thelaterskater

There’s got to be a better way to say that

I've played a handful of pickup games and only one person has worn one. Thankfully it's a mature group of guys and many are wearing masks around the rink and in the locker rooms and there's no stigma. I bought a UA Sports Mask to try out this Thursday though. While it's not remotely as effective as everyone wearing one, at least I am decreasing the chances of giving it to someone else if I were infected and asymptomatic.

Details are out: There's a larger Pro version with an interchangeable base: https://sparxhockey.com/collections/sharpeners Not sure what other benefits come with the Pro version. Uses the same rings.

Looks like a hardware update on the way?

I got one of these. It's surprisingly good. No issues at all with fogging so far, and visibility is great. Based on my experiences with other Hockey Tron products, I had low expectations. But it's been great.

Tried it last night for the first time. Snow built up like unwaxed tape so no benefit there. Definitely felt heavier and took some pop out of shots due to the softness. I did heel-to-toe full sock and it started coming off the toe after period and a half. Only good thing was stickhandling, it definitely felt easier to keep the puck on the stick. But the downsides are way worse than that one benefit so I’m done with it.

I wish I had. eBay only has Blacksteel in very big or very small sizes. Found a pair on SidelineSwap to buy some time.

That was already in motion with the Bauer/Step Steel settlement. Now you won't be able to get it for any other holder either (Lightspeed, True, etc).

Guess I'll need to get Trues with the XS holder.

I've actually considered testing this out. Does he roll it on? Dip it?

I ordered some to test. I thought I saw Drew on the Hockey Deals and Discounts group say that it was 3 rolls, but each roll is single use. If that's true, it better be very durable. With how often my blade gets dinged up, I'm not paying $15 per TJ. Spending $10 on Lizard Skins for grip on the top of the stick already feels excessive (but I do it anyway because I love how it feels). This is what I'm most interested to find out: how well being hydrophobic works.

In the Twin Cities I’ve gone from being rated a 2->2.5->3->3.5->4 in one league (range is 1-6) and level 5 out of 10 in another (started at equivalent of their level 9, higher number being lower skill levels in that one).

Basically this. The shooting clinic I listed above is run by Scott Bjugstad and he says he worked with CCM to develop the P30 for exactly what you describe. Don't get too used to it unless you're going to stock up on sticks.

Background: started playing at age 33 about 5 years ago. With a lot of practice and work (including an amazing shooting class where I learned a ton), I have progressed up 4 levels and consistently lead my mid-level beer league teams in scoring. P88/P92 are both great starting points. You can get comfortable with either with enough practice. I would pick one and commit to it for awhile. I think you'll gain more from consistently using one of the mainstream curves than frequently changing things up. After you get settled on one curve, if you notice something you want to fix (let's say, elevating the puck on shots) make the smallest adjustment possible to try to fix that (e.g. going from P88 to P92). I started with P88 and with enough practice was able to shoot fine enough and didn't have any issues getting pucks higher. When I tried a P92, everything sailed and I felt like I regressed in stickhandling and other areas. Went back to P88 and never looked back (except brief tryst with P30...RIP). Sticks with more open toes like P28 are a lot less forgiving and I would never recommend one for a beginner. Great if you shoot off the toe (which I would recommend looking into instead of rolling heel-to-toe, completely changed my shot and made progressing to snap shots easier) but very hard for low-level players to control.