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.

I'd love to see everyone else's Sparx setup. Here's mine in my (heated) garage:

Good overview here: https://www.hockeystickman.com/blogs/hockey-stick-alerts/retail-pro-model-hockey-sticks-bauer-ccm-and-warrior Note that for Warrior, Pro and Pro Team are different, with the Pro Team being two steps down from top of the line retail stick. I wish I could find some QRE Pros in my specs as I keep breaking QREs but I love them so much.

I have this issue in my left 2S Pro as well. Caused some bad blistering on side of my big toe. I recently cut a lace and had to replace it which has helped oddly enough.

I picked up some Superfeet Carbon yesterday and swapped out my Speed plates and it definitely helped. I'd say it felt 80-90% back to my ideal fit for these skates which I'll take. Didn't have any of the moments where I feel my heels running out from under me. Thanks for the help!

I sharpen with a Sparx at home.

Correct

Just about a year ago I got some custom 2S Pros that fit really well (as you’d hope). But slowly it feels like my foot is settling deeper into the heel. There’s much more room in the toe box and forefoot then when I first got them and I’m starting to notice stability issues feeling like I’m back on my heels again. This happened with my last set of skates too. I’m hardly a good skater so it’s hard to be certain it’s the skate changing but it’s happened with two pairs now. My scans showed a pretty deep heel. Is there anything I can try to do to counteract this? Would rebaking help restore some of the volume of the heel padding or is it a one way street as it gets compressed over time?

Get the Nash black steel rubber honing stone. Best of both worlds.

Hockey Monkey has decent discounts on Warrior Alpha QX and QRE SL right now.

A local shop is now offering this product and I'm considering it. Anyone have any experience with them yet?