap a cage on. Hell strap two cages on.

Just popping in to agree with the p30 as the curve closest to what the OP described.

For me, getting new gear isn't all that exiting. I'm more exited about finding stuff that matches what I like. Once I find it, I'm exited about having it. I try to keep up with what's coming out because I realized that doing that is much simpler than doing rushed and sometimes panicked research when I need to replace something. It also allows me to spot good deals when I see them.

Glad things worked out for your kid. Sad that that "coach" doesn't get hoisted up on his petard. That's a silly way to run a team at that level.

Honestly, there's nothing to be gained from playing out the last 6 seconds. But there's plenty to lose. In those types of games, people aren't in the best of moods. All it takes is for one person to do something to aggravate the other team, which can be anything from a dirty look to taking a comment the wrong way, and it's a brew-ha-ha. It's better to sacrifice those precious 6 seconds and get everyone to their beer therapy sooner.

I could be totally off base, but to me it sounds like you feel like you're giving everything you got to get the win, sacrificing the body, showing up to every game even when you may not feel up to it, but it doesn't sound like the rest of the team is as committed. It sounds like you're the guy, or one of the few guys, pulling the cart, while the rest are taking a free ride and waving to the pretty girls on the sidelines and getting the smiles. Do any of your teammates come up to you during or after the game and say thanks for bailing them out or thanks for keeping us in it? Cause it sucks to be underappreciated. I've been on teams where I work my ass off forechecking, backchecking, lift sticks to save goals, spring guys left and right by threading passes through multiple defenders, but nobody says a damn thing unless I'm on the score sheet. (I'll leave the gripes about missed assists for another time) While the guys who are seagulling all night, taking 2.5 minute shifts, and are like minus 4, get the nice game because they scored a couple. Stuff like that makes me not want to play, or at the very least it makes me not want to care. On the other hand, I've been on teams were everyone works their butts off, win or lose, and we may lose a lot, but there's a we'll-get-them-next-time type of attitude. It never feels like you're the only one that gives a crap and that makes it still fun to go to the rink. My 2 cents

If you're having heel slippage in a skate that's a half size smaller, that might be an indication that you're still in a improperly fitted skate. Just a though. Have you tried other lines? Have you tried superfeet to stabilize your heels? For me, when I was growing up I skated on skates too big. I wear 7.5 shoes and was in size 6 skates in my teens. Over the years I went smaller and smaller. I'm in size 4.5s now. My last pair of skates were 5s, and when I went to 4.5, I began having stability issues. Thought it was user error but changed my profiling to a simple 12' and that fixed things for me.

I wear 7.5-8 shoes and size 4.5 skates. When I got my current skates, I came down from a size 5. Took me a little while to notice that I was more unstable and my foot was sliding out from under me with my underpush in my cross overs. Blamed it on user error. So spent 6 months working to correct the issue with little improvement. Then last April, I tried changing my profile to a 12' +1, and it made the world of difference. I'm in a 13' +1 profile now, and after 6 months, barely notice any loss of agility. Only notice the positives now.

Shooting a golfball is not the same as shooting a puck. If you try to develop your mechanics this way, there's a good chance you are going to develop some bad habits. It's a lot easier to get under a golfball and lift it than it is a puck. If you want to take your shooting pad somewhere, just take it to a park with a flat surface and a chain link fence and fire pucks at that. Tennis courts are nice. And if you're ambitious, you can even bring a net.

I agree with Mcguire's opinion on things. Ekblad doesn't have a rep and Domi was having a bad game and decided to take out his frustrations on someone who did nothing but play hockey https://www.tsn.ca/video/mcguire-has-his-say-on-domi-s-sucker-punch-and-subsequent-suspension~1495810

Suspended for the rest of the preseason. What a joke. Players don't get paid in the preseason, and plus, he probably wasn't even going to play all the preseason games anyway. And I love Domi's statement that he didn't mean to hurt Ekblad. That's another crock. You don't hit someone in the face without intending to hurt them. Did Ekblad have a piece of veggy on his lip and Domi was just trying to wipe it off?

I encourage you to stick to your guns. The good news is you know it isn't just you or your kid. And at least your kid knows you got his back, and you know he still loves hockey. Don't know what's going to happen as you move up the food chain, but the nuclear option is probably being really frank about the coach with the higher ups, and if that falls on deaf ears, tell them either you kid gets moved or your kid sits out. Because sending a kid into a crappy situation like that is not a healthy option. Also, I know this is going to sound sneaky, but I'd start recording phone conversations if possible, just so you don't get into a he-said-she-said situation.

Ummmm wtf is with that coach? To give a different view of things, my nephew is a couple years ahead of your kid, and he's on the rep A team, with paid coaches, which I believe is about as high as you can go. All last year I took him to practice at least once a week--he has three a week on top of games--and I saw kids mess up drills all the time, and I've never seen or heard of the coach yell at a kid for doing so. If a kid keeps messing up the drill, the coach stops and explains it to the kid. If they still don't get it, the coach has them sit out and watch those who do understand run through a few times. That usually fixes things. Usually at the end of practice, the coach has a mini game drill as a treat for the kids to keep things fun. Though, I've heard my nephew talk about bag skates after games in which they didn't listen to the coach and didn't do well. But my nephew hasn't ever complained about having to going to the rink, so I'm sure bag skate doesn't mean what it typically means. After games, the coach has a private talk with the team before parents are allowed in. Regardless of win or lose, I've never gone into the dressing room and felt that the kids were beat down. They're always laughing, even if they blew a 4 goal lead in the third. I don't know what your options are, but if you can shift your kid to another team, that might be a good thing. When my nephew was your son's age, the focus was more on skills development so everyone got to play different positions. There weren't any systems. Now this isn't to say, I didn't see other teams play systems, but I didn't see the point. Any way, my 2 cents. It's worth what you paid. And best of luck to you and your kid.

FYI, there are 55 flex intermediates. Also, how tall are you? I'm 5'5 and I use 52" junior sticks. Some of them I add plugs to. Some are just perfect uncut. Just recently with True and with Bauer's 2N pro, the 50 flex junior sticks are made long. True's sticks are 54" and the new 2N pro is 53". Generally intermediate sticks are around 57" uncut. In addition with the 2N, the blade size and shaft dimensions are the same as an intermediate stick. As far as I know, this is the only junior stick that's like this. The rest have smaller shaft dimensions. Some significantly smaller, others, like CCM only slightly.

It's all personal preference. But there's always give and takes. A lower lie may help you keep your blade flatter, but it may make it more difficult to get your weight over the stick to take a shot. Etc. With that said, there's a simple solution to getting all of your blade on the ice without changing your lie or the length of your stick. Simply rotate your wrist and close the blade face. When you catch a pass, you really don't want your blade to be completely vertical. You want to close the blade and cup it. My 2 cents.

Was at stick and puck today and saw some guys wearing VH skates. One of them had their laces wrapped around the ankles, strangling the outside of the boot. I wanted to cry. :(

In terms of arches, from my experience, the Nexus and Supremes are quite similar. I really don't have much of an arch, and when I was last shopping for skates, these were the two skates I narrowed it down to. The differences is that the Nexus has more volume, so more space in the toe box, the fore foot, and the heel. If the Supremes work for you, you're not missing anything with the Nexus. Also, if I were to guess, CCM Tacks won't work for you. When I tried them on, it was like my arches were sitting on top of pyramids. I didn't even have to tie them up to know they weren't for me.

I'm in the same sized steel as you, and for the first time in 30 plus years of my hockey life, I got my skates profiled. I'm on size 4.5 N9000s, and I was running stock LS3 on stock profile, with a 3/8ths hollow. I followed Nicholas G's recommendation of a 12' single radius to start with. He also recommended a neutral pitch, but I went with a +1 and 5/8ths hollow. I specifically bought new LS3 steel to experiment on, because I'm in the middle of playoffs right now and wanted to be able to turn back if I had to. One of my biggest issues was my underpush slipping out on me when I tried to drive into it. Always thought it was user error, but after a few minutes on my profiled steel, I knew I made the right decision. It felt like every aspect of my skating had levelled up. For 4.5 hours I was trying everything from stop-starts to tight turns to one-foot slaloms, but most of all, I was working the crossovers. It all seemed to be clicking. I was able to push things so hard on turns and stop-starts, one of my laces broke. After 4.5hrs, I still didn't want to leave the rink because I was so excited about trying stuff just to see if I could do it. I'm usually a center but from time-to-time I fill in at defense. One of the things that I'd dread was the forward stop transitioning into the backward's crossover. It was always 50/50 whether the inside leg would slip out from under me. With the new profile, my leg wasn't slipping, and the only time I blew a tire was when I was trying to see how far I could push before it blew. For me, I didn't notice any detriment to my agility or turns. I think it might be in part to me feeling steadier on crossovers and hard turns. Or maybe it's because of the small runners. I'm liking it so much, I'm considering going up to a 13' radius, and maybe in time, I'll consider something more complex. Now, this isn't to say that I'm suddenly Connor McDavid. Not even close. I'm just saying that before, parts of my skating seemed to be stagnant. I wasn't making any progress no matter how much I practised or how much I studied technique. But making this adjustment feels like it pushed me free of that stagnation, and now, doors to being better are open. Any way my 2 cents. It's worth what you paid for it.

I've been mulling over changing the profile in my skates. This is an area that I've paid zero attention to, so I was wondering if someone could give me some recommendations. Right now I'm in LS3 with stock profiling with a 3/8 hollow. I'm in Nexus N9000s so I'm assuming they're 9' or 10' radius. One of the issues I'm running into now is the under-push on my crossovers. It's slipping out on me a bit when I try to drive into it and extend out, and I'm losing power and stability. Now, over the last while, I've been assuming it's user error. I'm older, less flexable, and a few years ago I got sick and lost a good chunk of muscle. But I've been really focused working on that for the last few months, youtube videos studying technique, hip stretches, one leg squats, and hours and hours and hours of ice time just working my edges and crossovers with the top three eyelets undone, but I can't seem to make any progress. So now, I'm wondering if it could be my skates. I'm 175lbs, and I'm in size 4.5 skates, so I'm wondering if it could be an issue involving not enough blade on the ice or rather not enough of a flat. I'm not sure if a smaller runner has less of a flat than a larger runner with the same radius. While googling, I found a rule of thumb calculation that said if you take your weight in kg and divided by 6.28 which is 2Pi, it will give you the ball park of what your profile radius should be. My calculation comes up with a 13' radius, which seems a bit crazy. Any way, any recommendations/suggestions are welcome.