Santos L Halper

Mine look exactly the same (Ordered July 25th, received August 13th). They weigh 987g with both the red footbed and the stock True insole in them. Edit: Weight is for a SINGLE skate. I have size 272 Step blade holders and stock StepSteel runners. By way of comparison, my old Bauer Total One NXGs (size 8.5 D, size 272 Tuuk LS2 holders, standard Bauer steel, standard Bauer insoles) weigh 816g per skate.

Outstanding. Thanks for the tips. I'm not on my skates today, so it's a perfect time for a rebake!

Interesting suggestion and I may go that route if you believe it's worth a try. However, just to be clear, my heels aren't rattling around in the skates - they're lifting up when I stride, ESPECIALLY when I'm skating hard. I'm thinking my baking may not have given me a proper heel lock?

Back after Saturday's 4 hour marathon....and 2 hours last night. Safe to say that I REALLY, REALLY like these skates and putting my Bauers back on my feet (if I ever do it...) will be really tough. They ARE, however, noticeably heavier than my Bauers and I'm not sure I'd like them quite as much if I were still playing competitively - but, I do imagine that I'll get used to that in time...and, since I coach way more than I play these days, I think I've probably hit on the perfect coaching skate. That said, I've noticed that, even after baking them a second time, my heels are slipping - particularly if I'm skating hard. I can't give a quantifiable amount that they're slipping and it's impossible for me to tell WHY they're slipping; but they're definitely slipping...and that concerns me. I thought the whole point of the True/VH skate was to eliminate this sort of thing...? Should I rebake? If so, does anyone have any tips as to HOW I should use the ratchet clamps/tensor bandages to improve that heel lock? If I can eliminate this heel slippage, I'd be an EXTREMELY happy customer...

Could very well be - having sharpened much stock Bauer/CCM crap on my Sparx, I can tell you that the StepSteel takes a sharpening better and holds a keener edge....

Uh oh....skate #1 is in the oven now... That said, according to the video, 'a couple of hours' before you skate is sufficient. Regardless, my skates will be soaked after coaching tonight, so I'm not sure that's the best time to bake them. Guess we'll see how they hold up....maybe I'll put them in my beer fridge for a couple of hours after I'm done, here! 😁

Hey all. So, I've had my True/VH skates for a little over a week now (coming from Bauer TotalOne NXGs). I've baked them once, sharpened them in my Sparx, and skated once for two hours (back to back practices on Wednesday night). Here are some questions and observations I have after that short amount of time.... It Still Feels Weird I never wore the Makos, so the way these skates feel is just.....weird. Granted, it's only been two hours, but I'm still referring to my Trues as 'my new skates' and my Bauers as 'my skates'.... For those that never wore Makos or any other similar skates, how long did it take until the Trues became 'yours'? Need a New Grinding Ring!!! After two hours on the ice, it's become apparent that, with these skates, I do NOT need anywhere near as deep of a FBV/Fire sharpen as I do on my TotalOnes. It was bizarre, I jumped on the ice for the first time and almost stopped dead. It felt almost like skating on artificial ice there for a while. Once I got going, I realized it was because I was gripping the ice WAY more and, biomechanically speaking, was in a much better overall position - centered on my edges with proper ankle/knee/hip positioning. Put differently, these skates make it NATURAL for me to get my body in the correct position and, when demonstrating, I don't have to *think* about getting my body in the right position. I just go there... All of that said, I want more glide, so I'm thinking that I'll back off my FBV from 1/2" to 5/8". Anyone else experience this phenomenon? Time to Bake Again: I want to get rid of some negative space in both skates and generally get my heels further back (I was, perhaps, too tentative with the whole 'kicking the heel back' thing when I first baked them). Obviously, I need to bake again - anyone have suggestions on time/temperature I should be using? The lone piece of paper that comes with the skates isn't super specific and I don't want to pull an eyelet out or anything.... As an FYI, I have a regular household convection oven with a baking stone in the bottom to ensure even heat - the lowest I can set it for is 180 degrees F. Presuming I'll be using ratchet clamps and tensor/ace bandages, after removing the skate from the oven, how much time will I have to get everything situated the way I like it? The pens to either side of the tongue in Superjet's picture above - I presume that was done to make it possible to lace the skate after baking? When those eyelets fold over, lacing definitely gets really interesting.... Once I get everything set, how long should I leave the skate on my foot to cool? Since a goal of mine is to remove negative space, should I bake barefoot - even though I will wear regular athletic socks while skating? Holy Foot Sweat, Batman!!! I've worn a lot of skates in my life, but I've NEVER had this much sweat come off my feet. My socks were literally SOAKED after two hours on the ice. Anyone else experience this? Should I be concerned about this from a 'damaging my skates' perspective - particularly if they don't get fully dry between on ice sessions? For instance, sometimes, I'll be on ice for an hour; off for two, then back on for two - no way are my skates going to dry completely during that two hour break - is that bad? Any tips on drying them out? Should I remove the footbeds? I think that's about it...any and all feedback/assistance/admonishment would be very much appreciated! I hope to rebake today and will be on the ice for an hour tonight and again for 4 hours on Saturday - I'll report back after that marathon!!!!

Yeah, if I were a goalie (or had a goalie in the house...), I'd be literally LIVID that the cross-grinding capabilities were removed from the system. The Step Steel on my True/VH skates isn't bad as far as burrs go; but the chrome SB 4.0 steel on my kid's friend's JetSpeeds burrs EXTREMELY badly, and my kid's Tydan's steel isn't much better. Again, I CAN take care of the burrs, but it's a pain.... Inverter: I got this one from PepBoys and it seems to be fine. You could probably get most any 800W inverter on the market and have success, but beware any of them that claim to plug into your cigarette lighter for anything over 175 watts - you really need to connect anything that draws 175 watts or more to your battery, or you risk damaging your car's electrical system. Also, don't waste your money on a pure sine wave inverter. It's a skate sharpener, not an EKG monitor. Travel case: Nope. I have a crew-cab truck (4 doors), so I just put the sharpener on the floor of the cab of the truck behind the driver's seat. I, of course, use all of the travel guards when I'm transporting the sharpener, but I've had no problems doing this. For road trips, I just put the sharpener back in the box it came in. That way, I can stack stuff on top of it and not worry about anything happening to it. I may buy the travel case at some point, but it's not pressing at this moment. Bastards! It's how they get you!!!! 😁

So, I've had my Sparx sharpener for just over a year now and I figured that, since we are at the start of a new season, I'd go ahead and post my observations, praise for, and, yes, gripes about my Sparx... (TL/DR - It's an awesome machine. I'd almost definitely buy it again. That said, removing the cross-grinding capabilities from the consumer model was a horrendously stupid decision and I still struggle with getting the sharpener to go consistently high enough on the toes of skates.) The Good: Consistent edges. Every. Single. Time: I simply cannot overstate how much this means to someone that (a) doesn't have access to consistent, predictable manual sharpening; and (b) relies on his skates to make a living. Convenience: As a coach, I am on the ice between 8 and 12 hours a week - sometimes much more, depending on private lessons, sticktime groups, etc. I also have a son that is on the ice upwards of 6 hours a week. Since I won't allow the guys that work at the rink shops to touch our skates AND I live over 30 minutes from the box stores (which don't do a good job, either); having access to sharpening on an 'as needed' basis is invaluable. Ease of use: I'm over 40 years old and I work full time as a hockey coach. I do NOT have the time to become an expert on a manual Wissota or Blackstone machine. I. Just. Don't. I'm willing to stipulate that someone that IS an expert on those machines MAY be able to give me a sharpen that is as good as, if not better than I get on my Sparx...but I don't have access to any of those guys and, since I have neither the time nor the inclination to become one of those guys, I love that I can give my skates a great sharpen without needing to invest an additional 30 years of my life towards mastering a manual machine. Profile Maintenance: I understand that guys that know what they're doing with a manual sharpener can properly maintain a profile, but guys that know what they're doing aren't available in Southern California...and the ones that DON'T know what they're doing can wreck a profile in 2-3 sharpens; so I love that having a Sparx means that the money I've invested in profiling my kid's steel wasn't wasted. Portability: This year alone, my Sparx has sharpened skates in California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. THAT'S awesome! Micro-Adjustability: I love that, using the edge checker, I can really dial in perfectly even edges. It takes manual sharpeners hours of dicking around with their equipment to make sure stuff is lined up. I can do it in a couple of minutes with my Sparx. No "Wheel Dressing" or Other Nonsense: With a Sparx, you never have to ask yourself if 'it's time to dress the wheel'. You just sharpen your skates and get on with your day. Freaking awesome. Additional Income Stream: While I don't make a TON of money, the fact that I can save the hockey families that I work with from lousy (and expensive!!!) rink sharpenings while also making a few bucks isn't a bad thing.... The Not so Good: No Cross Grinding Capability: Dumping the cross-grinding ring was a monumental mistake by Sparx (are you reading this, Russ??? MON!YOU!MENTAL!). Look, I get that the filter was getting clogged. I get that people were chewing through their steel. But when you have an even marginally damaged blade that you need to contend with, running 10+ passes with a $60.00 grinding ring is FUCKING IRRITATING!!! Apologies for the cursing, but damnit, both the reasons that have been given for, and the practical effect of, the elimination of a cross-grinding ring are giant piles of solid waste from a male of the bovine species. Hockey is a rough game and edges routinely get damaged. The fact that I have to suck down 1/10th of a grinding ring's life when my kid goes feet-first into the boards ONE TIME just pisses me off. No Provision to Attach a Shop-Vac (or other dust removal system): I love the portability of my Sparx (see above...); but when it's in my garage at home, I'd ALSO love to attach my shop-vac to the system so that I can suck out all of the mess as it occurs. "But the aiiiiiiir filter!" you say. Mmmmhmmm. My shop-vac has a HEPA filter. It works great. Plus, it has a huge amount of suction. This seems like a total no-brainer and one that should have been thought of when designing the machine. (A note on the two above "Not so Goods". Yes, I could have purchased the PS100, but that runs at a $350.00 premium to the the ES100. Which is patently ridiculous...) Getting the Wheel Consistently High Enough on the Toe: I've dicked around with this to no end - toe right, toe left, goalie risers, no risers, small tip forward in the clamp, etc, etc, etc - I just can't seem to get the wheel to consistently hit where I want it to on the toe without a huge amount of chattering/jumping/skipping. I understand hockey players don't skate on the toes of their blades...but we DO start on the toes of our blades and we have to trust that we have SOME edge on our toes so that we can start explosively and efficiently. Doesn't Like Fancy 3rd Party Steel: Part of the benefit of the Tuuk LightSpeed and CCM SB systems is that you can easily replace your crap stock steel with good steel (Tyden's etc...). However, good steel seems to burr horribly in the Sparx and I have found myself taking these fancy-steeled skates out of my Sparx every two passes to de-burr. Is this difficult? No. Is it a pain in the ass? Absolutely. Observations: Traveling with a Sparx attracts lots of attention and questions - almost everyone's HEARD of the Sparx, but not many have seen one 'in the wild'. Once you sharpen their skates, they're (usually) believers. I've spent a bunch less at our local big-box stores - not just on skate sharpening, but also on random useless hockey stuff I don't need. It used to be impossible to get out of HockeyMonkey or PureHockey without at least $25.00 of crap IN ADDITION to the skate sharpening - now, since I'm never there unless I need something specific, I'm not spending unnecessary money there! I sharpen my skates WAY more often than I used to - not just due to the convenience factor; but also due to the fact that I'm not afraid of dropping my skates off and returning to a crappy sharpening job. A $90.00 800W power inverter means you can sharpen skates in your car.... As the sharpener only draws 200W, you could probably get by with a 400W inverter, but they're not much cheaper and you want to make sure that you have enough 'start up' wattage capacity that you're not tripping fuses in your inverter. Plus, who knows when I'll want to run a 70" TV off my truck battery? Also, local rink pro shops hate me now. I've become 'that coach that has the sharpener in his truck' and I love it. I thought the grinding wheels would be a pain - but I actually like them. They're easy to store, portable, and easy to swap out for a different wheel - no dressing or tedious alignment necessary. That system is pure genius. The option for the Fire/FBV hollow is awesome. I wasn't sure anyone would like it, but it's really caught on and nearly everyone that's tried it has loved it. Anyway. That's about all I can think of as far as my thoughts after 'a year with a Sparx'. Hopefully this will answer some questions people who are still on the fence may have about the pros/cons...or, at least generate some discussion, here. In the end, I'd definitely buy a Sparx again - but I'd probably give strong consideration to saving my pennies for a 1/2 year or so and getting the PS100 instead of the ES100....

*nods* Yep. Lowering the wheel one click reduces the upward pressure by the grinding wheel on the blade, which will absolutely help reduce burrs. To me, that whole "grinding wheel height adjustment" thing is still the biggest piece of voodoo with the Sparx - how high is too high? And...in the same breath, how low is high enough?

*nods* Yep. In the end, I generally wind up back on the whiteboard as well. However, it just feels so....antiquated to me. A spaghetti dinner's worth of lines going every which way, erasing errant scribbles with the sleeve of your track-suit, no way to show players how it looks when everything is in motion - not to mention the fact that, depending on the age of the players involved, up to half (or more!) of them aren't paying attention to a whiteboard at a given moment. When I see the animations that can be done (particularly in HockeyCoachVision), I start to fantasize about mounting a 42" TV on a mobile cart, wheeling it out to the corner adjacent to one of the players' benches, and pulling it right up against the glass. Then, I'd pass cables through a hole in the "non ice" wall of the player's bench and have not only a huge screen, but also the ability to use my dry erase markers on the glass to emphasize a particular point. Unfortunately, still a pipe dream at this point.... Anyway. I agree that these tools are great for sharing with assistant coaches and (depending on ages, of course), players. I love it when everyone shows up at the rink prepared!

On the subject of technology.... I'm just wondering what other coaches think of the various computer based drill designing tools out there...and, if you use them, how you've integrated them into your coaching. Any DrillDraw guys? What about HockeyShare? Or, HockeyCoachVision? Personally, I see much value in being able to bring technology to the ice - particularly if it allows us to more efficiently (and effectively) utilize precious ice time. However, there are obvious limitations with these packages, such as limited screen size, the relatively large amount of time invested in learning to effectively use the tools, and the difficulty in determining whether our practices are actually "BETTER" once we start using them. Anyway. Figure this is a good a place as any to discuss this, so let's have at it.......

At the 8U level, I tend to agree with the USA Hockey ADM philosophy of enforcing equal minutes via a forced line change at a whistle or scoreboard buzzer every 90 - 120 seconds. That way, we, as coaches, don't have to think so much about who's had more (or less...) ice time - we just split our kids into roughly equal groups and change at every buzzer. The way I see it, there will be plenty of opportunities in the older age groups to shorten our benches while chasing victories - but 8U is NOT the time to start that. As far as 'meaningful minutes' go, as trite as it sounds, we can't let ourselves forget that these are kids, NOT mini adults. Especially at 8U, kids' motivations are different than ours - thus minutes we might consider especially 'meaningful' as adults may not have any special significance to the average 8U player. Put differently, individual kids (generally) don't care if they're the ones relied on to be on the ice with 1:30 to go in a one goal game...they just want to be on the ice, have fun, score goals, and celebrate afterwards with their teammates, greasy pizza, and overpriced video games. Don't worry about choppy teaching. Kids are generally episodic learners - meaning any overall theme you might be trying to establish will likely be lost on them anyway. Get the teaching you can done within the framework you have to operate and, above all, keep them smiling. If the kids you coach at 8U are excited to sign up for 10U, then you've done a great job!

Greetings and welcome, Ray! First off, a sincere "thank you" to your for your service to our country. Your and your family's bravery and sacrifices are appreciated. Ahhhh....coaching your own kids. Speaking from my experience, it can be at once the most rewarding and terrible experience a coach can have. That "dad/coach - coach/dad" dichotomy is occasionally difficult for everyone to manage and requires healthy doses of love, patience, humor, and understanding to successfully navigate. If I were to give any advice, it would be to enjoy every minute of it. Our kids grow up so quick and those hours we get to spend on the ice teaching them to love the game that we love should be the happiest of our - AND their - lives! Yikes! Get yourself some new skates! (Of course, you probably weren't a teenager as long ago as I was - so maybe they're not all that old after all....)

Yeah. Probably should have mentioned that.... I've tried both on in the store and the Warrior QRL Pros seem to fit "closer" than the True XC9s. Again. In the store. However, I cannot speak to how either glove breaks in or how it feels over the long term.

I'd probably disagree. Anecdotal to be sure, but I've personally seen two pairs of True gloves fail prematurely (...at least, what I would consider "prematurely") at the zipper attachment *to the glove*, not to the replaceable palm. I have not seen similar failures in Warrior gloves...but then again, Warrior gloves don't have the zipper. Definitely not a large enough sample size to conclude that said failure is representative of the overall quality of the gloves - but absolutely enough to give me pause regarding True, were I considering a new pair of gloves. Personally, I wear STX Surgeon 500 gloves and love them. I've always felt like hockey gloves could/should be more like lacrosse gloves when it comes to anatomical fit, overall finger dexterity, and wrist mobility; and the Surgeon 500s are the closest thing I've ever found to being sort of a 'hybrid' between a hockey glove and a lacrosse glove. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

People like the horse's ass that is in charge of OP's town's organization see a group of guys and girls that don't have kids involved - and yet, simply because they love hockey (and maybe want to teach a kid or two to love it as well), are STILL willing to coach...thereby sacrificing any semblance of a normal social/family life... ....and then discourage their participation. That attitude is so idiotic I have a hard time fathoming how it ever gets perpetuated. The people that don't "have a dog in the fight" are the coaches that we should be ENCOURAGING - not driving out of the game.

Just wanted to say CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! My 16s play for the state championship on Saturday - can't wait!!!

That. And they're typically more concerned with getting sticks/skates/bodies in passing lanes. At least, they should be. There are always exceptions, but I coach most teams to give the strong side point the boards as far down as the hash-marks and concentrate on taking away his passing lanes. If you're defending the passing lanes correctly, you can almost always get to the shooting lane as well; AND unless said defenseman is an exceptionally skilled shooter, he's not going to do any damage from out there, anyway. Presuming the angle is played correctly, they're almost always forced to dump the puck in the corner and get back to their positions. Gotta be careful not to let them get too low, though, because a savvy winger/center can trigger a low-to-high cycle which can be tricky to defend. Ahhhhh...the classic "Here, let me tell you how to do your job, while I neglect mine." It never gets old...

Speaking as the LD, I love it when guys stand on top of me at the point. For the reasons you stated, the puck is on my side a lot, so I know that I'm going to be making that "pinch/no pinch" decision pretty regularly during a game. If a wing spends his whole shift on top of me, I never have to worry about getting caught in that 'no man's land', where either decision seems wrong. If goofy flypapers himself all over me, I almost always pinch and, even if I lose the race to the puck, I know it'll be close enough that (a) he won't be able to just chip it by me, and (b) I can always tie up the play along the wall and create a battle that my team stands a better than even chance of winning. Sure, I may not have as many opportunities to unleash a clapper from the point...but, I don't have as many opportunities to shatter a stick that *I* have to pay for, either...

*nods* Yep. The intelligent, good skating, puck moving defenseman has rapidly become arguably the most important human commodity in high-level hockey.

+ about a million. We get too caught up with "systems"....and calling things like basic defensive zone coverage "systems"....and putting forth useless euphemisms such as "system hockey is winning hockey". It's all a bunch of festering male bovine excrement - particularly in a beer league environment. Honestly, if you don't have the time or resources to create AND EXECUTE a series of structured, progressive, scenario-based practice plans to teach a "system", then you're better off stressing general concepts. Hopefully OP has some more experienced guys around that can first get on the same page with each other and THEN show the team things like, "hey, wings, when your side defenseman drops into the play, drop with him, but don't stray too far into the middle or we'll never be able to break the puck out."

If you just want to work on your general hockey IQ, I definitely recommend USA Hockey's Intelligym online trainer. It's a bit pricey, but USA Hockey members get a discount. https://www.usahockeyintelligym.com/ You could try it for a month or two and see what you think - if nothing else, it's kinda cool to spend some time training your mind like the kids in the NTDP do. If, however, you're more interested in integrating 'system play' into your beer league games, that becomes a bit of a different animal. In order for it to truly work, you need to have a group where everyone is on the same page as far a commitment to the system goes....AND you need to actually PRACTICE. You can diagram specific system-reactive scenarios such as, "what does D2 do if F1 gets trapped in the corner in an odd-man down situation" on a whiteboard until you pass out from the dry erase fumes, but chances are, the only people who will be able to apply it in a game are those who have actually LEARNED the 'system' via structured, progressive, scenario-based practices. Just my $0.02...

Love this video - have been referring to it for years....to the point that I can hear the music in my sleep. The importance of skating simply can't be overstated - particularly given the way the game has changed in recent years. High level hockey has become a speed and finesse game. Though the physicality of the game remains, gone are the days of the plodding grinders and pure "stay at home" defensemen. If a player can't skate at a high level, s/he can't PLAY at a high level...it's that simple. It's gotten to a point that, if a young player shows ANY interest in getting involved in the club/travel hockey world, I immediately advise the parents to invest in skating lessons - regardless of how "good" their kid seems to be out there. (Hell, I believe in skating lessons so much that I advise the in-house kids/parents to do it, too...but, as far as I'm concerned, it's virtually a necessity for club/travel level players.) Bad skating habits are SO much easier to correct when a player is younger than 10-11....once they reach 12U (pee wees) and they start hitting the beginning stages of puberty, the little things have a tendency to morph into "big" things and become damn near impossible to fix.

Yep. My favorite thing to say in practice is, "LOOK! READ! REACT!". That said, particularly in the younger age groups, I also try to teach them not to be afraid of making a mistake. So many young kids are simply paralyzed by their fear of making the 'wrong' play that they either hold the puck until they're completely out of options (bad), or panic and throw it away (way worse). I try really hard to instill a 'no judgement' philosophy in my assistants in the younger levels - the only mistake we consider 'unacceptable' is the mistake of not working hard. Otherwise, they're teaching opportunities. In my experience, once kids figure out that they're not going to get barked at because they make the 'wrong' play, they become way more receptive to seeing the 'right' play and, more importantly, WHY it's the right play. Agree, to a point. Though I don't use them anywhere NEAR as much as my coaches did when I was young, drills still have their place in my practices - particularly drills that force kids to use their creativity and step outside their comfort zone when it comes to handling pucks and playing with pace. I will intentionally design drills that have multiple decision points for a player and insist they are done at warp speed. The only time the kids get barked at is if they slow down. It all goes back to "LOOK! READ! REACT!" The faster the kids can recognize a situation (even a contrived one) and make A decision...the easier it is to teach them to make the RIGHT decision.