psulion22

Are any of those upgrades a narrower heel or lower ankle area? Blink once for no, twice for yes. I'd consider getting a pair of them, but the wider heel and higher ankle compared to the Supreme line just doesn't work for me.

It's fun, and a lot of good instruction. I definitely learned a lot and became a better player from that camp. I've been to 3. And I'm well above a novice/intermediate player those camps are geared for. Fundamentals are still fundamentals, no matter what level you're at. Same thing with game strategy. Plus, I got a lot of little tips from the coaches that have helped a lot. If you want to go to Morristown, sign up early. It's their most popular camp and sells out fast because there's a group of regulars that go every year.

P28 requires a little more technical skill when shooting than the P88. But it is more closed than a P92/W03 despite how it would seem. So you can get off low shots, especially slappers, and passes if you release the puck before the toe pocket. The twist on a W03 starts so much closer to the heel that it's tough to keep things down, but sauce is easy. It's about the same lie as a P88, so it won't help your kid bring the puck closer to his body. My problem with the P28 as a defenseman is the toe is pretty tapered, and there's a good rocker to it. On loose or contested pucks, board battles, and things like poke checks or blade mirroring, I found that if my hands weren't exactly correct, the puck would slide under the toe and I wouldn't get clean contact or sometimes miss completely. But stickhandling, puck control, and shots/passes using wrist flicks were fantastic. Even as a defenseman, you're using those skills more often than the big clapper, so sometimes it does make sense to default to improving the skill you use 80% of the time rather than the one you use 20%. The W28 may be a good compromise because it will give him some gains in what you want, without having to alter his hand positioning or natural balance. Something to think about. A defenseman plays most of his game with the puck at a distance, both offensively and defensively. I get wanting your kid to bring the puck closer because it's better for stickhandling and shooting. But, imo, the ability to play the puck at a distance effectively is more important than those other two things, especially on the defensive side. If you raise the lie of the sitck while keeping it the same length, you'll raise the toe off the ice at full extension. That's a liability, especially if you're tapering the toe more too. It's like you're creating a weakness in the 80% to try to improve the 20%. I prefer the certainty of a less rockered and rounded blade that I can keep flat at my full reach, even if it means I lose something off my shot and puck handling.

Cramping in the instep, especially underneath, can also be caused by tying the skates too tight. Too much pressure on the top of the foot and cut off the blood flow and cause that cramping. Lace bite is another symptom there, and can be combined with the cramping, but isn't always. Try tying the skates looser, especially right over the top part of your foot. Another cause could be poor arch or heel support. Your foot is having to flex to maintain support and balance, so it's tiring out and cramping. You could try different insoles, like Superfeet. Also, cramping like that can be caused by too much extra space in the toe cap. You lift or curl your toes if the cap is too high and the result is fatigue and cramping. They sell little foam pads called Powerfoot (iirc) that stick to the top of your toe cap and fill the space, keeping your toes down and flat.

It is pricey. But it's also 13 hours of ice plus another 6-8 hours of off-ice video review and chalk talk. If you take all the instruction you're getting and combine it, you're talking $30-35/hr which is about what I'm paying per game down here. And that's not counting the personal jersey, socks, materials, and banquet meal, plus some beer and appetizers you receive. So it's really more like $25/hr which is pretty good for the level of instruction you get. The coaches have coached/played at a decent level (one used to be the HC of a D1 Big 10 women's team, another used to work for player development for Hockey Canada, among others) and there are enough of them that you do get some pretty personal attention. I'd like to see them knock off a day - 2 hours of ice and maybe $100. You'd still get plenty of instruction, but it wouldn't be as tiring (by Day 4, you're usually toast) or expensive, especially if you figure the extra night in a hotel.

Keep in mind that only a very small portion of the toe of the skate is that first radius. So 6' or even 8' may sound small and like you'd fall over, it's not the part of the skate you're typically balancing on. It's not the same as just getting a 6' or 8' or even 9' single radius. But with what you're looking for 0.5 is definitely the way to go. I have a Quad 1 and honestly I think the toe radius is too short (and I have 272 runners so it feels a little longer to me). I'll be getting a Quad 0.5 on my nest set of steel for sure. If I don't like it, I can always go to Quad 1. With how much steel they take off the toe, you couldn't go from Quad 1 to 0.5. There wouldn't be any blade left.

Warrior lists their lie as one lower than the other manufacturers. So the W88 is really a "lie 5". Bauer lists their P88 as a lie 6. It's not, it's a lie 5. It's a lower lie than the lie 6 P92, lie 5.5 P10, and about the same as the lie 5 P28, PM9, and CCM's P30. In reality, the W88 is a clone of the other P88 variants, with slight differences. Warrior's W03 is a Bauer P92/CCM P29 variant, which are both lie 6. Again, Warrior's lie numbering system comes in to play. With manufacturers reducing the number of curves available at retail, your choices are limited without going custom. Bauer and CCM are only going to give you 3 or 4 choices, with the P92/P29/W03 being the highest lie and the only one that high. P88/W88 and P28/W28 are both similar and lower. With Bauer, a P14 *might* work. It's a slightly higher lie than the P88, with less twist than the P92. The issue with it is that it's a very short blade which may not work for many players. True offers more choices if you can someone that carries them.

I'll cede to your expertise and research. I had just assumed that Quad 0.5 was inbetween Quad 0 and Quad 1. That's not the case (strange numbering on PS's part). With 0.5's larger front radius and more neutral pitch, I definitely agree that it's probably the best starting point.

Depending on your skate (well, steel) size and weight, plus skating style and position, you could probably start with a Quad 1 or even Quad 2 before going all the way to Quad .5. There is a LTR on people using different ProSharp profiles on here. You might want to check that out first.

Weekend Warriors Hockey Academy does a camp in Morristown every August. https://weekendwarriorshockey.com/morristown-2020/

Well that sucks. I'm sure they'll get them back in at some point.

Under further inspection, they are definitely done. The entire outsole is separated from the boot on both skates. The steel definitely moves too. Maybe the damage to the boot was caused by the lack of rigidity and extra torsion in the steel. Oh well. I guess I need new skates now. Maybe I’ll think about switching to XS holders of Flare makes steel for them the next time I need a set.

Similarly, how much play is normal for any holder? Forget a vice or clamp, if I push with my fingers the steel in my Edge moves slightly. There is definitely a little play. Is that normal? Are the issues we're talking about more severe than that? Obviously they can be, but is any flex in the steel enough to create a loss of acceleration, edge control, and efficiency? Unfortunately I don't have any skates with an older holder lying around to test against. I'm asking because I have noticed a marked decrese in my acceleration and efficiency. A large part is my skates, I believe. They're MX3's that I got new and have seen a lot of use. The foam and liner inside is pretty worn and flat, and rubbed through in some spots. So, my foot is slipping a little bit. I can also feel flexion in the joint between the toe cap and quarter meaning that joint, the rivets, and/or the outsole is compromised. SO I'm wondering if the play in the steel is also included in this. Overall, the skates are feeling sloppy and not as precise as they once did.

It's not really setting up the machine. I used the calibration tools for that. It's like using a square to check for level of edges so you can make fine tuning adjustments to the jig if needed. Even with the tool, the carriage can still be off a little bit. So the square is more to make sure something isn't horribly incorrect.

All of them were the same, which was based on the calibration of the machine. I don't think any were off, but just the square was giving me a false reading because of the design. The Flare Square works on regular steel too, so I was using it on all 3 sets. Out of the holders, the readings were all consistent and pretty level, especially once I recalibrated the machine.

Thanks, guys. It was happening on three different sets of steel, both sides, two in two different holders, one not in a holder. So while I completely agree Holders can be bent or not aligned properly, that didn't seem to be the case here. It was more likely a combination of the way the Flare Square works and is designed and inconsistent sidewalls on all the steel

Thanks for the input, especially that last blog post. I went back and tried to remove as many variables as possible. I got the alignment ring back out and did that. I pulled out an old Step regular goalie runner - since we agree Step quality is probably the best - and sharpened it in the Sparx holder. And I ran 4 passes, per Sparx's recommendation, to adjust the edges. I tested in 3 places along the blade and it was all nearly perfect, maybe out by one click either way. So knowing that the machine was set to produce level edges, I took my Flare steel off the skate and sharpened it. Testing it out of the skate again produced pretty good edges, with a little more deviation. Lastly, I ran the other Flare runner in the skate, and tested it there. The results were all over the place. So it clearly seems that the problem was either with the sidewalls of the steel or the checker, or a combination of both. The Sparx is fine. The Flare Square is different than most others because it has a deeper channel and the top corner where the edge sits isn't square. I think the design was what was throwing it off because the Flare steel is worn down and may not have enough left to make good contact with the edge checker inside the skate. Either the set screw lands on the flared part, or the whole thing hits the holder.

Three different kinds, with three different characteristics, in three different holders. One is Flare regular steel that is in my player skates. One is Massive Blade DLC in my goalie skates. And one is a set of Tydan regulars that I sharpened in the Sparx blade holder. All three showed the same results.

Which boots were highest on that study, out of curiosity? It's also nowhere near the price. As with just about everything else, there is always a tradeoff between price and quality. When considering price and performance, the Sparx is an excellent product for most home users, particularly those who don't have access to quality, or even competent, local sharpeners. And before you argue - no, not everyone has an extra $1000 to buy a ProSharp. No, most people don't have the time - either in training or sharpening - or possibly even the skill to use a manual machine. No, not everyone has a nearby sharpener that can sharpen a skate without ruining the profile - not even themselves. Yes, there is a lot to be said for the convenience of sharpening a skate while you pack your bag, allowing you to have good edges every session. No, the end result is not as good as other machines or a good hand sharpener. Yes, there are limitations on what it can do. Yes, it's probably still a good idea to send the steel to a quality sharpener for a refresh periodically. Yes, that partially defeats the purpose of having the machine. Yes, despite that it's still worth the money for what it delivers.

Has anyone else had a problem where the toe and heel of the steel are not in alignment? I finally got an edge checker. What I'm finding is that the toe and heel are not equal, as if the carraige isn't running straight along the blade. No matter how much I adjust the knob, the relation stays the same between them. The right edge of the toe was high, but the heel was level. When I adjusted the knob to make the toe level, the left edge of the heel was high. It was the same issue, off by the same amount on 3 sets of steel I tried (just to make sure it wasn't the runner being bent) leading me to assume it's the Sparx itself. It could absolutely be user error with either the machine or edge checker. But when the results are replicable and consistent every time, that is probably unlikely. Anyone else experience this?

An interesting question, and one I hadn't thought of. I was using a Quad 1 before the Flare, so I just stuck with it. Since I didn't skate on the Flare before the profile was put on, I can't say for sure. But I would guess that it might be overkill. The whole point of the Quad is to milk the most performance out of the blade. But the Flare does some of the things that the Quad is supposed to do on it's own, and from experience, does more than I use. For example, the edge stability goes beyond an attack angle I typically get to. I can get lower without blowing a tire than I normally go. And the turning radius is greatly improved because you're essentially getting 6* lower at any given point on each turn. That would mean the ultra short front radius, and section that eats away the most blade, on the Quad is probably unnecessary. And even if there is a benefit, it may not be enough to outweigh the amount of lost steel. A dual, or even triple, with a longer front radius would probably be all you need on the Flare. I will say that if you haven't Flare, do so. It's a very differet feeling, but once you get used to it, you really do see a pretty significant performance increase.

I have, and it's not the same. In fact, I have a Quad 1 on my Flare steel. The improvements/changes from Flare are more like those of FBV than a profile - more glide in flats and more bite at a given angle. But the feeling is much more pronounced on the Flare. FBV works by allowing a player to increase their edge sharpness by increasing glide through a change in the angle of the walls of the hollow. So you can go sharper and still get the same, or more, glide. Flare is different in that it is a mechanical alteration to the edge itself while keeping the hollow angle the same, allowing a player to decrease thier ROH, by sometimes up to 100%, while also increasing bite and edge stability. The runner profile maximizes the performance of different characteristics along the blade when combined with each individual's skating mechanics, personal attributes, and preferences. The Flare maximizes the performance of the bite angle with the ice across all blade characteristics and profiles.

Right now, only the Supreme is available retail. The Vapor was originally, but they have long sold out. To get Vapor or Nexus ADVs you need to find pro stocks with codes BGP2B and 1NXL, respectively.

ADV is a construction technique that cuts weight. It was first used on the Vapor line, but now they offer it on all 3 stick lines - Vapor ADV, 1NXL, Supreme ADV - maintaining the flex profile of those lines.

I find that 99% of the guys that can blow pucks by me are using hockey sticks.