depends on your level of pay obviously, but for mens league i just buy sticks for $75-100 a pop from HOAPA or allblackhockeysticks since i can get non-grip in the exact curve, flex, and kick point i want. still score plenty of goals
$85 off sidelineswap. liners and loops were cut which I'm not thrilled about, but otherwise they're barely used and can't beat the price for pro stock franchises
yeah, this is crap. i did nothing but hockey from 12-16. 2 teams year round, hockey camps every summer etc and pretty much hit a wall development-wise. then i took the summer off when i was 16 and played in a summer soccer league instead. came back to my high school and travel teams in the fall and was suddenly the fastest kid on the ice no matter who i was playing with or against. was previously one of the slowest. completely changed my game and i went from 3rd pair D to 1st.
i bought a 4'x8' sheet of 1/8" mdf thats typically used for temporary floor protection so the one side is smooth and the other is rough to stick to the floor. costs $8 at home depot and works well enough for what i need it for
no floppy anything here. on top of my laces being extra long, i also skip the top hole. so when unlaced they're plenty loose for me to slip on and off easily and for the skates to air out properly
ive never had rivet replacements, but i did drop my skates off for something last year i forget what and they cut my laces so i was like "wtf" and they gave me a free pair of replacement laces. so i won on that deal