flip12

There is no better. There is only personal preference.

I think the toe cap could get better. Holders get swapped so I’m not too worried either way, though they could spruce those up as well. The heel bulge is a feature in my mind. That’s what a lot of people’s anatomy looks like. The straight angled heel of most skates is puzzling to me.

The recent CCM tendon guard is the ugliest thing in hockey since the Nike Quest helmet.

A few tweaks would go a long way. It's the details they can't get right. The base of what they have is good enough. It just lacks the necessary finesse and understanding of the precedents.

What’s the difference?

Fedorov also wore his Grafs in at least one game of the conference finals. If the elite level professionals agreed with you they wouldn't cheat on their sponsors. Other players who were notoriously picky about their sticks: Heatley: on podcast recently said that he was very standard in pretty much all of his, except for sticks. With sticks he had the same Easton build with a particular emphasis on balance. Spezza was way more intense about it though, according to Heatley. He had his sticks catalogued and would request them by city and number. Kovalchuk was notorious for his scrutiny of his sticks as well. Mike Green missed CNT Stealth so bad he bought his used ones back from private collectors and hunted down NOS retail years after Easton stopped producing them. Mogilny (the gear nerd GOAT) obsessed over his sticks and skates and would talk about them so much that it would annoy his teammates and coaches. I'm sure the list would be huge if we had time and access.

I disagree actually. He made the switch around the same time his scoring drought ended last year. He looks like he's excited to shoot the puck again, as though he wants to see what happens every time he lets one go now. I didn't see that spark in him in the stretch before his switch. Confidence in your gear is a thing for pros too; like the Hot Hand Theory that was written off as a fallacy that turned out to hold up after a closer look at the data. I'm not saying this as a Geppetto fanboy. While I have to admit that the Praux value offer is hard to resist (especially in the current economy), I'm quite critical of Geppetty overall. Makes me wonder what builds some of these pros have been using. Having said that, it's a huge accomplishment for Geppetty to go in there and dethrone the major players in the industry to supply one of the game's all-time greats in what will probably go down as the most salient chapter of his career.

Maybe there was a Collin at the store, just not someone who actually works there?

It's a couple of games' old news maybe, but McHeyzeus is back to his pre-Oates pattern.

Not always. The best Vapors of all-time, 8 and 10, had no red whatsoever. Their second tier models (4 and 6) did, but it wasn’t until XX that the Vapor stain was first seen.

Strange to see Vapor gradually losing its L-cut. Looks like a one90ish tendon guard. The graphics aren’t doing it for me. My favorite post-rib Vapor for looks is still Hyperlite.

The first version was an awesome skate. It’s clear Bauer’s been giving nods to their Mission IP lately: the Amp Fly Weight stripe on Vapor X1’s (first gen.), the Drive Shaft bar on the Power Fly holder, and the flex notch (though not a Mission invention) in the Supreme Mach facing.

Where we skate is a dedicated rink. The ice quality I’ve experienced in the CPH area has been very mixed, similar to what I experienced growing up in Wisconsin. I skate with some Canadians (one from Red Deer I’m pretty sure), but none of them have mentioned the ice quality.

Amp Fly Weight?

Hang on, all ice in Europe is soft?