blue_line

Yes. Sorry if that wasn't clear. The post from SkatingForums discusses a similar device. I posted the product listing because there were multiple of those devices available from that source. It works very well and I like that I can lock it in place to work for a longer period.

I bought a boot punch tool off of eBay a long time ago. I usually have to punch out the area near the base of my pinky toe. It works well. Heat the boot a bit and then use the punch tool. Lock it overnight and the punched out portion will hold for a good long while. Here's a discussion of a similar tool on another forum. https://skatingforums.com/index.php?topic=6165.0 I found a similar product using Google. https://footfitter.com/collections/boot-stretchers

Yep, another vote for EZ Goal. I have only bought the EZ Goal for my outdoor rink. I leave them outside year round in Minnesota. The first one I had lasted for five seasons, I think. It was pretty dented up and rusted out by the time I took it apart and put it in the trash. I did replace the netting once on that one. Now I have two more. They are in their second year of use. Although a bit dented, they are still holding up. The only downside is that they are light. So when when they are on the ice, they will slide around after getting hit by pucks. Shoot 20-30 pucks on the ice and you'll move it back by 2-3 feet. Wind will move them too pretty easily - especially when you have a shooting tarp on it. I had thought about getting some net anchors, but I don't care that much I guess. For $100 or so, I figure I can replace them every 2-3 years without remorse. They are cheaper than a new stick or skates and I know I buy more than one stick/skates in a season. With two kids, it seems like a reasonable investment.

Good info on this thread. I have similar shaped feet (regular heel, wide forefoot, low arch, high instep) and finding skates is always an adventure. My current skates are the 2016 CCM Super Tacks. They fit my foot awesome, but are getting a bit wrecked after 4+ years. I also have a pair of Bauer Supreme One.9 and Bauer Supreme S190. Each fit very similar to one another and to the CCM Super Tacks, but I like the forward pitch of the CCM over the neutral Bauers. This last spring I went to find some new skates - either closeout or brand new releases. I tried the CCM AS3. They were very shallow and I could feel the tongue attachment on the top of my foot. I also tried the Bauer Vapor 2X Pro in a size FIT 3. Nope. Comfortable everywhere, but I was blowing out of the top of the skate. Too bad. It sucks that Bauer and CCM have gone to less volume in their boot profiles. I ended up going to Sideline Swap and buying two new pairs of the same skates I have. The cost of both pairs total was less than one pair of a newer release skate, so there's that. I may try the new CCM RibCor when it's released. I don't have high hopes though as they always fit a bit less volume than the Tacks line in my past fitting experience.

Nice. Was the XS holder a special order or are all AS1's coming with it? Purehockey's product pages for both senior and junior show the SB Black runners with SB4.0 holders.

I was told that it's an extra $100 to custom order. In addition, they use the adult skate price as the base price. So, in my case, it's quite a premium as I can squeeze into juniors - as far as length goes, but need a wider boot than many junior skates allow. I think you can also customize the stiffness of the boot, the top cap, the tongue, and eyelet placement, but I'm not a Bauer rep...