Neal

I did not know such a thing existed but I need one now! On topic, my beer league team made the playoffs for the first time in several years and I'll be out of town for work for the whole thing.

Nah, the nose is too small. :)

I haven't seen him in a long time, but there was a goalie at some of the pickups I skate at who wore the old Mike Liut style mask. Only his nose was huge so he'd cut a hole for his nose to stick out. I could never raise the puck against for fear of hitting him in the schnoz.

How big is that bad boy? I think you'd get a great reaction if you wore it for warm ups.

Has anybody has issues with the tongue on their M8s? On my pair the very edge on the inside of the tongue sometimes folds over. It isn't very noticeable at first but after some skating time it irritates the top of my foot. Any suggestions on how I can make sure that portion of the tongue lays flat?

I would be interested in a write up about how you made those. My Oggie grip supply is dwindling and I need to find an alternative.

Well that game was anti-climactic. That first period was fun for a while and US showed some life for a few minutes in the third, but otherwise Canada throttled them.

Did anybody watch the game last night? Was it as lopsided towards the NA side as I thought? I felt like other than when Kopitar was on the ice or the occasional shift by Draisaitl, Team EU was getting shelled. If Team EU looked that bad against Team NA, the games against Canada, Sweden and the US could be ugly for them.

@JR BoucicautIf Vaughn bought the machinery, does that mean they intend to produce skates? I was reading earlier posts as if Vaughn was going to be a distributor of Swiss made Graf skates.

I have to agree, I was stunned when I learned it was a 1 for 1 trade. Hall is an elite player right now, with good possession and traditional stats. Larsson is not an elite defenseman yet. Seems like the Oilers gave up a lot for the hope that Larsson becomes elite.

Another thought occurred to me. You are, shall we say, on the larger side, right? I'm 250 and the lady managing my dosages never actually saw me. Once I pointed out that I was a ways outside the normal range for mass, she started cranking up that dosage much more quickly.

Hey, based on my experience with the whole INR, blood thinner, test thing, make sure you get a list of foods and drinks that effect the blood test. I was 2 or 3 weeks into the testing without my numbers changing despite progressive increases in anti-clotting agent quantities before someone asked me if I drank green tea.

If you are serious about wanting to repair them, epoxy won't be enough on its own. You'll need another material like fiberglass or carbon fiber mesh and epoxy.

No experience with the Mako, but I've been repairing Kor Shift 1s for years. The best approach I found was to use a thin slow cure 2 part epoxy and some flexible carbon fiber cloth. Fiberglass will work in a pinch too. Clean the boot really well with soap and water, then dry really, really well. Wipe with a wax and grease remove and wipe dry with a clean cloth. Sand the boot around the crack to provide some tooth for the epoxy to grab. Wipe with remover and wipe dry again. Pull on your disposable gloves and mix up plenty of epoxy and saturate the cloth with it. Apply the saturated cloth to the boot. Apply pressure with your fingers to sort of seal the cloth to the boot. Wipe away excess epoxy with whatever disposable spatula like thing you can find. Disposable spoons work okay. Give it overnight to dry and then you can sand the excess epoxy to make it a bit prettier. Even this is a temporary fix in my experience. I never found anything that would last. I think the boot flexes enough that any type of repair is going to pop eventually.

Yes. Do some digging into logistics and learn what it takes to accomplish what you are asking and you'll understand that you are asking too much for many companies.

POR-15 is not that bad if you don't spray it. There are solvents and hardeners in it that are bad for your lungs, but using it with a brush in a well ventilated area is fine. If you spray it, you absolutely must use a respirator. POR-15 is the best rust sealer in my experience, but for this Rustoleum would work nearly as well.

That rust is pretty bad. I'd either include a wipe down with a light oil in your practice or coat them with a rust sealing/preventative paint like POR-15.

Would you mind taking the laces out and weighing them again? Just curious.

CCM Vector Pro Sr. Hockey Girdle Size: XL Reviewer Info: Level of play: Beer League Frequency of play: 2-3 times per week Size: 6'3, 250lbs Fit: A touch looser fitting girdle. Perhaps somewhere between a traditional pant and a girdle. The XL fits me well in most areas. The Velcro straps across the thigh allows any where from a tight, typical girdle fit to a more pant like fit. Note that there is no length adjustment. A key complaint is the belt. Its on the inside of the pads and has to be really yanked tight to hold the girdle up. It doesn't seem like this will work long term, but hasn't given out yet. 7/10 Protection: I wore a Bauer roller hockey girdle previously, so these are a big upgrade. But even compared to pants I wore years ago these are very protective. Not the best through the inner thighs maybe so maybe not a good option for shot blockers. But the hip, kidney and spine protection is very good, which were the priority areas for me. 9/10 Weight: Heavier than the roller girdle, but still lighter than my old spare pants. I also find the tighter fit masks the weight of the girdle. 8/10 Durability: Been using them for several months now and little wear has shown up. the hip areas have some scuffs from board impacts, but nothing more than cosmetic. 10/10 Conclusion: Solid choice amongst the girdles. Better protection than the Easton girdle on par with the Bauer X60. Maybe not as good as the Reebok, but definitely lighter than it too. Typically a lower price too. Overall Rating: 8.5/10 (34/40)

Get that belt done. If it goes your engine can be damaged badly. How do I know? My belt was bad and broke on Saturday. At least I have a broken passenger side cam, maybe more.

Just got done replacing all four shock absorbers, the front pads and rotors, the spark plugs (g*****n that 6th one was tough) and wires, the timing belt, water pump, all accessory belts and radiator hoses and flushing the coolant and greasing the front wheel bearings on the 2004 Nissan Frontier. Hopefully I'm good for another 100K without major work now. The rotors and shock absorbers made the biggest noticeable difference. Truck rides better and doesn't pulse on braking now. Might have picked up a little more power from the plugs and wires. The old plugs were worn badly.

Your key differences are in the amps used and the max speed. If I'm reading those specs right, the X01 is using 2.5A at 5500 RPM. The X02 is using 2.8A at 3450, but will spin up to 6900. So the X02 is using more electricity at a lower RPM then the X01, so at its max speed the X02 should be producing more torque, while consuming quite a bit more energy. As far as how that will effect longevity, I can't say. The construction of the two motors (bearing quality, winding quality, etc) have a lot to do with that and you can't tell those from a line of specs.

You just posted a picture of my truck with the exception of the dent in the bed side that mine has.

Not a good memorial day weekend for me. I went into the urgent care with a swollen leg and ended up in ICU diagnosed with Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). Basically a big blood clot in my leg brought on by the flight back from India. I got two surgeries to remove some of the clot and check for genetic causes (luckily nithing there). So, 3-6 months on blood thinners. This means no hockey and no skating for 3-6 months. Not good. At 38 I'm really wondering how well my legs will come back from that long a layoff.

BackgroundJoe offered me the opportunity to try one of his custom creations a few weeks back and I jumped on it. I’m a big fan of the Oggie Ergo grip, I've been using them in all my shafts and OPS for years. With that said, I've been experimenting with moving my little finger off the grip at the top for more flexibility. With the standard Ergo grip there is a large flare there that makes this difficult. I've actually carved that off on one of my grips and I really liked it. Having the curved grip with a smaller knob at the end really appealed. Joe worked with me to identify the flex, shape and thickness I wanted. This is what Joe created: For more information, Jarick does a great job describing the grips and the questions Joe asks before creating your grip in his long term review here. I tried the new grip in three shaft blade combos and an OPS. The OPS is a Dolomite in 85 flex with a Savard pattern. The shafts are an Innovative 1100 in 300 flex with a Harrow blade in pattern 4, a Harrow 300 in 85 flex with a Harrow blade in pattern 4 and a Bauer One95 in 77 flex with a CCM 892 in the Recchi pattern. Installation As Jarick noted, I found differences in how the grip fit the different shafts. The 1100 and Dolomite needed needed one wrap lengthwise to snug them up. The Harrow and the One95 needed two strips of tape lengthwise. If you can insert a blade into a shaft you can install an Oggie. 10/10 Weight I never had any issues with the original grip's weight. I think the new one is slightly lighter. I honestly don't care enough to weigh it. 10/10 Balance I didn't find the grip to change the balance of any of the sticks negatively. I used to prefer a wood extension to balance the blade out and give a bit of a blade light feeling, so the extra weight of the grip is actually a positive to me. 9/10 Grip The original Ergo had a huge impact for me. My grip was greatly improved with it and issues I had with dropping my stick were solved. However, the grip did lock your hand into a single way of holding it. There wasn't much flexibility in terms of shifting your hand for poke checks, dekes or shots. This is what really appealed to me about the custom grip. My grip is thinner at the top allowing me to drop the grip into the palm of my hand for more flexibility. At first I was having some issues with dropping the stick but after a game or two I adapted and haven't had any issues since. There wasn't a huge improvement in my game, but I find it helpful in certain situations to be able to twist the grip in my hand slightly for more range of movement. Best of all the new grip did not cause any new aching or pain from my arthritis in my hands. So all or almost all of the grip of the original Ergo but with more choice in how you position your top hand. 10/10 Feel As Jarick stated in his review the grip mimics the look of Powerflex tape, but with a softer, slightly squishy feel. I like the feel of the grip. Between the new and improved texture and the changed shape, I really prefer this style over the older Ergo grip and definitely over a standard taped butt end. 10/10 Flex I mostly used the 1100 as my comparison for this as I've been using an 1100 shaft for years in this flex. I'm very familiar with this shaft. I actually tried a wooden extension, an original Ergo and used the Dolomite uncut to compare flex (Dolomite sorta equals 1100). The Dolomite comparison didn't tell me much as I really didn't like the Savard pattern and it was a bit short for me without an extension. But between the wood plug, the original and the new in the 1100, I definitely preferred the new grip. I'm not sure how much of that is from the flex and how much is from the difference in the texture and grip pattern. I think it is mostly the latter. 10/10 Performance As with the original grip, the new grip didn't add 20 MPH to my slapshot. But it certainly didn't negatively impact it any way. My peak speed and weight of my shots probably didn't change, but I still feel like I get more consistent zip on my shots with an Oggie, especially my backhand. The change in the grip shape didn't impact that. None of the sticks I tried the grip with were impacted negatively. I shot better with the grip in each of them than I did with a wooden extension. Initially my shots were trending left, but a little adjustment time took care of that. My accuracy isn't hugely improved, but my versatility on my shots is. I can get a harder, more accurate shot off in the less ideal situations that are so common during games. I also think my poke checks are better with an Ergo or the new grip. I can take much more impact without losing my grip. I also find I can knock down a shot or hard pass easier, especially one handed. Passing took a game or so of adjustment, but seems to come around to my normal level of accuracy. Initially I had the same left trend as my shots. Probably because I get more follow through with the changed top hand position. 10/10 Durability I've only used the grip for 10 games, so I can't comment on long term durability. I did notice the very top of the grip is wearing a little. I'll monitor this and post an update after several more games. 7/10 - original Ergos lasted 40 or more games for me with only minor wear before I snapped them, so given the bit of wear I'm seeing I'll mark this a little lower. If the wear is only cosmetic after several more games I'll bump it up. The new grip combines all the positives of the Ergo with additional flexibility in how you hold it. What's not to like? 10/10