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BenBreeg

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Posts posted by BenBreeg

  1. Posted · Report reply

    It's not just on the retailer, it's on the manufacturer.  It's part of the supply chain and if you don't have a way of assuring the quality of any part of your supply chain, it is on you to fix it.  In some cases it is harder than others to assure that, but it certainly has to be part of the consideration when rolling out a product or service.

    • Like 1

  2. Posted · Report reply

    Great discussion.  As a product manager I always love hearing about other case studies and behind the scenes stories.  The whole idea about letting the customer pick the solution vs. describing their problem and the expert designing a solution is great, and not unique to this situation.  I can't even count how many times I am pressured to "just put a button there" or "color code it" or some other solution proposed by the user (or sales) that seems innocuous on the surface but is really a bad idea if you understand the whole context of the design. 

  5. Posted · Report reply

    On 7/26/2018 at 1:38 PM, CigarScott said:

    Must be nice. 🙂

    I was surprised that Bauer and CCM would cost more than True as they're much bigger companies that can take advantage of their buying power and economies scale better than True.

    Price shouldn’t be a simple cost plus calculation.  Price should be what the company thinks will yield a given volume of sales in order to make the busimess case.  As a product manager, if i am selling at a given price and lets say manufacturing finds a way to save some percent per unit, i am not lowering my price unless i need to from a market need.

    • Like 2

  6. Posted · Report reply

    6 hours ago, EJB said:

     

    (how’s that for a who I am dump.  Probably posted too much in this thread)

    Not at all, great posts and good to hears there are still people with perspective, although it seems it is still an uphill battle.

    i think something that helps just like anything is finding like-minded people to connect to within your org or team.  Then the conversations you have with them help reinforce the sanity mindset.

    The barometer has to be fun, its easy to measure.  Th last couple of days at this little camp my son was doing i was justwatcching to see if he was smiling on the ice.  He went down jard a couple times diring some skating drills and knowing him that could have made him want to stop, but he kept going and was all smiles th whole time.  Told me how fun freeze tag was so he wants to go back to camp.  It was a real eye opener for me beczuse during that freeze tag game when they were chasing the coaches they were doing their best skating.  He was doing tight turns, edges digging in and ice chips flying and i bet he had no idea.

    i learned a lot about coaching little kids this week from watching this guy, who was only 26 but was so good with the kids, it was impressive.  He kept their attention, held them accountable for doing the skills, made rhem laugh, was super organized, and ran a great camp.  He isnt in our organization but i am definitely sending my son to him for anything beyond our regular ADM stuff (plus, as much as i love coaching my kids, it is good for them to have other coaches as well imo).

    • Like 1

  7. Posted · Report reply

    5 hours ago, oldtrainerguy28 said:

    yes but now they are the follower and not the leader.

    You can't always nor do you always have to be first to be successful in the long run.  Fast Followers have consistently been successful (Google, GM).

  8. Posted · Report reply

    My buddy falls into that camp.  His kid is around 8 and he was telling me how he justifies to his wife the number of hockey teams and camps he sends his son to.  "I just want him to get a little money for college..."  I didn't have the heart to tell him yet how few hockey scholarships are available, I think there is time for him to come to his senses.  When our kids were skating together playing tag or whatever, anything his son did he would point out.  "Did you see how he dipped his shoulder there to fake him out?  Somebody was telling me that was really advanced!"  "Did you see his feet on that move..?"  Etc.

    People aren't realistic.  We had a high school goalie come out to our ACHA practice because he was thinking of coming.  He wasn't even a starter for his HS team, got lit up in practice, but proceeded to tell us in the office afterward he is looking at DIII NCAA programs primarily.

    • Like 2

  9. Posted · Report reply

    Just now, chippa13 said:

    Check out the Ribcor 68K. The most recent Ribcor line is super-moldable and gives an extremely good skate for the price.

    I will.  Ko Sports is a Source for Sports franchise around here so they have that 68K with some 70K upgrades for the same price ($399) as the regular 68K.  May head out there to check them out but I just got new steel and Quad 0 profiles on my 7000s and unexpectedly it really made a difference so I am going to squeeze a little more life out of them.

    • Like 1

  10. Posted · Report reply

    Thread is a bit old but I just got Quad 0 on new steel in order to prolong my Supreme 7000's life until I get new skates.  I expected one of two things 1) I would fall and have trouble adjusting 2) I wouldn't notice much.  Neither.  As soon as I stepped on the ice I was solid.  I love the longer radius on the back of the blades!  And as soon as you take off you are on the shorter radius and good to go.  I think my old ones were radiused too short, but I can't remember what they were.  When I started to tire out the front of my shins would get fatigued.  Also, it always took 20 mins or so before the bottom of my feet would stop hurting, this has gone on for years.  I always thought this was boot related but it didn't happen the other day for the first time in 20 years.  Maybe my feet were fighting against the contour/pitch of my last profile.  Anyway, I wasn't expecting it to be this different and it was, in nothing by a positive way.

    • Like 2

  11. Posted · Report reply

    I wanted to post some thoughts about being a hockey parent and see what others’ perspectives were.  My background is I played through high school then when I came back from college played some men’s league and started coaching high school and ACHA.  I eventually stopped playing and focused on coaching and then when I went to grad school and my kids were born wasn’t doing anything hockey-related.  My son is 7 now and started Learn to Play this past Feb, did a spring ADM, and over the summer we just do stick time every few weeks.  He is doing a camp this week, just an hour a day but the beauty is there are only 4 kids signed up and two coaches.  It is worth 5x the money I paid and the main coach is great with the kids.

    I am also a huge proponent of kids playing multiple sports (and multiple activities in general, not even just sports) and specializing as late as possible.  I am basically a nerd and love reading up on the latest research on these topics as well.

    Even given that I actively try to think this way, the reality is that you have to continually check yourself and be honest about how you are approaching your kids with regards to sports.  One of the best things I learned from the U8 USA Hockey module was that the average 8-year-old’s mental maturity is 8 +/- 4.5 years (or something very close)!  I see this in baseball especially.  I had one kid who was physically advanced, knew tons of situations, asked me why I had player X in the cleanup spot because he wasn’t a cleanup hitter, etc.  Then my son wouldn’t be paying attention to the batter and play in the dirt.

    The crap I hear about from other parents is ridiculous.  I just heard about a parent berating his kid as he came off the ice because he didn’t play well.  This was 10U.  Other kids are leaving orgs because they need to play against better competition with the Pens Elite.  There is a summer full-ice U8 league.  Etc.

    It is tempting to push your kid too hard, despite best intentions.  I kept asking my son if he wanted to go “practice his stickhandling” in the driveway.  Not a real strong response to that, as you could expect.  He was usually done in 5 minutes.  Then he made up a game where we had to walk around and stay on the lines between the individual concrete slabs, and could only pass after answering a math fact!  WTH?!?!?!  But I said ok and we played for like 15 minutes because he thought it was fun.  Now I just ask him if he wants to play a little hockey, or he asks me.  Perspective.

    Kids are going to progress as individuals. Literally, in the two hours he has been on the ice the last two days he has made these huge strides that he didn't make all spring.  And I am learning a lot from watching this guy coach this age group (and stealing his drills/games!).  But it takes some discipline even for the best-intentioned and informed parents to not get caught up in this race to create mini-professionals.

    Both when I am coaching and when I am talking to my son after he does something sports related, I make sure to mention fun first before asking about anything specific as far as the game or practice, and I have stopped even talking about anything he could have improved on.  There is plenty of time to work on that stuff later and in a better context.

    Curious to hear your thoughts.

    • Like 4

  12. Posted · Report reply

    I hadn’t thought about this for years until reading about it here.  I remember as a kid (30+ years ago) one coach telling is about the Russians training this way.  Now that my son is playing i really want to start lacing his skates down one eyelet at a time.  Fully laced he has little forward flexion.  I also still want to improve my own skating now that i started playing again, that way i will only have to deal with my sore elbows, groin pull, and embarressing lack of conditioning 🙂 

  13. Posted · Report reply

    35 minutes ago, pix530 said:

    - Why you need new skates? And what is your level and intensity of play?

    Best option I'd say would be True if you really need skates.

    They are over 15 years old and while I could certainly keep using them, I want to get new ones.  Level is “B leaguer coming out of a 10 year layoff at age 44.” :)

    Budget is 500 and under so no True.

  15. Posted · Report reply

    Thanks for the reply.  I am wondering if I want to replicate what I have in the 7000 or not.  I bought them because they were blems (a couple stitches were off target) and the Vapor 8s I had for a short while were WAY too narrow.  When I tried the X700 yesterday on I had pain on the outside of my foot, I just don't know if that is the kind of thing that bakes out.

  17. Posted · Report reply

    So earlier this week I posted about buying youth skates because it was difficult to buy for a young kid.  Now I am getting new skates after being in 7000s for the last 15 years or so, similar to another poster.

    So, after going to Pure Hockey last night, I am a bit concerned.

    I was scanned at the Bauer station by a younger employee.  I came out Vapor in 10.5, which surprised me since I never thought of my foot as narrow.  So we tried that on and it was too big, got a 10 which fit but really pushed into the side of my foot.  He said the Jetspeed would have more room so he brought out an FT1 in a 10 (above my price but the only thing he had) and it felt awesome in the foot, my heel basically snapped in, but when I stood it really dug in below my ankle, like right on that little bone on the inside below your big ankle bone.

    They didn’t have any other skates to try on so I said I would come back in July (they said they had a bunch of skates in the back but couldn’t put them out until then).

    My question is, honestly, how do I know what fits in these new skates?  What is an incorrect fit vs. what is just pushing on my foot that may go away with baking and a little skating?

    I would say I have a boney foot, so there are always pressure points.  I had extra padding put in the ankles of my 7000s years ago.

    I would rather have had a more experienced employee as well, but other than coming back later and kind of hanging until I can grab one of the guys that seems to know more that wasn’t an option last night.

    I guess waiting until they have more skates to try on is the best option but in general, aren’t all these skates going to feel dramatically different so it is hard for me to know what is “right”?

    It was also funny when he asked me what skate I was in I said Bauer 7000 and he said, “Oh, the Nexus N7000?”   Yeah, I am old…

  19. Posted · Report reply

    I am thinking just let him skate in these until he sizes out of them.  Just got back from public skate and he was moving pretty good.  Had them profiled, his knee bend was better.  I think just having the time off for the last month or so was good.  The only issue he says is digging in around the top of the skate when he is on either edge.  Could experiment with some moleskin to help with that.

  20. Posted · Report reply

    Well, most of those have moved out of Pittsburgh, the closest is Greensburg.  I am also planning on buying the right size as needed vs. the room to grow approach.  I actually just auto deduct $10/month into a savings bucket for his skates.  With that plus selling his used skate each iteration won't be too bad money-wise.  Plus I have so much lightly used hand-me-down elbows, shins, pants, etc. I don't have to pay for much other than skates for the next 2-3 years so that is a nice luxury.  The used skate route is good but honestly I don't know that I have the time to track down the appropriate skates.

    It's just difficult to buy the right skates for someone other than yourself, especially a kid who doesn't really know how to describe what it going on inside the skate, may confuse the fact that the skate is stiff for not fitting, etc.

    • Like 1

  21. Posted · Report reply

    So my 7 Year old has been skating for about 2+ years and did the Little Pens in the winter and a spring ADM after that.  He has been in CCM 2092 for the whole time and they were good enough to start but are starting to split at the tendon guard so I am planning on getting him a new pair for the next season.  He has two years of ADM left.  He wanted to get measured because the machine looked cool and the Bauer machine put him in a 13/13.5, so we will still end up in a youth skate.

    My question is, how do I evaluate this level of skate?  He doesn’t need the top end for sure, something middle of the road will be an upgrade and match his skill level.  But it seems that a skate in the youth isn’t the same actual specs as the same in the Jr or Sr skate.  So a CCM 50k youth isn’t the same as a Sr. 50k (I know, old model but a specific example I came across). 

    So just looking for some general advice buying this level of skate.  Thanks!

  22. Posted · Report reply

    Weird game last night I thought.  Somewhat sloppy/chaotic at times but pretty fun to watch from a pure entertainment standpoint.  Of course Wilson has an incident, not sure what Perron was doing jumping on the ice when Ovi was coming by, and Reeves got lucky with the no crosscheck but the goal was pretty timely and getting that kind of production from the 4th line is icing on the icing.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    I am in the same boat, been on 7000s for like 15 years.  Never really loved them but could never justify new skates.  Now that i am coaching my son and getting back into mens league i am getting new ones.  7000s seemed like they were cut shallower than my brother’s old 5000s but i never compared the, side by side.  It is probably going to be a big jump to the newer skates but cant wait to get them.

  25. Posted · Report reply

    1 hour ago, marka said:

    Howdy,

    Didn't he give an interview where he said his kid(s) liked that, so he started doing it again?

    I'm all about people that make themselves look like idiots to make their kids happy.  :-)

    Mark

    I dont know, if that is the case i agree, he should do it.  I still think it is goofy.  But I am glad the Pens don’t put their heels together, pin their arms to their sides, and waddle down the ice when they score though ;)

    • Haha 1
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