psulion22

With modern larger knee pads and butterfly technique, you need open landing areas. I don't see any way to get that without going knee-to-calf with any straps, even the elastic. Any strap behind the knee across is going to cause binding and lack of rotation. If you are missing the landing gear, you can get smaller knee pads which will allow you to get closer to the front of the pad and on to the gear. I would normally recommend Passau, but since you are smaller, they are going to be too big and cause you the same problems. I would look into either the Bauer 1S or Warrior Ritual X Pro retail guards. Both have a pretty slim profile and are still protective. I have the Sr version of the Ritual X, and I really like it. If it were better cushioned in the landing area, I woud be wearing them over my Passau's. I think the Pro version will address that and also be more protective. You may also consider the strapping system that Monster Hockey sells that goes around your calf. It replaces the knee strap, so you get a much more open knee cradle, but it still keeps your leg in place and the pad in control.

I agree, F cancer. F it hard.

0-3 in Championship games this week. And I feel like i ruptured a disc in my back last night. Two years to the day after I broke 3 vertebra.

And now for the trifecta, I just got a text from the captain of the team at the third rink I play at (this one is the Panthers practice rink and HQ) that our 6:45 game on Sunday, has been rescheduled to 11 pm. To boot, no one was told of the change. One of our subs looked at the schedule and saw the 11 o'clock game, and asked if we needed him like we usually do for late games. If he hadn't checked, we would not have known. I'm seriously frustrated and perplexed by the overall imcompetence that's going on. If I screwed around with my paying customers this way, I'd be fired.

I don't disagree, I tend to not participate in the "arms race". But I'm also a team guy, so if that's what the team wants and how I can help , fine. I did switch and play D. And we did win, against their 3 B players and now surprise B goalie (who was not their goalie all season). We have another good player that subs sometimes. And he didn't want to play down in this league so much, just like I don't like playing down. But he's friends with all of the ringers this other team brought. When he found out all of them and now the goalie were playing, he wanted to play. The thing is that neither he or I will skate 100% and dominate the game like a lot of other ringers, and the guys on the other team, do. We play defense, neutralize their B players, and then let our C guys play their C guys and see who wins. I don't take the puck end to end or skate all around their players, and neither does he, even though we both could. We make defensive plays, retrieve the puck, and then pass it to someone else. The point still remains that this is an easy thing to fix with a competent director. There's just no reason to let guys that obviously don't belong in a division to play. At the very least, you can let the team know he can't play next season in that division. So if other teams complain, they will know it's handled rather than trying to find their own ringer.

How hard is it to manage adult hockey leagues? Seriously. It doesn't take a rocket scientist, or even Wile E Coyote. But I'm constantly amazed with the ineptitude, idiocy, and indifference of league directors. I just got a text from my MONDAY league captain saying that the director is pissed off that we can't play tonight (Wednesday), because he wants to have the best of 3 finals done by the end of the year. We have never played on any night but Monday. There would be no reason for us to expect to play on any night but Monday. (I already have a playoff game in a different rink tonight) But he says he "scheduled" it. It's not on the website, or on Pointstreak (none of the playoff schedule is). He didn't tell us on Monday when we won the semi (he wasn't there). If one of our players didn't work at that rink and notice it was on the daily schedule board, we never would have known. If you want to play on other nights to get the game in, fine. But post the full schedule in advance, on the league website, and let someone know. It's really not that hard. And this is the "good" director compared to the ones at the other rinks I play in. Grrrr. And I just got a text from my Wednesday captain that I play goal for. He wants to know if I would play out tonight instead (I'm a B-level defenseman, this is a middle-C league) because he found out the team we are playing (who went 14-1 this season) is bringing B league players (who are likely ineligible). They have brought these guys in the past, and were not stopped then (we lost 5-2 and they had all 5 goals). So if we want to win and make the final, we will have to bring ringers of our own. Again, how hard is it to watch a game and see that there are guys who don't belong, and may or may not be on the roster, and tell the team they can't play anymore?

First of all, your pushes and down movements are excellent. Very strong and fluid. When I watch that video, what sticks out is that you aren't setting your feet. You are constantly moving, even when you don't have to. For example, the first goal. you come out to create depth, then immediately start to back up and give some of it away, and move off your angle. The puck hadn't really moved much so there was no real reason for you to give up your depth. I know you were looking through a screen. But you were in the right place, and moved yourself out of it on your own. This happens a lot, if you look closely. Find the angle, create depth, and set your feet. Make small adjustments as necessary, but always get to the new spot as quickly as possible and set your feet again. Snapping your heels into place each time you adjust is a good way of getting set up. Even shuffles and t pushes should be a series of distinct individual movements, start-stop, not one long one. When you are in constant motion, it's easy to get off your angle, or lose your net, or depth. You lose some efficiency in your movements because your weight may not be set, and you may be a little slower because you have to correct before you can move. Rebounds and saves are a little harder to control because you are maybe a little slow or having to readjust to the shot before moving. Just my observation.

I do like your videos. I need a laugh sometimes. LOL!!! :P Good news that you aren't in pain anymore and the ankle is doing well.

My team isn't bad. We won the championship last season (with a MVP performance by me). But they have a problem with the forwards. Too many turnovers, too much getting trapped down low, too much leaving the zone before the puck, and not enough backchecking. When they can control the puck and get pucks to the net, they are good. But if they have problems doing that, the forwards have no defensive awareness at all. It wasn't like this game was all breakaways and odd man rushes. I can handle those. This was all clean, open looks with a lot of time. A lot of shots from in the "guts" of the ice, And a lot of puck movement when the puck didn't get out of the zone. Those kinds of things are a lot harder to deal with. I had to make a lot of saves on close shots that make it hard to control rebounds, then make the save on the rebound. And a lot going from side to side or back against the grain.

Yeah, I've seen your videos. LOL!!

Ugh, is there anything worse as a goalie than to play out of your mind only to still get destroyed? We lost 7-4 after I got us out of the first period 3-1, and had it 4-1 5 minutes into the second. But my team stopped skating and couldn't get the puck out of our zone, or control it in their zone. The score could have easily been double that if I didn;t play so well. Now I know how Henrik Lundqvist feels.

Absolutely fair. But I wouldn't be so negative about them in terms of recommendation for someone who may like them. I wouldn't rule anything out for her like that. Maybe Vaughn because it will be a softer pad with soft rebounds which isn't what she wants. But the Bauer gear may suit her well if she likes it. That's all I'm saying. I'm sure you would agree with me on that.

Well, there was that bit about Bauer gear. Just sayin' lol

Several people. You can sort that out for yourself based on my comments. I'm not going to call out each individual post.

There's a tremendous amount of bad information being thrown about on here in the last few posts. First of all, sizing is based on height, shin length, and skate size. Without knowing those 3 measurements, it is frankly impossible to determine what size pad they should be in. Saying "I'm in ____" is absolutely worthless. Height is not an accurate comparison either, because people who are the same height can have different shin and leg lengths. I, for eaxmple, have short shins and long thighs for my height. I need a shorter pad with a longer thigh rise to fit correctly. In Brian's, I should be a 33+1" based on my height, but I'm actually a 32+2" based on my ATK. Different pad brands have different measurements as well. Get the measurements, and find the sizing guide for the brand you want. That's the only way of more accurately determining what size pad you need, outside of trying pairs on. And even trying them on isn't perfect unless you are wearing your skates and pants, and preferably on ice because "carpet flys" aren't the same as on ice. Second, there is confusion between a "stiff" pad and a "stiff core" pad. The stiffness of the foam inside the pad is what determines how far your rebounds will go. This is different from a "stiff" pad, like a Subzero or 1S, which refers to flexibility in the knee breaks. You can have a more flexible pad that still has a stiff core and gives hard rebounds, like a Gnetik and the upcoming 1X. The stiffness of the breaks provide lateral and torsional stability, which helps increase efficiency of lateral movements. However to really benefit from the stiffer pad, you need to have good butterfly technique, particularly in weight transfer and hip movements. If you don't move from side to side with pushes on the ice and recoveries, the stiffer breaks aren't going to benefit you and may actually hamper you because the pad will not twist to be a little more forgiving. A stiff pad will also put more strain on your hips, knees, and ankles. Stiffening the core may help sliding efficiency because the core will better distribute your weight, reducing friction. For me, a stiff core pad with soft breaks is the best. It gives me the torsional rigitity and stability I want, while still providing a little give. A 4-4-3/2 Sub3 or the 1X might be my best options. Vaughn tends to use a softer foam in their core, as do most mid-level pads. That is why they give soft rebounds. The foam used in even the senior level Brian's or Bauer pads isn't the same as what is in the pro models. They are still probably the best values on the market, either the G3 senior or Brian's sr version, because they still have many of the high-end features, and the foam is still pretty solid. In terms of innovation in pads, no one is innovating like Bauer. End of story. They have used new materials in the 1S pads, and have made a true bindingless pad. Smart straps and post wedges are great. But Bauer has fused an ultra durable and high performance foam to carbon fiber plates and put that into their pads. That reduces weight and thickness. Then they covered that in a skin without bindings. Bindings create friction, and reduce sliding. I love my Brian's. The G3's look very interesting to me. I truly appreciate all of the little features they have designed into their pads. But the 1S pad is leaps and bounds ahead of anything else. Even the little design features are well done. Their version of the smart strap is the best combination of the Brian's and Warrior version. It's wider and more secure, like the Warrior, but still has give because it's made of neoprene, unlike the Warrior. The plastic plates on the knee and calf wings create a great seal and sliding. You can knock the graphics, and glued on decals, and wrinkles. We don't have a good marker for durability yet. BUt they are definitely the most innovative pads out there. Sizing is incredibly important, even if you have good knee pads. The pad is designed to distribute weight across the knee and calf, which reduces friction and pressure on the ice. That is where all of your sliding comes from. If you aren't landing in the middle of the landing gear, you will be localizing the pressure instead of dispersing it. That limits slide and causes the pad to bend laterally. That landing gear isn't there for cushioning. It's the most important structural component of the pad when it comes to functionality and performance. If you aren't concerned with maximum sliding ability, then you should be getting a softer break pad that will be more forgiving. A gnetik2 is a pretty good mix of the two since it still has a solid foam core like the Subzero. They just design knee breaks into the foam core to allow it to twist. It appears like Bauer is doing this with the 1X as well.

It's not really the front, as in directly on the knee cap. The knee cap does hit the gear, but it's more just to the medial side and below that hits the landing gear directly. That's where the discs are, inthe same place the Maltese pad would be in the Passaus. That's what I mean by side.

Thanks! They're a little for protection. The foam is for impact absorption. I do have the hard plastic telescoping guards, which cover pretty much everything. So it's not like I don't wear anything at all. The sleeves would be a secondary layer just in case a puck were to find a way through. Part of the issue might be the way the KTPs fit into my landing gear. The Maltese uses a 2" round piece of their gel on each side of the knee. So you are essentially landing on a very small section. That is concentrating my weight rather than dispersing it and spreading it across the whole landing gear. This is more of a problem because my landing gear has a horseshoe shaped knee stack in it. So I think the disk in the Maltese is not fitting into the horseshoe channel like my knee would. That's causing it to become off center and sit wrong. I'm going to try to try them with a flat knee stack to see if they will sit properly and if that makes the difference in performance. Passaus may be my last ditch effort. I think they will be too big for me though. I just don't like knee guards.

So, I guess my try out went well. We won the championship last night, over our rivals that had beaten my team in the final in a shootout two seasons ago. 3-1 final score, and I played one of the best games I ever have, and certainly the best of this season. From the start of warmups, I felt good. We scored early, and then I kept us in it after that. Saves through traffic and on deflections, I stopped a 2 on 1, and like 2 pass outs from behind the net. I've finally gotten comfortable in the RVH, and it's really improved my game down low. We scored another in the first, and it ended 2-0. The second period was more of the same, and we scored another. Their goalie was really good that period also, it could have easily been a 6-3 game. But the second ended 3-0. My team clamped down on defense in the third, and I wasn't quite as busy. Though I still had to make some key saves. They did score one, and it was weak. Their player deked my defenseman and went wide, and I got stuck between RVH and staying in my stance. I ended up getting off the post (should have been in regular stance as it wasn't quite to the hash marks), and he beat me short side. 3-1 final score, should have been a shut out for all my hard work. After the buzzer my team pretty much tackled me and proclaimed me the first star. It really felt good, especially with how well I played and what I went through at the start. It's also interesting how equipment can really affect things. I've been struggling to get my pads to feel right. I've pretty much done that finally, but I just wasn't getting the performance I wanted. Rotation issues, and poor sliding. and even weak pushes and slip outs. I've been looking at new pads this past week because of it. Well, I got Maltese KTPs about 2 months ago. They were pretty comfy, and not bulky at all. So I was pretty happy. But I kind of felt landing was uneven with them - sometimes I'd land on the center of the disc, sometimes I wouldn't. And times where it felt askew are more often when I had performance problems. So after a rough game in the semi, I decided that I would just go back to the telescoping pads in my pants for the Final. What a difference. Pads felt great, sliding all came back, no more rotation problems, push strength came back, and no more slip outs. It was definitely the reason for my great play that game. SO now I guess I'm looking for a different knee protection option. Maybe the Bauer sleeves

Looks pretty good. Really good crease movements, and good post integration. I'd rather go full RVH (you're doing RVH on your blocker side, and VH on your glove), but having a plan and technique is more important than focusing on just one. Without a suction cup mount, some things do get lost and perspective is difficult. But from what I'm seeing, you tend to retreat into the net when you don't need to. Stay out at the top of your crease unless there's a play to the side. I only saw you get up using your left foot. On the few plays where the play went from your right to left, you pushed to slide across when regaining your stance may have been the better option. So instead of getting up with your right foot, which is the direction of play, you just push. It's a hard habit to break. I did it by forcing myself to usre the correct leg whenever I got up, that meant on stoppages and plays where a shot wasn't imminent. And maybe try to stay a little more quiet and centered. You're a little all over the place, which is putting you out of position. All in all it looks good. Keep up the good work. You almost got that breakaway.

So the top is flat like FBV, but the sides are still curved like a ROH? What are the differences in results?

It's suuuuper awkward at first. I had to constantly remind myself to do it. Even now I still forget sometimes, and it costs me. Last game I had a goal go in from a bad angle on a puck that was dumped in and took a strange bounce in the corner. I was lax about it because there was no real danger on the dump in, and then bang it's in the net after being banked in off me. If I had just gone directly into the RVH, it would have been an easy save.

On those live board plays, I find that going directly into a RVH any time the puck goes past the bottom of the circle to be extremely helpful with those. I used to have problems with them, low angle shots, and pass-outs from behind because I would try to stay in my stance and not react in time. Since going to a default RVH with active hands, most of those types of goals have gone away.

Do we have any more info on the new Vapor stick? The rep at the Bauer Expo told me it will be out in July, but we haven't even heard a peep about it yet.

Complication from the ankle break?

Yep. Very similar situation. I in no way intended to hurt anyone or even bring us down. When we were in the box, the guy said he had 4 knee surgeries and was sensitive to any contact. He said he knows I didn't mean to hit him in the knees. There is only one intent between a cross check to the face or a punch to the head, especially when that player is on the ice. If your reaction to accidental contact to your knees is to cross check people in the face, then you should probably go play badminton. When end my captain asked about intent to injure, the ref told us that he wasn't trying to hurt me because I was wearing a cage. I almost cross checked him across the visor.