CigarScott

They've been the official equipment provider for the SPHL as long as I've been a fan and other than the Covert twigs snapping at their kick points constantly, I haven't heard any complaints from anyone but players really only use their sticks, helmets, gloves and pants. I don't know if many players use their protective and obviously they don't make skates so you see everyone with Bauer, CCM, or True. My understanding with the AHL and ECHL is that any player on a two-way contract can use whatever gear they want and only guys directly signed by the minor teams are obligated to use CCM (now Warrior). I was at a couple Calder Cup games last year and most of the top prospects for the Stars & Marlies weren't using CCM gear.

I can't get a custom lie and only can get twigs 4" over standard length so that's a bit of a letdown.

If you're in the US, the costs to ship them back and forth between the countries may get pricey and who knows what True would charge you, if they would even want to mess with it. You may be better off getting someone like Bay Area Hockey Repair to do it for you.

Hi all, I'm going be heading to Vegas in a few days and was wondering which sports book(s) you all have found to be the most hockey-friendly. I've heard some now have hockey on the larger screens due to the Golden Knights. Where should I go to put some skin on the Edmonton-Vegas game?

I did end up going with True. I may try the CCM customs next time I need a new pair just to see what they can do for me. But if you have weird feet where no line by either Bauer or CCM fits your profile, you don't have to worry about be shoehorned, no pun intended, into a skate family that may have aspects that aren't ideal for you.

Nexus are for high arched feet. I have wide, flat feet like the OP and had to go customs after trying to skate in Nexus. He may be able to replicate the features on that skate to some degree with getting a custom one-piece CCM skate.

Yes, you're supposed to use a shoe horn to put them on and take them off. They're a breeze to put on and take off once you start using a shoe horn; I keep a $2 IKEA shoe horn in my bag for this very reason.

I got this in my email recently: https://www.icewarehouse.com/lc/brands/ccm-onepiece-benefit-insight.html?fbclid=IwAR3O0ifhOuE_r1oISR6xd8tQBWpw9Ey1NSLkcLDaDhver-FmNMjBmnOHRKc

I forget that I have it then I'll binge read a bunch of articles on it, especially non-topical ones when I have a slow day at work and then forget about it again for a while.

I seem to remember seeing some on their site which is why I asked as I hadn't seen them on any other American sites. Perhaps Chase loaded his suitcase up with a bunch when he was in Quebec... 🙂

Is it safe to assume that you will be releasing steel (if haven't done so already) for the new CCM XS holder?

Can we now get Step Steel for LS Edge holders in the US?

I would take the Bauer scan results with a grain of salt. I think they primarilly basing what boot you should be in based on your foot arch, not volume. They also said I should be in a Vapor due to me having flat feet but I huge volume and couldn't even get my feet into a Supreme skate. I had to wear lace bit pads on a Nexus due to how big my feet and lower calves are. Does your foot feel good in them other than you failing the pencil test?

I was half asleep when I watched it so I may have missed that. Then in that case, I would do the AS1 since they have more volume and are stiffer. I was sad that the video didn't cover all of the options with eyelets, stiffness, extra facings, toe box, etc. It would be nice if CCM did a video that explained all of the options available for custom skates.

It seems like the big difference between the FT2 and AS1 is that the FT2 is a once piece boot. The AS1 was stiffer than the FT2 from what I remember.

This should give you all some chub: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kj4-D6oQDs

Good to see that I'm not crazy for hoarding discontinued gear.

I think most people looking at True's are looking for an alternative to the big two due to not being able to get anything from the other brands to work for them so I think for a lot of people, aesthetics aren't a primary concern to them. It should go without saying that the custom Bauer & CCM skates look a lot nicer than True's. Do True's look like a project from a high school shop class? Yes, but I'm tolerant of it on mine as I knew that going in that they're less-refined looking than the ones coming from Bauer or CCM. Bauer & CCM have an 80+ year head start so they better look really sharp.

Alex and the other guy are good people but he even conceded to me that he has only done a handful of custom orders from either manufacturer. If I did get CCM, I might get Mike in HSV to let me know when the CCM rep is in town and have him fit me then.

That's if you're fortunate enough to have a quality LHS in your area. I live in a part of the US where there is one Bauer & CCM scanner within a 6 hour radius of where I live and the closest True scanner is a 7 hour drive, each way. Even if I was fortunate enough to live in Minneapolis or Toronto, how many people in those areas have experience fitting skates for tall, fat guys with a long list of foot and ankle issues? 🙂 I voiced my concerns repeatedly to the store manager that fitted me for my Trues and directly with True and still had several issues with my skates, but that's for a different thread. 🙂 I am curious about the CCM's and may give them a try whenever my True's crap out, especially if I can get my holders sent unmounted and the boots not drilled.

I had these same concerns which is one of the reasons that I didn't go with CCM; I was too afraid of picking the "wrong" thing and being stuck with $1000+ skates that weren't right for me. I had to deal with a similar issue a couple years ago when I finally bought a new drum set: I went total custom due getting the deal of the decade on it but the myriad of choices was completely overwhelming with not only paint job but wood types, the amounts, hardware, etc. It took me at least six months to come up with a configuration that I was happy with before I pulled the trigger. So far, I've been extremely happy with my kit but it was really stressful trying to decide what I wanted and being concerned that I'd regret some option that I selected. Like custom skates, custom instruments are hard to resell if you end up having to unload them for whatever reason. This is a pretty good read on why having too many choices can be a bad thing for consumers (and retailers and manufacturers): https://fee.org/articles/costco-serves-its-customers-by-limiting-their-choices/

If you continue having arch pain after a few skates, you can try this which helped with my arch pain in my True's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KCsrDNuSis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJkcakEc_Sk

https://www.prostockhockey.com/pants/?&search_query=pants&filter=Size_fq:"M"&filter=Length_Adjustment_fq:"%2B1"&sort=price asc&rows=20&start=0

With all of the high quality skates on the retail market, I'm not sure why anyone who can comfortably fit in a retail boot wouldn't just save the money, time, & trouble and go that route. If you have foot problems, ankle problems, size issues, etc. then I fully understand a regular beer leaguer (or really low beer leaguer, in my case) going custom.