Westside

Definitely outside of any return window. I’ve baked a number of True skates at home and did the same with these initially but perhaps I need to leave them in a bit longer so the become a bit more pliable

Wasn’t expecting that tight of a wrap, just looking to see if it was possible to get a better wrap than i currently have Might try to make the trek to the local pure hockey next week and ask to use their oven

Would you please share your baking settings? I don’t recall what I used with these, but I probably went with True baking instructions since that’s what I’m used to doing at home

The measurement results are the same as I’ve shown in the other photos. Approximately 1/4” taller with the FT6

I would agree with that. Apart from the Tendon guard, I don’t notice any significant difference between the TF and Cat as far as flex is concerned. I had both skates set up the same (tongue, insole, holders, runners)

The boot is a Regular fit. Can’t squeeze my foot into a tapered boot. No heel lift, toes brush the cap, minimal negative space around my feet. It’s worth noting the laces are almost completely undone and the tongue is pulled way out. Only area that is ‘wide’ is the ankle. The facing of the True boot may appear more snug but it doesn’t move whereas the CCM facing still flexes when I tighten the laces. Edit, undid the laces on the FT6 to hopefully show the volume a little bit better. Pencil test across the top of my foot and the pen just misses my foot. Same applies to higher up my foot where my ankle flexes. In my eyes, it’s only the upper ankle area where it flares out that is too big. My foot is hugged everywhere else in the boot

I can drop an eyelet with the Trues no problem if I want to. I normally don’t, but when I do it’s not an issue. I didn’t wrap the Cats as much as I did with any of my TF boots. The TFs were really tight and I had to twist like crazy to get them on/off. Decided to make it a bit more relaxed with the Cats, so I don’t have to twist my foot near as much

Reference the photo above to see where the eyelets fall. 9.5-ish vs 9.25-ish CCM vs True so the CCM comes up higher

FT6 Pro: 10 3/16" so my 0.25" guesstimate was just about spot on Catalyst Pro: 10" on the dot from the floor to the top edge of the cuff The spot heating/wrapping idea was what I had planned to do next. Like I said, I did this method previously although I baked the entire skate. Might ask the help of a friend to try and coax the cuff in a bit more. I think your last comment is probably most accurate and what I was expecting. Just figured there are so many players here that use multiple skates, including True, that I figured someone would have experience with it.

The Cat Pros are actually slightly taller than the FT6 Pros (approximately 1/4"). Both have the exact same holders and steel so this height difference in boot is as apples to apples as you can get. The FT6 rear heel/achilles area drops down substantially more compared to the Catalyst boot, but that shouldn't have any relevance to the conversation here.

I've been skating in Trues for the last 3, almost 4 years. Before that I was skating in a few different models of Bauer for about a decade. The Trues make my feet feel more connected to the ice than anything I've ever skated in and made leaning on my outside edges extremely easy. A few months back I picked up a pair of heavily discounted FT6 Pros just because. The first few skates on them were terrible because they felt so sloppy. Tried a few different lacing techniques, rebaked them, and they feel solid now. However, the ankle area is still very wide, requires me to crank on the laces, and still outside edge work is not as smooth as with the Trues. Now, I'd imagine this is probably more my technique (or lack thereof), but does anyone have any experience, or is it even possible to get CCM boots to wrap more tightly like True boots? I've done the Saran Wrap method, but as you can see in the below photo, the opening is still extremely wide. The True opening isn't even as tight/narrow as my last pair of Trues, yet I can tie them barely snug and not have any problems. I have grown to really enjoy True skates, but am on my 3rd pair due to cracks so I'm just looking toward the future which is why I am hoping to make these FT6s work. I do not play at a competitive enough level that should require me to replace skates every year.

I bought this material in two sizes for shoulder pad strap replacement. It’s the exact same looking/feeling material CCM used for the CLs. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01ABTQ80A?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title To make it look more original, I used a seam ripper to take off the original end pieces and then sewed them back onto the straps. Here’ an example of the front and back of a pair of CL shoulder straps that go along your ribs

Any reason you don't simply want to replace the straps? I've done this on shoulder/elbow pads in the past when they're in great condition overall and it's only the elastic that's worn out. If you want new, agree with others about checking out the Tacks line

If you want stronger, go straight acetone

Yeah, you’ll want to order your same Bauer/CCM size which is likely 1/2 size larger than the TF9. I made the mistake going to same size in the Cat 9 as I had with the TF9 and they are way too snug. Half size up fit perfect

Save your money and buy something else. They’re nice socks, but don’t offer cut resistance, the ‘grip’ they talk about is non existent, and they’re simply overpriced for what they are

I have a pair of Aycane’s cut resistant socks. Agreed that in general they’re very high quality (which they should be given the price). They’re the kind of sock that is very long and goes damn near up to your knee. I run hot and could immediately feel my lower legs hotter when wearing these socks. Ended up cutting off about 4” of length so they fall right around the top of my tendon guard. Much improved for how I like socks while still offering protection to my lower achilles

I couldn’t stand them. Too thick and squishy for my liking. But I suppose if you’re on your feet all day as a coach maybe they’d work. Just not for me

I keep hearing people say this, but even if it this type of injury was under reported by a factor of 1,000, you’re talking just a couple of people a year. Regardless, if people want to wear additional protection anywhere on their person, no problem. Whatever makes you feel comfortable on the ice playing 👍🏼

I remember wearing a collar when I was a kid because we had to. Don’t have any interest in wearing a neck protector, but if I did, it would likely be the warroad option. Their base layers are the most breathable I’ve worn from countless brands (not just hockey). pricey but worth it

I don’t care what anyone says. Tan mitts/pants for outdoor games are always a chef’s kiss

Unless you have some crazy shaped head or some kind of protrusion, I think it's a complete waste of money. Especially given how much the nest tech already conforms to the shape of your head. The only advantage with the total customs is that there's more 'dense' material (not sure how else to word it) at the forehead which would give my sweat pad more of a place to stick on to

100%. It was so much easier before Reebok adopted the EDGE system in 2007. Before that it was authentic or replica and both could be found pretty much everywhere (at least around Chicagoland). Even with Reebok, there were a few places you could find 2.0 on-ice authentic jerseys and you could find them in just about every size imaginable. Since Adidas branded their retail jerseys 'authentic' it caused way too much confusion to casual fans. And finding actual on-ice jerseys became a major chore outside of gamers. Even then, finding smaller sizes (52, even 54, let alone 50) was extremely difficult. I've heard Fanatics is actually going to offer on-ice authentics for sale which will be interesting to see although I'm not a fan of Fanatics period so we'll see how that goes. Either way, collecting jerseys 20+ years ago was definitely easier than it is today

What do you mean by modifying a jersey though? The Indonesian made retail jerseys are made from a completely different material than the ones made in Canada that players wear. That means the starting point for both jerseys is so different that they'll never been the same. As is the cut (the retail jerseys flair out toward the waist) and their sleeves are narrow. The shoulder dimples are shallow, the quality of the patches are thinner, they lack of reinforced elbows, and the 'fight strap' is a joke. I suppose you could tailor the jersey to fix the waist, although the sleeves will still be too narrow compared to pro stock. You could also add reinforced elbows and a better quality fight strap, but why put all that time/money into a subpar product? Your comment about sizing goes against almost every jersey collector since Adidas took over. Most agree that you can size up one size from Reebok and be fine (ie 50 Reebok, 52 Adidas). As someone with a pretty sizeable collection (all on-ice authentic or gamers) spanning 40 years of manufacturers, I've done measurement comparisons in the past and there's no way someone would fit in a 54 Reebok but prefer a 50 Adidas; retail or not.

By ‘similar to pro stock’ I’m assuming you mean the customization because the on-ice jerseys are completely different and you can’t make retail look like them. VanBase sells the Canucks GW stuff so it’s worth reaching out to them or checking their site when they do put the jerseys up there. Seeing as the black alts were only used last year (so far), they’re going to be more expensive than the home/road jerseys. Also a good idea to join a Canucks GW facebook page to see if anyone’s selling. As a jersey/game worn collector myself, I hope you wouldn’t even think about stripping a gamer to have it customized differently. You’ll mostly find 56 and 58 as you’re probably aware. I also prefer 50/52 in Reebok (or CCM for that matter), but 54 in Adidas actually fits pretty well and 56 can be manageable. If you want official on-ice customization, it’s done by a company in Vancouver called Ink Pad (https://www.inkpadshop.com). Not sure if they take on public work or if they only do it for the team so you’d have to reach out to them. If you’re buying a retail jersey then I don’t think it’s even worth being 100% accurate because the jerseys are so bad. If you go the retail route and buy a blank, you can check out customize sports or hockey authentic, both of which come pretty close and can offering stitching for whatever player you want.