flip12

It's strange they "don't carry any replacement parts." This is a molded piece of plastic. They have them lying in assembly. They can't spare one? I imagine it's a PITA to remove and install a new one, maybe approaching the price of a nice set of aftermarket steel just for the service, but that's a different situation than "we can't spare a molded piece of plastic in a standard size." At least for the chain of peninsula eyelets, it would make sense to have a modular replacement possibility. I see a lot of Hyperlites with injected eyelets at the NHL and NCAA level. They seem popular, or maybe the frequency of skate replacement makes the odd break a marginal cost.

Could it be misalignment of the pivot point?

“Cheap rollerblade vibes” has been the industry standard for skate graphics since APX.

Tatar’s and Chabot’s Catalysts have had the Pro model mark for a few months now, and similarly less yellow than the Cat9 Chabot started the season in.

I get where you are coming from, but I think it’s more a gear tuning problem. If the boot’s flex and the blade’s pitch and profile work with you rather than against you, it won’t matter. Should you adjust your technique to your gear or your gear to your technique? Sometimes the match is so far off it’s better to adjust your gear in my opinion. Not that I think that’s why NHLers are tucking tendon guards, just that it’s another possible mechanism for altering skate performance; tucking as possibly helping rather than hindering.

Having some wrap around the tendon guard can reestablish connection to the back half of the skate blade which can get lost when lacing loose to allow range of motion. I haven’t skated in modern socks, so I don’t know how big of an effect this could have. My guess is it has no effect either way. Like Kovalchuk did, NHLers will skate the same tucked or untucked.

I thought TC1 was their Ovechkin-like curve. TC3 was a mystery pro-looking curve that eluded precise comparisons. The blade shape and curve remind me of some of Mogilny’s sticks from the early 90’s.

Aha! I thought you had tried that already, tongue with no insert at all. Just how crucial tongue stiffness is has been one of the most surprising things I’ve discovered in my years of hockey equipment nerdery. If the tongue is too stiff, along with a stiff boot, it can be terribly hindring to performance.

True had a satisfaction guarantee with the TFs. I’ll say again maybe give the Catalyst a shot if they offer that when they release. For the trial period, I don’t know if they’ll allow swapping the holder, but you could have the steel profiled to match what you’re used to, to have a better apples to apples comparison. It’s strange the Bauer service rep. is so confident you’d like the thick felt tongue; one90 tongues were far from that.

one90s were lower cut than Bauer’s usual and they went back to that from the one95 if I’m not mistaken. Add to that the one90s were tech mesh, with a little more give than Bauer’s CURV boots that came after, and you’re in for a pretty different ride. I’m biased by my taste for lower cut boots, but have you tried Trues on? The upcoming Catalyst line is supposed to have more give, with a flexible tendon guard (another one90 feature) and be about as light as the leading skates from Bauer and CCM. one90 shells molded more than needed up Bauers that followed, and Trues align there as well. CCM 100Ks could be another option.

It’s a rare case if it’s printed on there. There were pictures floating around recently of a CCM (iirc) sample stick for Matthews with “lie 7.5” printed on the shaft. Maybe he was comparing lies at the time?

If you look at the padding around the Achilles, if it's not too packed in, you can sort of eyeball if you have regular or wide. That's where the width difference is most visible. It's kind of a best guess scenario though without having something concrete to compare it with. What about the midsole? Is there anything printed there you can see when you take out the insole? I think sometimes there's an indication there.

@AnimalFear’s right. 703 and 704 are the same last. 704 was just stiffer and lighter. @bengels you might like the True Catalyst line when it drops this summer. True is close to the Graf cut, about an eyelet lower than standard boots. Catalyst is supposed to have a bit softer flex to it, which makes me think it could be the best of new technology and a boot pattern that works for people who like classic Grafs (I’m a die hard 703 guy myself).

I’ll second this. I’ve worn FV1 since Christmas. It’s super clear all the time. I followed the instructions and didn’t do any special prep to it, no surfactant application of anything. It just works. One big difference between FV1 and C3 is the bar pattern on the lower half. Bauer has an odd number of vertical bars and CCM an even number. Just like in Ancient Greek temples, the important thing is what this difference does to a portal (be it door in that case or mouth and nose in this one) aligned in the middle of that face. An odd number of verticals blocks the entrance, while an even number does not. The turbulence of that obstruction is one reason why I suspect C3 fogs more than FV1.

I’m not super familiar with the intricacies of recent Bauer construction, but have they gone to thicker padding around the malleoli over those two recent generations? Did you bake your Hyperlights and if so did you try wrapping the ankle when you did? It sounds like reduced padding there might help achieve what you’re going for. Again, not super familiar but my impression is this is not a level of customization MyBauer offers.

You need to try them on. If necessary, order a few sizes, try them at home, and keep the one that’s so tight you almost can’t get your foot in. These loosen up with a little use. You’ll get more comfort in the long run and better performance by going as snug as possible.

Absolutely. The combination of both worlds would be incredible. I’ve found I can replicate a lot of that ankle flex with a Scott Van Horne boot, but I have to avoid the top three eyelets entirely when thermomolding the boots and replace the stiff tongue with the softest I can find. Then the forefoot feels amazing and the ankle feels ok. They’re just so much lighter that it’s incredibly noticeable and worth the slight loss in natural motion.

They’re from 1990ish, but they’re based on a model from the 80’s, so well before Fedorov’s time: 707’s are interesting. The bottom portion of the boot and the tongue are the stiffest I’ve tried from old school Graf (haven’t tried the 709). The winged top three eyelets allow full ankle mobility front and back as well as side to side. Though the tongue is stiff, it has a flex cutout at the instep to allow full forward flex. Finding old Grafs that might suit you @clayman might be tricky. If you have time to wait a month or two and watch classifieds sites, you can find pairs in good shape for cheap. But even the same model might be different wrt stiffness. I’ve experienced variation between vintage, origin (CA or CH made), etc., so there’s a bit of mystery every time.m something pops up. Another thing to note is the boot height. Old school Grafs are soft in all the right places like you’re used to, but they tend to also be lower cut than Bauer and CCM, which could mean too much of a good thing regarding ankle movement. If you can wait a little while, when the True Catalyst line drops you might be able to find the right balance of tier-appropriate stiffness, lighter weight, and sufficient stiffness where it counts.

My reading of the catalog was it’s both a flexier boot, tongue, and tendon guard. Tongues are no problem if they’re stiff because they can be swapped in two seconds with True. I miss the soft tension of the springy facings on classic Grafs. It just makes it so much easier to do my edge work.

It carries over from their other sports. The look is a bit too Mission Fuel for me, especially compared to the subtler looks of HZRDUS gear in baseball and golf I found on Ggl image search, but if it plays nice I don’t really care.

Increased ROM is definitely exciting.

That's where we differ. I loathe the 100K. Looks like Beetlejuice meets Goldblum's Fly. Best looking current skate in my book is the Bauer Mach Supreme. Almost everything else is WTF?

RBZ was their best looking skate and it’s just been a steady decline since.

Is it just me or are CCM’s skates getting progressively uglier?

My guess, with about 30% confidence is, CCM asked McD to wear something resembling their upcoming flagship skate at the ASG because that's an identifiable event. They can use that to say, "Look at McD wearing our AS-Vs in 2022!" without having to mention that he went right back to his trusty 2015 JetSpeeds. It's a little conflicting with that hypothesis that he wore his AS-Vish boots for a few games before the ASG as well, but maybe he really is close to being happy with them. Fedorov was in and out of Nike the first year they supplied him, so transitions from a skate the best skaters in the world know they love looks like it can be really tricky.