mrusse01

No real surprise there, he's an NHL defenceman. What will be interesting is to see who gets the ice time when Finger and Van Ryn get healthy.

I don't know if he's outplayed Stempniak either though, but he's got a little chemistry with Stalberg going. And despite all the bluster, I'll believe Burke is serious about sending down veterans when I see it happen. Sucks for Tlusty to have such a bad camp, he lit it up in the A last year, I had high hopes, but he might be your classic quadruple A type player.

Tomorrow. There are rumors Bozak has jumped Kulemin on the depth charts, and may start the season with the team. Stalberg has almost certainly made it. If Bozak does make it, I don't know where they play him, I'm guessing on the wing but who knows. Mitchell has been playing a lot more wing lately, so perhaps Bozak slides in 3rd line centre.

Vesa lit up for 7 goals tonight....I didn't see any of the game, but on only 24 shots, I assume a few of those must have been bad goaltending. Toskala is going to be on a short leash I think this year, maybe not with the team, but with the fans. I can see a potential 'McCabe' like situation brewing here, if he lets in a few ugly ones to Montreal on Thursday you can bet the boo birds will be out.

Two guys that have me a bit worried are Tlusty and Kulemin, I think they've both been badly outplayed by the likes of Stralberg, Bozak, and even a guy like Stempniak. Rosehill did look really good last night, he's pretty fast and was in good defensive position several times. I actually liked him more than Orr from what I saw. You almost feel bad for Toskala giving up that terrible goal and then seeing Gustavsson come in and play like that, but I get the feeling from Toskala he's not the type of guy who's going to rise up to the occasion if he'e being pushed like that. He seems like the guy who could sulk a littlle bit.

Easier said than done to go roof on a 2 on 0 like that....any way you slice it, it's a gigantic save, especially given that it's late in the 3rd up a goal. No way in hell Toskala makes that save. Rebounds looked shaky a bit tonight, but you had to admit there was a bit of a swagger there that he just wasn't going to let in a goal anyways....haven't seen that in Toronto since the days of The Eagle. I don't think Wilson can cut Stalberg now, he's simply scored too many goals and has looked too good. I'd love to see Bozak stick as well, but he looks like he is pushed off the puck a little too easily right now. There is an open spot on the top 2 lines until Kessel comes back, and I think you gotta give that to Stalberg.

Rosehill and Orr would be awesome. I don't know if you can employ 2 pure fighters any more though, too many teams easily neutralize it by just not having any fighters...and then you've got two goons skating around with nothing to do really. And I haven't seen Rosehill play at all, but Orr is not a strong defensive player, and I can't imagine Rosehill is either. I'd rather have Bozak or Stralberg make the team, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. Wilson made some strange comment about them having 'earned' a job, but they haven't 'stolen' one, so they're likely headed to the Marlies.

You think they can get rid of Finger with that contract of his? I'd personally love to get a 2nd round pick back for him, he really is overpaid quite severely in my opinion. I'm interested with what Wilson/Burke are going to do with the 3rd line. There has been the of-stated preference for a bottom 6 and top 6, but really the team is more along a top 9, bottom 3 making right now. I don't see a lot of real grinders/defensive specialists with some scoring upside who fit into that 3rd line role, and there aren't any real top 6 guys besides Kessel now and I guess Grabovski. All the talk has been Stajan and Grabo as the top 2 centers, so that leaves Mitchell as 3rd line centre? Is Wallin going to make the team? Now you have to find a spot for White too? That big idiot Poni is still around, Stempniak has looked good and is cashing a big paycheque, Tlusty you figure has to get a shot, Kulemin seems like he should be up there too after playing 70+ games last year. Kessel-Grabo-Hagman Blake-Stajan-Poni Stempniak-Mitchell-White Orr-Primeau-Mayers Kaberle-Komisarek Beauchemin-Schenn Finger-Exelby Still leaves Tlusty, Kulemin, Bozak, Stralberg, Wallin, Hansen all on the outside looking in. Not to mention Frogren and Van Ryn on D. Maybe you keep Van Ryn and Wallin in the press box....but the kids I think would all be better served playing for the Marlies than sitting.

You mean the Pittsburgh model of 'getting to draft two of the highest rated forward prospects in a generation and having them both pan out as well as anybody could have expected', haha? The Pens are ridiculous, they had Sid #1 overall, MAF #1 overall, Malkin #2, Stall was #2 as well I think right? And they also had Ryan Whitney who was a #5 overall. Frankly it would be a gigantic, colossal disappointment if they weren't one of the best teams in the league right now. Regarding the Leafs, I think one thing a lot of people forget about Kessel is that he's TWENTY ONE YEARS OLD. That is extraordinarily young for a player with his experience (and results) in the NHL. I find it hard to follow the logic when people argue the Leafs are trying to short cut around the 'rebuilding process' by trying to acquire the guy. As for pre-season, I'm interested to see how the defense is going to shake down. Schenn/Beauchie/Komisarek/Kabby are all 100% locks, so that leaves 2 spots among Van Ryn, White, Frogren, Exelby and Finger. I think Exelby is a near lock to get one of those spots, so it comes down to one opening...and frankly I don't see how White doesn't make this team given his contributions over the past few years. But then again, what can you do with Finger and his contract? It's a slap in the face to Fletcher (who's still kicking around) to send the guy to the AHL or even stick him in the press box. And I mean, Van Ryn is also a really good player if he can stay healthy so what do you do with him? Not to mention Frogren, who I assume is last in line more or less and is almost guaranteed to open up with the Marlies. Do they play White on the 3rd line maybe and wait for the inevitable injuries to come? It's definitely a log jam.

That's pretty stupid of anybody to complain about that, in my opinion. Usually colours like baby blue, yellow, even red can go white or dark where I play, we just figure it out before the game (white and red's versus everybody else) and it doesn't take more than a shift or two for people to figure it out.

I mentioned something about this is the original One95 thread. My old man has had a pair of Supreme 5000's for...10 years? at least, and he still uses them for coaching. They're a great skate that has held up well on him. My old man still rocks his 5000's twice a week, got to be at least 10 years now. He actually bought One90's, took him about 2 months to actually wear them in a game, used them a few times and just put them back on the shelf in the basement. I'm furious they are one size too small for me.

hahaha.

What does "hold an edge" mean? Does it measure how long the steel stays sharp? If that's the case then I don't think it's relevant because I never get my skates sharpened due to dulling. I sharpen when I get nicks. "hold on edge" is like whenever you are going into a turn and you don't loose any grip whatsoever on turns, etc. JR is right, I meant it as in I don't need to get them sharpened as much. Also, I have no idea how you can go about playing hockey and never get your skates sharpened due to dulling...you must be a goalie, right?

I've got the regular step steel and am very happy with it. Certainly seems to hold an edge longer than my LS2 steel did.

close to it but im pretty sure this is http://www.hockeylife.com/store.cfm THose pictures are of Sports Rousseau, specifically the Laval location. I don't think the Hockey Life stores are that nice. Pretty sure that's the Hockey Life in Vaughan, ON....either that or the Laval location looks the exact same.

XXX's with brand new step steel...check out the heel on those blades! got to get them profiled down. Protective - L7 pants, old jofa shins, bauer 5000 w/ oakley straight twigs - TPS Adrenaline - Perry - Whip Dolo - Havelid pro stock - 220 SL - Drury clone - 85 ST- Heatley- 100 Mission M1 - Gaboik - 85 XXX lite broken OPS - Berg pro stock - 112 '05 Stealth broken OPS - random pro stock - ~95 aaaannnd....sorry to the dude with malkin's...I just had to do it: V Vapor XXX's -14 inch NBH 4-Roll ASG mock up 'Staal' - 14 inch

WHERE did you get those? Unreal. Those grafs with the black t-blades look pretty amazing as well.

Agreed, those do look sick. They are Kris Beech's when he was with the Caps. I got them in June at their gear sale before they swithched back to red/white/blue. No marker at all, just prostock. Dang, guess you ain't looking to sell them huh? Nice pick up. J. Blake has some similar ones right now for the Leafs, all blue though obviously, look sweet as well.

Agreed, those do look sick.

The Band.

How do you play with zero bearings? I think the whole 'the goalie is the best skater on the team' myth is just that, a myth. I've seen a lot of pretty good goalies play out and I've never once thought to myself 'damn, that guy can really skate'.

yes they are :D sweet!

Product: RBK 7K Prolite/ Modano/ Stiff Flex/ Left Handed, cut maybe 2 inches Time of use: 5 sessions, apx. 10 hours of ice time. My info: 6'0, 185 LB, Winger, used only on ice so far. Blade: The stiffness of the blade is remarkable and the feel is good. I personally prefer the feel of my old Si-Core, but it is most likely that I am just not completely used to the 7k. However the feel is good, and it certainly seems as though it will last for a long time. 8/10 Flex: The stick is quite stiff, but it is a stiff flex so that's what I expected. Seems to be in line with a 100 flex or so on an Easton, perhaps even slightly stiffer. It may have broken in a tiny bit, but overall the shaft feels great and the release on the stick is perfect. 10/10 Stickhandling/Receiving Passes: The stick is fabulous for receiving passes, even with the really stiff blade RBK has managed to somehow come up with technology that allows to the puck to stick to the blade when you take a hard pass. Stickhandling isn't great for me right now, but again I attribute that mostly to being familiar with my Si-Core (it takes me a while to get used to new equipment). I find the blade to be almost a little too light for stickhandling, but I guess that is PP. 8/10 Shooting/Passing: This is one area where I think the 7k really excels. I've had a few comments from other players that the puck seems to be really jumping off the blade, especially on long passes. I can make all the passes with this stick, and I really love the feel it provides for quick, hard passes. Shooting is also excellent, slapshots are fantastic although the light weight of the stick is causing me to adjust slightly on my wrist and snap shots. When I do catch them though, these shots are lasers and very accurate. I expect within the next couple of sessions I have with this stick that my shot will improve even more and exceed where it has been before with any other stick. 10/10 Weight/Balance: This stick is wickedly light. Every single person I've handed it to had commented on the light weight of it. I'm not in love with the balance though, I personally find the blade end to be slightly too light, although with less tape on the knob than I usually use, and more on the blade, it has evened out a bit. Perhaps this is just the nature of high end sticks like the 7k, but it does take some getting used to. 8/10 Conclusion: Like the previous reviewer I was skeptical of RBK products before I bought this stick, and to a degree I guess I still am a little bit. Although, it is tough to deny that this stick exists in the absolute highest segment of the OPS market segment, and is probably just as good as anything else out there. The slight grip on the stick is a nice touch, and I personally love the styling of it. I have a feeling that if anything is going to break down on this stick it is going to be the shaft before the blade, but with such a light weight I can't really expect this stick to last forever. All in all this is an excellent OPS, and considering I found it at a LHS on sale @ 189.99 down from 299.99 (where it still is everywhere else) I have to say that for the price I paid I am very happy with the performance of this stick. Overall : 9/10 UPDATE: broke the stick after about two months, which doesn't sound bad but I bought the stick during exams when I was really busy, so it probably saw maybe 20 hours of use. However, it was a very strange break, looks like someone with a v shaped mouth took a big bite out of the top of the blade, I'm not sure how it happened most likely it was stepped on in my inline game. The blade is still really stiff though, and I could probably even still shoot with it as the bottom half of the blade is fine. All in all its a shame cause I really thought the stick was going to last me a long time, looks like a freak accident more than anything, and I'd still give the stick 2 thumbs up.

Interesting thread...I must admit I never thought of the hassle it must be to organize equipment in the store, so I'll be sure to be a bit more careful when putting gloves back on the rack. As far a flexing sticks, I usually give them a little flex like some were saying to see how much it takes to load the stick. If you go in there trying to see how far you can flex the stick by leaning on it you are just dumb. One point I have is that it has been established that cheap labour (i.e. kids) are usually working on the floor in a retail store, and I assume the turnover rate for these workers is fairly high. Therefore, I doubt that many of them are 'experts' or really even that knowledgable on the products they are selling. So, 99% of the time when I go to buy equipment I get the feeling that this kid I'm talking to doesn't really know 100% what he is talking about. I guess you guys are referring to the smaller stores where you get a chance to actually interact with the owner/manager, but I haven't been able to find any stores around here that are small enough that the owner/manager is working the floor while at the same time being large enough to carry higher end products. There is a local store in my area that I often go to for skate repairs or sharpening, and the guy there is obviously the owner and treats me well and knows his stuff, but he maybe has 3 or 4 Synergy's and a couple CCM's and that is it for OPS, no decent gloves, skates or anything else really. Therefore, it is impossible for me to make big purchases there really. So when I bought my Vapor XXXs this year I had to go to the big chain (National Sports), where I was served by a kid who looked to be about 16 or 17. I must admit though that he was really helpful and everything, but he just didnt seem to be able to offer me any information I didn't already know when comparing the XXXs to the XXs or even the 8090s, and really how much expertise can you expect from someone making 7 or 8 bucks an hour? The 'fitting' process was basically just putting my foot in one of those Bauer shoe style sizing devices and trying on 2 or 3 pairs until it felt comfortable. I guess there is some value in that, but I probably could have saved a fair bit if I turned to eBay.