Above40

Sounds great and probably is durable too. I'm interested. I have 40k miles on my tires and live in Wisconsin. Depending on additives during vulcanization process the rubber usually trades some of the "sticky" or softness for durability. They perhaps found a material or tape with the right performance characteristics from an industrial supply house and have rebranded it for hockey. Nothing wrong with that of course. Hopefully they get a better price for buying wholesale and bringing it to market! They may be sold out because the means of production is not under their control and have created unexpected demand for a product that exists already for various other applications. Clearly this happens for every material out there as it finds its niches. (totally surmising here)

That's a great sign that you liked your 5/8" right off the wheel. In my opinion that's where you want to be! I used to wait forever to get my skates sharpened (having to put a few hours on them (or more) before they felt OK again).Probably too common for players to feel this way and it's a good indication their cut is a little too deep. I skated dull 5/8" forever cause they felt fluid and smooth but I was giving up cornering speed and bite. It kinda happens where a dull skate will (subconsciously) limit performance even though everything feels relatively smooth and good. Now I use a sharp 3/4" and love em. I have to get them done more often but I'm happy to do it cause they are always ready to go and predictable right out of the door. Also I've found shallower hollows can still rip tight corners and be fast and aggressive.. I think the blades profile/radius will be a bigger factor in that regard as long as they are sharp. //BTW Good kayak analogy.. I have a recreational kayak and I paddle my a$$ off and more effort really doesn't get me any more speed as you eluded to. Flare Steel: I've always wondered how 3mm became the standard and not 4mm or something. (blade thickness) I think I've read they are hard to sharpen? (though I'm not sure why) Something I'd like to try out someday.

Great advice from Colins! I found the same when transitioning back to skating. I kept trying to tighten these new stiff skates up and get them locked on my feet but the opposite turned out to be the solution. Snug and no top eyelet...they feel a little "tippy" for a while and then they somehow morph into the perfect feel when you adjust. A ton of what I thought were the skates not fitting perfect was about just getting used to being on the ice again. It all comes back. Things I used to obsess over I kinda laugh at myself now about. Ankle strength and "feel" hours...goes a long way... all that lock and tight perfect fit jargon seemed to go by the wayside the more time I spent on the ice. Close is actually good enough. Tighter not better for me. I found it easier to get to the edges when I had more "slop" in my fit. Not loose but snug with room to move. I've learned to love a stiff boot just not laced as tight as in the old days.

Size/trim wise you should be good.. Contour of the arch of boot may be slightly different as the top tier skate of ccm skates seems to be unique to some degree as far as fit/spec but not so much that it should give you any trouble. There's a little flex in the speedplate so I wouldn't give it too much thought. Shove 'em in and go before you go buying something extra for nothin. I think a re-warm on the speedplate the most you'll have to do. What's the procedure on speedplate bake.. Maybe that is done same time as you get baked into the new skates?

Oh wow, super upgrade. New skates tough to get just right but I'm thinking totally worth starting over imo.

I wondered the same as SkateworksPNW but it looks like your pics show it's mostly or all in the holder. Not sure that could be fixed without at least opening up some of the holes a little bit to allow the holder to sit straight. I wonder if the holder is straight when it's off the skate, or just a not great rivet/drill job. Anyhow hope you get it sorted. Pretty weird it popped back..What did he say he did?

I ended up cutting out the two straps (4 total) inside my jofa/RBK 4k's and they sit much closer to my shin bone now with all the the regular padding still intact. Maybe it's a prostock thing but sure seems like overkill having that 1 in gap of space where the shin guard is more or less floating in front of your shin bone. I suppose I could see where it might be a benefit if the shinguard isn't pressing on your skate or lower shin but instead is basically seated on your shin bone instead kinda floating so it doesn't interfere with your stride.. anyhow... maybe that's the benefit or trade-off on the bulky looking jofas, w the inner straps. The 14's are quite wide and I have medium-big calve muscles and so the "wrap" improved after I took a knife to the straps (upper and lower each shin guard just removed the stitching at the attachment points...not much to it.) They look the same otherwise but without the ridiculous thickness front to back. One could remove just the lowers or uppers or all of them. I know you are talking about modding the 14's for length but thought I'd follow up on what I ended up doing. I haven't really seen any other shins that have the inner straps aside from these older rbk/jofas/ I ended up with.

Look like pretty new skates... after a while your heel will probably naturally sit deeper as the liners break in and might give enough relief then. How many hours you have on these skates so far? Also you could probably access the toe cap with a screwdriver handle or something similar just by stuffing your hand into the boot. I don't think you need a complicated vice grip action punch to pull off this mod. Just enough heat from the outside. Should be able to make something happen just try to sneak up on it or heat it up and see if you can feel that zone where it starts to get pliable without getting crazy. Hold pressure on the inside and then heat from the outside. Should cool rather quickly if you can hold it for a minute after removing heat. ///2 cents, ymmv

This is incredible to read..just horrible. Very sorry to hear. This coach or organization just doesn't get it and prob never will until people stand up and start making some noise about it. Sounds like a nightmare and I'm very sympathetic to your situation. I know first hand how quickly a kid can sour on something that they used to love doing, /// I'm somewhat surprised it hasn't been brought up yet but our organization has adopted USA HOCKEY standards for youth development ADM / LTAD. Boundaries and expectations are made crystal clear before coaches are allowed to coach on the ice with the kids. We have mandatory, age-specific training that involves classes, seminars.. online courses and modules.. etc... lays out age-specific guidelines for every youth age group. Covers everything...to the point where a bad apple like this would stick out like a sore thumb... doing things that were way off base for the age they were coaching. Foul language, harassment, singling out players, benching them. Over-emphasis on systems... yikes....at u10 and younger. wouldn't last long. I'm thankful we're in a great club with a lot of support from parents and multiple coaches on Ice every game and practice, I don't think a single head coach could have that much influence over the entire team below u10 around here.The other coaches and parents simply wouldn't tolerate it.

Oilers I've been contemplating altering my shins too but haven't yet. Seems the jump from 13 to 14 shins is dramatic. All of a sudden I'm looking like trunk legs and they just seem so oversized. I have some older NHL RBK/JOFA 4k's where they have these two straps that are stitched in that sort of suspend the shin guard away from the shin bone quite a ways. Was thinking of snipping them out but not easily reversible. Recently been eyeballing the Vapor 1x Lites which appear to be very streamlined in comparison and have three sections hinged near foot and knee. Want them prob don't need them kinda thing. Odd having calves looking nearly as big as my pants

When I was looking for a replacement helmet this past fall I found a V08 (lid only) on fleaBay in my size and thought I was lucky to snatch it up. A few days later I see all three sizes on the shelf at Dicks and they were combos for $20 cheaper! Kinda laughed at myself and re-evaluated the first purchase. I thought they were discontinued. Luckily they accepted returns cause although it seemed like a great helmet my ears were mostly exposed under the guards. Wished it worked cause it was much less assuming than the Reakt-75 I ended up with. Its comfortable and all but makes me look like a martian. The V08 was medium had to go L in the Reakt 75.

Unless you have a wood burning stove it's typically going to be pretty hard to overcook your skates at the recommended times and temps given. In my opinion most of the numbers recommended are too conservative. Cosmetic changes are usually nothing if you use a towel under your skate but that's going to vary by boot material composition. Usually cosmetic changes happen if using a heat gun for a punch when you really need to soften things up. As long as your oven (whatever kind) can be reasonably trusted to heat to the desired temperature, and you aren't drunk and fall asleep during the bake you're going to be fine.(in my opinion).My guess thousands of skates baked in regular gas ovens and electric all the time. Just use common sense and it sounds like you have that going for you 🙂 I preheat to ten-15 degrees over temp.and then shut off oven. once you open that door bye bye to a lot of heat. One new thing to be very careful with is monoframe skates. If you bake those and stand at all in them you could tip the holder and never know it until too late. Probably fixable but that's a different animal altogether. I might only heat gun a monoframe boot. Pretty risky for those who like to put some weight on the arch when they are warm. Just my take.

I stumbled into a shop I've never been in before out of curiosity a couple weeks ago for a sharpen...I was poking around at the new line of CCM skates,, owner walks in and proclaims that "every skate on the wall will fit me 'cause they are all heat moldable!' I said "Oh really, cool!"

Reminds me of my golf ball experience. When I first picked up my stick after 20 years the only thing I had nearby was a golfball. I saw in a YouTube vid (won’t name names) that it would be a great tool for developing touch. Lol well I inadvertently got really good with the damn golfball to the point when I finally got a biscuit to work with it was absolutely worse than starting over from scratch. So frustrating I’m still chopping the puck in half when I try to speed things up.

There's a pair of the Subban's on sideline right now. Not the greatest pictures but you can get a preview of the back of the skates there too. https://sidelineswap.com/gear/hockey/skates/player-skates/1280603-ccm-senior-as3-hockey-skates-d-r-regular-pro-stock-size-9-5

I wish you best of luck resolving your skate issue. I know it can feel frustrating with new skates.

Yes interestingly when you read the CCM website they actually do say (in fine print) that fit profile is for the top of the line models only. I was curious about that statement but it must be true. I feel the top of the line Tacks skate is a touch big in the heel for me and a bit too stiff.. and from what I'm hearing the Ft2 might be my next try. I tried Ft490 in store was in a half size over my last skate, I'll have to strap on a pair of FT2 to actually know for sure,

I doubt your new skates are not properly formed unless you see something that looks out of sorts. Getting new skates can be difficult. I do sympathize! If your skates are comfortable and are fit properly I'd give it a few more skates to see how you do. Brand new blades can feel flat compared to old blades that have been sharpened many times before. It could be those new runners are keeping you in a position you aren't accustomed to, You could try to give it some time to get used to it or you could get your blades profiled so they feel a little more like your old skates. Also the new boots and holder probably doesn't match exactly the angle your foot is used to. Are you lacing the same way? You might leave a couple eyelets unlaced to see how your blades feel with more ankle flexion. Those skates are real stiff and they will lock you up if you lace them all the way up. I like to be able to look down the back of my skate with my ankles flexed.If your tendon guard is always close to your calf you will have a tough time of it, Just a couple of ideas from me. Insoles such as superfeet can lift the heel up but I don't find that fixes the overall " feel" of the blade contact with ice. Profiling or shimming is usually the answer recommended but I'm not expert enough to recommend something for you. Maybe bring your old skates and new skates to a professional and have him look at differences,

I found the same. I tried the 90XX line up and down nothing felt nearly as good as the supertacks which preceded the AS1's. Now I'm really up in the air as far as what is going to work next. The liners in my skates were already pretty beat when I got them. (pro stock)

I recently picked up a pair of HP31 in medium. I was surprised at how long they were. They are standard length (not a + 1 or 2). Also the waist zipper is not unzipped so they should be at the shortest possible configuration for a medium. Also this pair does not have zippers on the legs like I thought they might. I'm 5'8" and my waist is about 35" . I weight about 190. The waist fits perfectly snug as well as around the hips which I think rules out trying a small. The legs around the quads and knees are a bit too roomy for my taste (my quads aren't huge but I have decent legs) and also an inch or so longer than I would prefer. They feel a little clunky but very robust. The dual tightening straps are awesome and also have the laces in front. Unfortunately if I let them ride on my hips they come down a little too far. I could wear them probably with suspenders but they'd be pulled up into the groin area. Not ideal. I feel like there's probably something that fits me better out there but not sure what model that might be. When I put on a pair of the cheapy CCM's in medium they seem to have half the volume of these in the legs and much less protection but are nicely streamlined on the quads. Not sure how well those would jive with my shins but they feel pretty nice. I buy what I can locally (helmet, shins) but wanted to get some pro stock or echl pants...something with good tailbone/hip protection without breaking the bank. The HP31 seem to be available more than other models and reasonably priced most of the time so I gave them a shot. Any suggestions on what might fit a bit shorter? Thanks.

I asked a similar question about a month ago and got crickets for responses. My issue was helmet depth as well as temples. I don't like my ears hanging out below the guards. I ended up with a Reakt 75. Turns out best fit from the entire Reakt_line.(they all fit differently and I prefer the two locks, one on each side vs one on top) for adjustments. Had a little pressure on the forehead when brand new but went away after a couple skates, I start pretty snug for a good fit when it starts to break in a touch.

Puckpilot, thank you for taking the time to get that all out because it's just those sort of "stories" that seem to help the most. Cause/effect. Appreciate it, plenty to draw from even if I'm having sort of the opposite issue. Valuable stuff. Only thing that went over my head a little is that special dual radius you mentioned. the 13/26.. SO if I'm looking at that correctly you needed the front of your skate darn near flat (26')? Indeed pretty outside the box.. Whatever works! Glad you had a few breakthroughs. Can be so frustrating at times.

Hey Oilers, I am in your boat but not quite to the same extreme. I'm in a 9ee and my foot is roughly 4.25" across at widest point. I went so far as tracing my foot on a piece of wood 3/4" thick wood (standard 1 x 6 nominal board) and cutting it out, then contouring the edges slightly sanding basically making a replica of my foot. Had to cut it off about where the arch is cause boots arent flat and also to get it in the boot. Heel area not necessary. Anyhow made a few relief cuts going up the piece of wood not all the way to the toes so it would squeeze a bit smaller in order to shove it in the boot. Then I baked skate nice and hot and jammed that piece of wood in there and laced up the first few eyelets lol. Forefoot actually sat flat after that! It was a used skate I experimented on but it did work. Definitely looked pretty duck-like afterward. I look at other people's feet in skates and I wonder what their foot looks like in the boot cause mine would need to be rolled under like a tortilla to make those shapes.

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------------------------------------------ I didn't start in the correct size but I definitely am now. As far as fit.. it was a lesser of evils proposition. relatively slim heel/ankle , with a big foot print. wide forefoot med-high volume. I haven't had a Graf or Easton skate on my foot but between Bauer and CCM I believe I am in the best fitting retail skate available. I am curious about a heavily punched ribcor in ee.. but i don't think it has the volume for me though. I've read up on their site and offerings. They sure sound like they know what they are doing, but I'd like to understand also what might help and why, rather than take a recommendation blindly. . I'd prefer to have some reference before I invest in the process and go down that road.