puckstopper

Hey all, I've been lurking this thread for several years now. I'd planned to buy a Sparx back in the day, then ended up working at a shop where I could sharpen my own skates, eliminating the need. I've now moved from Columbus, OH where the sharpening options were mediocre to poor unless I did it myself, to an area between Cincinnati and Dayton. While getting out of Columbus has been great overall, somehow the options for a good skate sharpening are actually worse. Literally no-one offers a flat bottom sharpening of any kind. While I suspect if I could get to know the right person at the University of Miami I could get the best sharpening/profiling I've ever had and get my skates cut any way I want, I haven't encountered him or her yet. So, back to the Sparx option. Based on the thread it seems like the consensus is as follows: Sparks is excellent and maintaining level edges (assuming proper verification and maintenance is done). Sparks is good to great in terms of maintaining an existing profile (assuming it's set up properly and not hammering down on the heel/toe). Obviously some retouching of the profile will be needed over time but Sparx is probably better at keeping my profile than Fred Rando at the rink shop. Sparx does an ok job with blade finish. It isn't quite as good as a top notch hand sharpener due to the lack of a finishing pass, but probably nothing most players will notice. For me, those are the 3 biggest factors, so if there are any dissenting opinions backed up by facts/experience I'd love to hear them. The cost per pass and non-replaceability of parts are things I've factored in, and given that there really isn't another viable home sharpening option at this point, I've decided I can live with them. A few more questions: Has anyone tried using wax, jewelers polish or any other polishing agent on the blade to get a better finish? How did it work? If this was covered, I missed it. Is there a major advantage to the Pro base vs the plastic base. I get that the pro base weighs more which should reduce vibration, but is there an actual performance benefit to the base, or is it simply a larger container so that you don't have to vacuum it out as often? Money isn't really an object here, but I do want a concrete benefit if I'm spending a couple hundred dollars more. Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

I'm a big fan of Scenturion. It's knocked back the glove funk in an older blocker/catch glove to next to nothing, and has kept all my newer stuff fresh smelling.

As a goalie I can tell you that curve is of tremendous importance to me. I'd rather use a heavier stick in the right pattern than a pro level stick in a pattern I hate. Bauer only offers P31 at retail because it represented 7 out of 10 sales for them. Comparable patterns from the other guys are P4 from CCM (formerly known as the Crawford pattern) and the TWT from Warrior (formerly Bishop). These are the primary patterns I've used for over a decade now and while there are variations among them that make switching back and forth a less than seamless process, they're all pretty good all around patterns for tips to the glass, controlled passes and long bombs to the far blue line. The other two really similar options are the P1 (Price) from CCM and the WDG (Mrazek/Howard) from Warrior. These are a little better at launching the puck high on clearing attempts, but I struggle with accuracy on them. Bauer used to offer the P34, which was similar but at a different lie than these 2. It reminded me of older Eddie Belfour Christian sticks. Finally, Warrior offers the MID (Quick) pattern. This is the pattern for goalies who don't want to stick handle often but do want lots of coverage on the ice and control tipping pucks to/over the glass.

I used Jetspeed for a couple generations and got a Geo to try out recently. They feel very similar. TBH I was shocked how easy the transition was given that I was changing flex, pattern and shaft all in one. I still prefer my Jetspeeds overall, but that's more because I have an easier time keeping shots low with the P30 than the P92M on the Geo.

Yes, you can reprofile the steel to a more neutral position. K&K skate put an Ellipse profile on the steel for my TF9s and moved me back off my toes slightly. It feels much more natural with the change made. Any reputable profiling shop should be able to move the balance point for you.

Definitely not. But it didn't matter, since you took a blowtorch to your stick the minute you got it home anyway (or at least I did). Stock curves were for benders!

That's exactly where I'd start. Profiling can fix a lot of "feel" issues.

So I just got on the ice for the first time with an Ellipse 1. I found @kkskate while searching online for someone nearby to do an Ellipse for me and want to second everything @SkateWorksPNW had to say about the stellar customer service I received from him. I've had my goalie skates profiled for many years now but rarely skate out so have never bothered with doing my player skates. However, i just bought a pair of True TF9s and really felt like I wasn't happy with how the steel felt compared to my old CCM RBZs. So, with all the chatter around Ellipse I decided to give it a whirl. After several emails back and forth I settled on an Ellipse 1 with only 10 degrees of forward pitch to try to offset the feeling of being pitched too far forward on the True skates. Now that the blades are profiled I'm much happier with them than before. I can't match SWPNW's experience with various profiles but I can definitely say that the E1 is a significant improvement over the stock profile. When it's time to re-profile I may try the E0 for some extra agility but I'm sold on the Ellipse line!

Those CCM skates really are ugly though... Not saying these are my cup of tea, but the new Jetspeeds are.... whoof!

Buy cheap, buy twice...

Why? I'm genuinely curious, as I'm planning to get some form of profile done on my forward skates for the first time. I know what i like on my goalie skates, but am torn between a triple, quad and now an ellipse for my forward skates.

I believe they can claim theoretical utility in the ability to move a set of blades from one brand of holder to another. We all know it's a bit of a stretch, but the theory that there are people who have interest in this function might be enough to allow them to skirt Bauer's patent.

I would guess that it does. They probably got a utility patent on it the same way Bladetech did on their design which would allow them to manufacture and sell it without any concerns from Bauer No. True's design is very different.

Personally I really like the feel of the triple radius I switched to on my goalie skates early this year. It could be psychological but I definitely feel like it works for me better than the dual radius I was using previously. I do wish a shop near me had a ProSharp so I could try some of these options on my forward skates as well. I only skate out a handful of times per year so it hasn't been worth it to me to send that steel off for a profile yet. But given how much I hate how the steel on my new TF9's feels, that day may be approaching if a different sharpening doesn't fix it.

The reason Bauer isn't producing one piece boots right now is that they don't want to invest in new machinery. At least in the shop I work at, CCM offering one piece boots and their 90 day guarantee seemed to eat into Bauer's market share. With the XS holders I expect that trend to continue and accelerate, as lack of quick change steel was the biggest reason customers sited for not giving CCM a try. I agree. When I went from Bauer 1S goalie skates to True 2 piece I was really surprised at all the little sensations that I felt that I'd never noticed before. I just picked up a pair of TF9's, and I'm curious to see if it's the same swapping from 2 piece forward skates to the Trues.