flip12

I think you're right. It look like that to me as well anyway. Let's hope they release these in different color ways. A Kings set would be perfect to replace my Kovalchuk return QRLs.

Me too, that blended with QRL toward the bottom. Machs were the last retail glove I found appealing.

Stenberg's Sherwood gloves look surprisingly good, better than the Morph Pro.

I also think True's boots are way too stiff. I like their concept, but the implementation details are going in the other direction from what I would do. Then again, my favorite skate is Vapor 10, especially for its soft upper eyelets, so I know I'm a bit extreme.

I've just use cheap kitchen sponges after losing one of my POWERFOOT inserts. A pack of 10 costs about $1.25. Shipping and handling is walking to and from the corner shop, about 5 minutes round trip.

Juvenile? I was thinking more on the other end of the maturity spectrum, but I guess that's subjective, especially in the post-Epstein era.

Only slightly related, but the latest gear from Warrior is very underwhelming. Their shins look chunky now, and the removal of the ribs means less protection per ounce. The black and gold looks like some kind of lingerie line, mildly erotic for some reason...maybe it's all the hockey romance trend taking over? My favorite look from the Alpha skates was the electrostatic prototype. They should have leaned into that aesthetic. The looks in today's skates are severely suspect all around though.

I agree. He isn't very reliable when it comes to curve info, which is odd. That makes it all the more impressive he's accomplished what he has.

Yeah, I'm going to have to try that. Thanks again for the pictures. I can't say it enough how bad Geppetty is at showing the actual blade geometries they offer. That's one of the most important points. Your pictures show the differences 10x better than what they're doing.

Thanks again. It looks great.Looking back at the Iginla and McDavid blade face comparison, it looks like there's a bit of rocker in the middle of the McDavid where the Iginla's almost completely flat. I like that little difference, and the lower lie. Damn tempting.

I think I'm going to have to give that pattern a try. So tempting.

Thanks, that's a good look at it. Can you post a side by side of the curves too? Pro's website is terrible at actually showing the different geometries.

Iginla Junior, right?

P28's my favorite retail curve at present as well, but it really comes down to personal preference. The P28's aggressive toe rocker and loft give a lot of people trouble, causing puck flutter, and sending shots high, respectively. Both of those pain points are even worse coming from P88, as it has the flattest toe rocker and least loft of the commonly available blades. It could be a few years before P86 becomes mainstream, but it would be a safer bet than P28 for anyone coming from P88.

Yeah, that seems about right. The point in the hypothetical where I get stuck is Bauer never used those materials the old way, so it's a double hypothetical, if you will. And it's tricky stacking hypotheticals like that. Also, you mention fit and feel in your original post and the jump in stiffness from X:60 to 2010's era materials does change the feel quite a bit. What about True's SVH customs? They're the closest current skate to the classic Vapor cut. The new softer facing could potentially bridge the difference in feel between TechMesh and newer hard shell boots, at least to some degree. I guess Bauer's trying to do the same with their zany facing, but that just pushes the current skates further and further away from the pre-Covid Vapor essence.

They both end in 8?

That's what I was saying: the TrueLasted forefoot changes the fit of the forefoot, or the shape of the forefoot if you like. They haven't done a CURV boot without that shape. I'm pretty sure the ONE90 had it as well, so it's not a thing that's bound to CURV/hardshell boots and unheard of with TechMesh. If they did an X:60 with CURV quarters, it would probably have the same shape they've always applied to their top end CURV boots.

I miss having a pair. I have a stash of skates that work very well for me, but having experimented with a lot of different skates, 703 is just about perfect for me. The only thing I would change is having the padding-shell composition of the ONE90. That would be perfect.

The Vapor fit has always been evolving while maintaining some essential qualities. The recent evolution has me thinking it's not really Vapor anymore. The main thing is the death of the L pattern of the quarter panels. Vapor used to be distinctly shallow, now it's closer to the classic Supreme cut than the original Vapor. I'm not sure you would like an X:60 with CURV quarters if you didn't like APX. The X:60-CURV would probably be closer to APX than to X:60. Bauer went to the TrueLasted fit right from the start with CURV boots. It seems like that extra wiggle room ruins the fit for you. The same goes for the more anatomical toe cap that came out on the 2X.

I actually prefer extra pitch. I had Catalyst 7s for a while. It helped with the +1 on the Ellipse II I had put on them, but they never really felt right for me. In the end my back was killing me when I wore them, so I sold them. Switching to my X:60s, the back pain went away immediately. I had MLX that I wore until they almost fell apart. The Catalysts were just too puffy and distant from the shell in comparison for me.

My favorite skates are the ones with the least padding. I like feeling close to the shell. I'm intrigued by the Vizion's description, which sounds a lot like a return to the ONE90 minimal negative space concept.

PRO29 is neutral faced compared to the wedgy P28. Look for more loft in whatever you get. Hossa could work. Other than the toe shape that is kind of a blend of P28 and PRO29: loftier, especially from the mid to the toe. PRO97 would probably be pretty weird. It's supposed to be considerably lower than the others you mentioned. I haven't seen one in person to confirm though.

ProStockHockeySticks is a good option if you don't want to switch from the pattern you know.

7K style shins are hard to beat. I have a pair of 3195s that are holding up great after 12+ years of regular use. They could use new liners, but the meat and bones of the pads are in great shape.

As others have touched on already, my takeaway is this is nothing new. Jofa never really went away either. The name was retired, but its influence is everywhere. Almost everything on the market today is a direct descendent of Jofa or a clear rip off of it. The weird stuff Bauer has is different, and Sher-Wood has their own things or rip offs of Warrior's retired patterns. Jofa is still king. Always has been.