swede

Hi guys! wierd title huh? At the moment i do not play any moore, only coaching my sons U12 team for now, but the club i coach for are in desperate need for referees, so, i am going to start reffing U13 and U14 hockey.. Thing is, in Sweden the ref is required to wear a visor, and i dont have any since i sold my old Itech hs22 and my Warrior visor was all scratched up.. iv’e tried a bunch of visors in the past, but they all keep pulling the sides of my helmet outwards. I have no problems finding a helmet that fit, but they all loose the ”fit” once a visor is mounted. iv’e tried using the Bauer spacers which are thicker on the lower side, but the sides of the helmet is pulled outwards anyway.. so, is there any visors on the market that have a tighter/narrower fit than others? Or am i doomed to have a helmet that wobbles on my head while reffing??

Which one do you have? Here in Europe there is a ”Fitlite” helmet rebranded to CCM XT20.. Same helmet as CCM Fitlite ft50 but a new name. I have one as spare helmet. Nothing fancy, a dual density VN liner, and a classic fitlite shell. Fits a little bit narrower than the Original fitlite helmet, a similar fit to the old CCM 652 helmet.

I would say, new 2024 model of Tacks! Either XF pro or XF in tapered fit. More voume/higher instep than previous tacks models, even in tapered and regular fit.

Yeah, cant wait until my son (11y old) can fit into Sr size shoulder pads. Then we will also look at the Pro series pads. He is now in CCM Jetspeed FT4’s Jr large, and blocking shots with them is ok, as long as they hit the sternum plate. If the shots hit the sides/ribs then they are not good at all to block shots with (his words).. One pad to also consider is Warrior Alpha DX/Lx pro’s.. They have a little more dense foam than ex bauer in the rib section front and back. my son has the Warrior alpha Dx shins and we are very impressed by them. Great protection all around. Another advice i can give is to look for hockey gear at german ebay. There is often new old stock pads like nexus, and last generation of reebok shoulder pads (really protective) to be found at discounted prices there.

The problem with most newer shoulder pads, is that the foam in the rib section is super thin and allmost dont offer any protection at all. All focus is on the sternum and shoulders/clavicle.. The most protective shoulder pad ever (all around) must be Bauer Nexus 1000/8000.. The front vest had high density foam everywhere along with plastic inserts. To me, the Pro Series by bauer is the pad that come closest to the old Nexus pads. The Pro series shins is the same pad as Nexus 2N, with other graphics.

Can’t go wrong with the Warrior Coverts. Actually bought a pair myself a few months back. My son also have s pair but in Jr sz 12.. They are a tight fit but not restrictive in any way. Not really elite level protection, but enought for my son in U12 and also for me playing pickup/beer league.

The Bauer pro series shoulder pads is a great pad. It’s actually the most popular shoulder pad among ”Bauer Teams” in Swedish SHL.. It’s the same story with the Pro series shin guards and elbow pads aswell. It’s not the lightest series of pads but they are very protective. They also fit kinda big, so if your son is a little bigger built, with a big frame, then theese ones will fit great.

Instructions in the box said 6-8 minutes at 83-92C° (180-200f°).. I baked them for 8 minutes at 90°C, but still could not get them wide enough. The conditions for returning skates are a little more restrictive in europe, so i didn’t want to risk not being able to return them. Rebaked my punched Vapor 3X for 6 mins at 90°C yesterday and did the shrink wrap thing really hard on them.. I did actually get even better heel lock and fit around the heel and ankle. Hopefully the heel sunk a little more into the heel cup, which would give me some clearence up front where the toe cap meets the boot.

I baked them acording the instructions that came in the box. The heel and ankle molded nicely, but the forefoot would not. So, i dont know.. I returned them while i still could! I can still use my Vapor 3X skates, but i need some extra silicone pads between the big toe joints. Vapor Fit3, with old Vapor EE forefoot and Old toe cap would be perfect.

I had to return the Cats.. They are not for wide feet even tough the size was 7.5 wide.. Even after baking they squeeze my forefoot way to much. Not even punching the entire forefoot out would be able to fix the width issue. Back to tweeking my 3X instead..

I guess so.. well, the True 30-day money back fit warranty applies also in Europe, so i guess i don’t have anything to loose baking them.. interresting to see if they can expand that much width wise in the forefoot and how it will effect the toecap since the toecap is glued on the outside.

No, actually the Cats are one size up.. I’m a size 7 Fit3 in vapors, and the Cats are 7.5 Wide.. Fit3 and EE Bauers are longer than Fit1, Fit2 and D width Bauers. my toes are jammed against the toecap, so they are not to long. Will be perfect lengthwise after baking, the question is, if they will widen enough to fit my forefoot after baking. my only issue with the Bauers is that the toecap are to narrow and dig in between the first and second joint on my big toes. The Bauers are punched right behind the toecap, to accomodate bunions i have on my big toe joint.

How much can one expect the newer Catalyst line of skates will expand or widen with baking? reason for asking is cause i ordered a pair of Catalyst 5x4 for myself in Wide, (Fit3 vapors now) and the Cats are really crushing my forefoot, especially behind the big toe where i have bunions.. Do the cats widen that much with baking, or will i probably need to punch them aswell like i had to with the vapors??

Have you ever tried Tackla pants? It will have a similar fit with very tight waist and around the kidneys, but will also fit quite tight around the legs.. If you liked a Vapor girdle, you’ll probably like the Tackla one aswell. The difference is going to be the amount of protection. The tackla girdle is padded all around where the old Vapor girdle har more weak spots. The only place the Tackla girdle lack protection is the belly.

Hi all! Any opinions about this stick yet? I ordered one for my son as his beloved Warrior alpha Lx Pro really is on its last leg.. He tried a teammates Lx2 pro but didn’t like the feeling of that stick. He wants to stay with Warrior sticks, but want to try a true mid-kick stick, så this time we go with Novium. I could not find any reviews on the new Novium 2 pro stick (other than the ones from IW), and kinda made the order based on the reviews on the ”old” novium pro stick… anyone on here have the new Novium 2 pro and can give a short review?

FYI, The Bauer ACP PRO girdle is one of the most used pants/girdles in Swedish SHL together with Bauer Pro Series/Nexus pants. Talked to a Bauer representative at a summer skills camp my son went to this summer, and discussed gear with him. He said that, at PRO level in Sweden (SHL, Hockeyallsvenskan) it’s a 50/50 split between the ACP Pro girdle and the Pro Series pant. Younger players seem to prefer girdles over the pants he said..

Today we actually tried on a pair of 13” Jetspeed ft680’s.. And they are actually even narrower than Warrior alpha shins. So going with Jetspeed shins might be a very good suggestion if not the Sr sizes are much wider. The store we were at did not have any 14” shins in stock at all, so..

My 11y old son needs new shin guards.. The thing is, he’s only 5’1” but he has really long shins! He has now outgrown his Warrior Alpha DX 13” shin guards and need 14” instead.. The problem is that all shin guards in 14” are either Sr or Int and much wider than his 13” Warrior alpha’s.. So, i’m looking for the narrowest 14” shins on the market! Does anyone here know how Warrior’s 14” alpha shins fit width-wise compared to say Bauer vapor 14” int shins? We tried Supreme M3 int shins in both 13” and 14”, both to wide for his liking.. Thanks!

Warrior Franchise or Warrior Bonafide X.. not a big difference in those two. Both are great gloves. To bad they are impossible to find in Europe nowdays.

I did understand you, but i thought it was kinda funny when @Sprungdownunder came and said something completly different 😄 I will try to punch the 3X skates one more time, and this time I’m gonna use the big ball on the punch pliers. I might succeed, but i might also ruin the skates when trying.. IF i do not succeed, i will order a pair of Hzrdus 7x, 5x or a pair of Catalyst 5x4… I’m only coaching at the moment, but i still want comfortable skates.

Ok.. Now se have 2 persons saying against each other. One says 9 are prone to breakage while the 5/7 are good, and the other says 7/9 are the ones that break 😄.. Safe to say, i should not buy a first gen Catalyst skate at all, and look at Hzrdus or 2nd gen Catalyst instead. The reason i’m asking is i have problem with bunions behind the big toe on both feet, and even though iv’e punched out that spot (alot) on my 3X it’s still painful and i need skates that can be molded better around that area of the feet.

No cracked Hzrdus skates yet?

Which True models are known for cracking? Is it all models or just the Cat9?

Looks like a True version of the Tackla Breeze X1 ProZone Hockey Pants Tackla is the distributor of True Hockey in Finland, so there is your connection.

Wow!! I really hope that TPS will resurrect! I really miss their sticks. The R8 was my favourite. Here in Europe we had it in #61 curve at retail which were a bit different from the regular Nash curve. My favourite curve along with Warriors Vanek/Weight curve..