Jarick

HARROW 300 SHAFT Time Used: 9 months Flex: 75 Reviewer: 5'8" 175 lb D/C level rec league Shaft Shape & Flex - I ordered two of these shafts, both 75 flex, one in the "grip shift" and one in glossy grip. The grip shift has a matte finish on the top and sticky grip on the bottom, which is supposed to help with moving the bottom hand for puck handling but locking in place for shooting. I honestly cut it so short it didn't make a difference. The glossy grip felt great, lots of grip which I like. Shaft shape is rounded, very similar to the Bauer Vapor series. Diamater was about the same as a Vapor as well. As for the flex, these sticks come extra long, and cutting them down made them feel stiffer than I had hoped. They did "break in" a bit over a few games though. Oddly enough, the grip shift flex is only slightly stiffer than I prefer while the glossy grip flex feels much stiffer, almost like it was mislabeled. 8/10 Weight & Balance - These shafts are listed at 365 grams and are definitely heavier than most other high end tapered shafts. On the plus side, they seem to balance out better with the tapered blades than other shafts. I prefer a balanced stick to one that is very light and blade heavy, so it worked well for me. 9/10 Stick Handling & Passing - From what I understand, the blade has more of an effect on the puck feel than the shaft, but Harrow claims to have built in anti-vibration properties in the shaft. I will say with either a Harrow blade or with a wood blade, puck feel is very solid, almost muted, very similar to a wood stick. Not at all pingy or ceramic feeling. Passing feels fine, again it catches passes solid but without excessive bouncing. 10/10 Shooting - The shaft performs like most other low kick shafts on the market. Shots are accurate and true, no surprises. There is a really nice kick to this stick that puts a good amount of heat on snappers. Wrist shots don't have excessive lag on them. Slap shots are good, not my bread and butter, but no weaker than anything else I've tried. Really seems built for quick snappers though, great kick. 10/10 Durability - These things are tanks. Lots of heavy use and stick work and only one scrape through the finish to show for it. Seem like it will hold up forever. 10/10 Intangibles - Finish is a bit busy, but the white glossy grip had a really sweet look to it, especially with the metallic red outline on the logo. Conclusions - A really good, solid, basic low kick shaft. A little more weight but well balanced, good feel to it, good kick, great durability. Also a good value if Harrow is running a special, which they seem to do more often than not. OVERALL - 9/10

BAUER VAPOR XXV STICK Flex: 67, 75 Curve: P88, P92 Time Used: 6 months Reviewer: 5'8" 175 lb D/C level rec leaguer Shaft Shape & Flex - The senior model had a standard sized shaft with rounded corners, not quite oval but rounder than the Supreme line or most Eastons. The intermediate was slimmer and quite a bit rounder, almost oval feeling. I preferred the senior stick as the intermediate felt like it was too small for my hands, which are on the smaller end of 13" gloves. The 77 flex was quite stiff, closer to 85 before cutting down. It requires more effort to flex this stick than most other 75 flexes I have used. The 67 felt true to flex and remained whippy after cutting down. 8/10 Blade - Both sticks appeared to have identical blades, which appear to be similar to the Vapor XXXX tapered blade I have. They are very stiff and thin, a lot like a Dolomite blade with the wider weave. I'm not sure what the technology is supposed to be, but they are fairly lively feeling, not ceramic in that they transmit every bit of information, but they certainly don't cushion passes either. 8/10 Weight & Balance - The senior stick feels noticeably heavier than the Vapor XXXX and most other top end sticks, but feels lighter than cheaper price point models. I'm assuming this is due to the traditional fused shaft and blade construction as well as potentially more or heavier material in the shaft itself. The senior stick felt relatively balanced as the heavier shaft evened out the weight of the blade tenon. The intermediate was obviously lighter but blade heavy with a senior blade in an intermediate shaft. 8/10 Stick Handling & Passing - The XXV is a good stick in terms of puck feedback. It is not overly ceramic, nor is it overly dampened. It does its job just fine. Catching passes can be a bit tough due to the liveliness of the blade, certainly not as good as wood or say the One95 in that respect. Playing defense on a low level team, I don't get a lot of hard passes though, so it's fine for me. 8/10 Shooting - This is the most important aspect of any stick to me. This stick definitely feels like a low kickpoint stick. All shots react just as you would expect them to for the flex and the curve. With the stiff feeling 77 flex, it was a bit difficult to load, but the stiffer flex seemed to give a bit quicker release and better accuracy. The P92 is more open than I prefer, which made slappers a bit unpredictable, but the velocity was high for my ability. The 67 flex wasn't a great shooting stick because of the excessive whippiness. 8/10 Durability - After using the 67 flex for a couple months, there was a big chunk out of the top of the blade which unravels every time I have used it. Both sticks make a little bit of crackling when flexing the blade, but both blades have remained stiff. Both shafts have no wear and tear aside from markings. 8/10 Intangibles - The look of the stick is nice and subtle, non distracting white with a candy coated blue on the blade. Stick'um grip is wonderful for my tastes as I like a grippy stick. Conclusions - All in all, this is a very good basic stick. As originally priced, it might have been a bit heavy for the money, but on clearance it's a no brainer. It feels very similar to the Warrior Dolomite, maybe not quite as much pop and not quite as light, but a bit better puck feel. I do wish Bauer would make their low kick sticks a bit whippier though. OVERALL - 8/10

Bauer One75 Gloves Size: 13" Time Used: 1 year Fit - These are pretty much the tightest fitting gloves on the market, which I prefer as my hands are a bit small even for size 13". I love the fit of these gloves: tight in the palm, tight in the fingers, and the cuff never touches the wrist. When I rotate my wrists, they don't move around at all. They did break in a bit, but the size hasn't increased too much. 10/10 Weight & Mobility - I don't think gloves get much lighter. They are full nylon, don't seem to have a ton of inserts, and don't have a lot of extra material. Even brand new, they felt broken in because the fingers moved so freely and easily. The cuff is designed to flare open and "get out of the way" of the forearm so it never feels as if it's constrictive. Again, as light and mobile as I could find. 10/10 Protection - I've had a few shots and a couple slashes to the gloves and to be honest there's not a great amount of protection. I've had some good bruised and stingers, especially on the fingers. Playing defense, they make me a bit nervous, but if I had to play center or saw more high shots, I would probably check out the One95's or another glove. 5/10 Durability - The gloves themselves are in great shape, look brand new from the top. There is some palm wear, but as I have used tennis gauze on the grip that is expected. I have a summer and a winter season on them and will probably get another year out of the palms, which is great. Unfortunately, the thumb stitching came out on one side after 9 months, so I will have to get that repaired. 8/10 Intangibles - I prefer the look and feel of these to the One90 type gloves, a little more traditional but still modern. The embroidered white Bauer logo looks great on the all black glove. I do wish they'd do away with the palm material extending around the thumb area and the little vent. Conclusions - Bauer seems to have taken their One90 concept and improved it quite a bit. It's quite a bit different from a traditional glove, but it's so lightweight, broken-in feeling, and mobile that it feels like you're wearing nothing...including when you get hit. OVERALL - 7/10

Graf G35 Skates Size: 8D Time Used: 6 months Reviewer: 5'8 175 lb D/C level rec leaguer Foot: narrow heel, wider toes/forefeet, slightly flat Background: I have a very narrow heel and wider forefeet, so skate fit has been a bit of trial and error for me. Initially, I was skating in Vapor XIX 8D's, which were too long (causing the foot to roll around in the boot) and too narrow up front (causing awful cramps). I switched to a pair of Vapor XXV's in 7.5EE, which fit great in terms of length and width up front, and I was able to improve my skating quite a bit. The last several months with the Vapors, I noticed I was losing edges and having problems on tight turns and stops. My local shop said the boots were fine but were still too wide for my heels/ankles, causing the foot to roll around slightly. I've always wanted to try Graf skates because of the low cut boot, the forward pitch, and the traditional style fit. Between my Vapor skate issues and with a nice tax refund, I picked up a pair of G35's. Fit: Before buying the Grafs, I had never really had a proper skate sizing. Most of the time a kid who would just grab skates from the back and hand them to me to try on. With these skates, the salesman measured my foot length and width, watched me walk, looked at my arch and heel, and made the recommendation for G35's due to the narrow heel and regular forefoot. He also recommended I go with the smallest and narrowest size possible to fit my ankle/heel, then stretch the boot to accommodate my wider forefeet. These skates definitely have the narrowest heel of any I've tried on, locking it right into place. The toe cap is a bit short and small, so I ended up going from a 7.5D to an 8D, which didn't affect the heel too much. The forefoot was a bit tight, but I was hoping they'd break in a bit. I had them baked and was fitted for the Sidas heat molded footbeds with the air bladder machine. After a couple skates, I was getting terrible pain behind the ball of the feet, so I had them stretched a bit in the forefoot on either side of the foot. This took care of the problem right away. I also had some trouble getting comfortable with the lacing as I was feeling the laces bite into my foot, so I swapped the waxed Graf laces for Bauer unwaxed, which are much wider and softer. This has pretty much taken care of all fit issues, and now I can honestly say the foot is locked into place and extremely comfortable. 5/10 before baking and adjustments, 10/10 after Blade & Holder: I have heard some bad things about the Graf holder and steel and see that many people tend to replace them with LS2's. I did really like the Bauer holder and steel, but decided to give these a fair shake. The holders/steel feel a bit different than the LS2's (stiffer and a bit more brittle if that makes sense), but it's not enough to want to spend all the money to get them replaced. I believe the initial radius of the skates was 11', which felt way too flat. I also went from a 263mm to 272mm blade, which made them feel a bit clunky. I had them re-profiled to 9', which seemed to help in terms of tight turns and transitions. The skates are also pitched forward compared to the Vapors, and I tried to adjust but ended up having them put on the heels a bit more, which now feels perfect. The steel does seem to get nicked up easier than the Bauer steel and there's always little rust spots on the sides. I will likely skate on these as long as possible then replace with a higher quality steel like Step Steel. 5/10 before adjustments, 9/10 after Weight: I have never owned a pair of ultra high end skates, so I'm not familiar with using the lightest models on the market. They do feel heavier than my old Vapors and do make my legs a bit more tired, but I'm more concerned with the fit and on-ice performance than I am with the weight. They don't get any heavier by the end of the game and never seem like they're water logged afterwards. When I take the skates out of the bag to dry, the liner and footbed are never wet, so I don't think they suffer from the same water problems as older skates. 7/10 Performance: These skates are quite a bit different from my old Vapors in terms of fit and features. The holder has more forward pitch, placing you on your toes, but the boot itself also seems to encourage that as well. While the Vapors had a flexible tendon guard, the Grafs have a rigid one that angles forward, forcing you to bend your knees. And the cut itself is a bit lower, which allows me to lace all the way up to the top eyelet instead of skipping one or two. All this translates to me skating more on the balls of my feet and with my knees bent more than I used to. While this is personal preference, for a low intermediate skater like myself these are good habits to build. The other "performance" feature of the skate is the zero negative space due to the tight fit and SIDAS footbeds, which is a wonderful feeling. The first time I put these on, I was amazed at how far I could lean to either side and really use the edges of the skate. 9/10 Protection: I usually don't take many shots off the feet (I try and get out of the way), but I have taken at least one or two off the boot so far. The only one I noticed was near the midfoot on the top (tongue), which did hurt but didn't bruise. I will say that I took a hard shot off the inside of the foot in my Vapors last November, and I had really bad arch cramps almost every day when I first woke up. Since I switched to these skates, the cramps went away completely. 9/10 Durability: Every Graf owner I've talked to had his skates for many years, so I'm hoping these will last me quite a long time. There are little tears in the finish where pucks have hit, but nothing has caused a problem in terms of structure. EDIT: I forgot I had an eyelet come out after only a few months on these guys. The shop replaced it for free but I will dock another point because it's a $500 skate and still pretty new. 7/10 Intangibles: Absolutely love the look of the skate...white felt tongues, all black boot, and the little flashy green G logo. By far the most comfortable skate I've tried on or worn with a ton of cushion inside the boot. Received lots of compliments on them as well. Conclusions: Overall I'm really happy with the skates. I have had to do a good amount of adjustments to get these where I want them, but now they feel amazing. I really like the Graf concept of having multiple fits and also like that Graf is more focused on getting the proper fit and using proper technique rather than worrying about gimmicky features. The only real thing I could see improvement is in terms of weight (they are a bit clunky) and external durability (they get roughed up easily). Overall 8/10

After my latest spending spree: Helmet: Bauer 5500 w/ 9500 cage Shoulders: Reebok 4k Elbows: RBK 7k Pro Pants: Tackla Air 9000 Gloves: Eagle PPFi Shins: Reebok 6k Skates: Graf G35 Sticks: Bauer One95 (77 flex P92), Harrow 300 (75 flex #4), Harrow 300 (75 flex #2) Flash, we have almost the same setup except for skates and sticks...down to the color of the gloves.

Retail L2 75 flex shafts took junior blades...mine did at least.

Went to the LHS to try on some pants...left with these: Pre-Vaughn PPFi's...for $100. Last pair. Sweet. Actually they had a pair each of pre-Vaughn, post-Vaughn black liner, and post-Vaughn red liner. The red liners were nice, post-Vaughn blacks felt really odd, and these felt like butter. Now if only I can find some Tackla 5000 pro stocks for $100, I'll have the best damn week.

Going a little nuts with sticks lately, gotta trim the pack down: Harrow 300 75 flex #4 curve (feels like about 90 flex) Harrow 300 75 flex #2 curve (feels like about 100 flex) TPS Response R2 intermediate Messier curve Reebok 7k Sickick 75 flex / Vapor XXXX P88 blade Bauer One95 77 flex P92 (needs SRS repair) Bauer One95 87 flex P92 Also had a One55 woody that lasted about a day before it broke.

David, I've got a question for you. With all the travel and scheduling, are you guys constantly changing your clocks and watches or do you guys just adjust your schedule back to St Louis time? Congrats on the season, anytime you're making highlight reels for the NHL you're really doing something right!

Changed a bunch of stuff around again. Helmet: Bauer 5500 Cage: Bauer 9500 Shoulder pads: Bauer Vapor XXV Elbow pads: Bauer One55 Gloves: Bauer One75 Pants: Bauer Vapor XXV Shin pads: Bauer One90 Skates: Graf G35 Stick(s): Harrow 300, RBK 7k Sickick Pretty happy with most of the gear, although I might try and find some 13.5" shin guards or something because these have always been a bit big. Pants are also not terribly protective, might keep an eye out for some Tacklas.

...he says on an internet forum! That's one reason I'm getting my kid into sports and other real life activities. It's just way too easy to depersonalize the world.

$500 LCD TV lasted about 20 months before it died. Damn you, no-name brand that went out of business last year. On the plus side, going to get a bigger and better TV :D

It doesn't look like it would be anything different than not sharpening the blade, which obviously doesn't work.

Try the next sharpest (100/75?)...100/50 is supposed to be like 1/2" and 100/75 closer to 3/8".

I think when you get it dialed in it's a big difference. Going from 11/16" to 90/75 didn't do much for me...but dropping down to 100/50 gave me way more bite when I wanted it, none when I didn't (no catching edges), and I really do notice the increased glide (can take two strides and glide across the ice now).

GF opened $2500 in credit cards in my name without telling me. GF didn't file insurance properly for our kid, who had a two week hospital stay. I now have $31,500 of bills to pay.

100/50 felt really, really good. A lot more steady. I had moved from 3/8 to 1/2 to 5/8 to 11/16 because I kept catching edges, but with this sharpening I'm not catching edges at all, they're just there when I need them. I'd say the biggest change from regular to FBV is everything is more predictable. Now if I can just translate that to more confidence...

100/50 will have more bite than 90/75. Got mine re-sharpened at 100/50 after a few weeks at 90/75. I'm excited to try something with a bit more bite...hopefully it doesn't throw my game off too much.

Wow, I thought NHL'ers typically used shallow hollows... Is there a big difference between 90/75 and 100/50? I'm thinking about trying something with a bit more bite.

Would a 100/50 be worth a shot? Am I supposed to want quite a bit of bite on my skates (again, I'm not a great skater and will be doing a lot of work on my edges on the weekends)? I should re-word that, would 100/50 have a better glide due to the longer flat spot?

Okay, skated last night with the new FBV 90/75 coming from 11/16. It was more subtle than I expected, but I'm a pretty godawful skater. I noticed a bit more glide, edges seemed slipping out from me at first but after warmups they felt good. Not night and day, but a better sharpening. One thing I noticed was the "crunch" sound on corners, a lot more than I normally get, and possibly more importantly, the lack of "crunch" sound on my weaker edges (where I need a lot of work). So maybe this isn't a performance tool for me as much an education tool. By the end of the skate I felt more confident on my edges, so I'm excited to hit Saturday morning skates and get to work on some skating exercises. I did however skate pretty much the whole practice without breaks and while I was pretty tired at the end, I wasn't hacking and coughing as much as normal. So there could have been a bit less fatigue but there wasn't much gliding going on (small area practice).

Sorry if this has been explained already, but it's the angle of the edges that's the key in determining how "sharp" they feel when cornering, correct? So 80/75 has "taller" edges but the 80 means the angle of the edges is flatter (than say 90 or 100)? And is the reason for dropping to 80 in Perron's case to maximize the surface area of the edge itself to provide lateral stability?

Hadn't heard about this until Monday (don't know why), so I did some reading and found a shop right down the street that does it. Picked up a lifetime sharpening sticker too...that should save some cash. Normally I'm an 11/16 guy, went up to 3/4 with the soft summer ice and some weight gain, and as I try and cut a bit for winter league and work on my balance and edges some more, I was considering going back to 5/8. So I went with the 90/75. It looks practically flat, with a tiny ridge on either side. The edge itself feels sharper though. Got a practice tonight, pretty excited to try it out. I still have a ton of work to do with my skating, by far my weakest part, but I found some good ice to work on it and hopefully this will give me a nice edge this winter.

Picked up a couple new sticks, selling off the old ones. Gone: Warrior Dolomite HD 75 flex 2-piece Kovalchuk Warrior Dolomite 75 flex Robitaille Bauer One90 67 flex shaft w/ Montreal M95 blade Mission Fuel Pyro 65 flex Rafalski New: Bauer One95 67 flex P88 (main stick) Bauer Vapor XXV 67 flex P88 (backup) RBK 7k 75 flex shaft w/ Bauer Vapor XXXX P88 blade (dryland)

TPS R8 Pro Gloves (50/50 Outer) Size: 13" Time Used: 2 months Fit These gloves are a bit loose on me, although my hands are probably 12.5" with 13-13.5" fingers, so I compromise on the size. They do move around a bit if I rotate my wrists back and forth. But they are incredibly comfortable gloves, and if you like them a bit loose you will likely love these. I did notice there are some foam pads on the back of the hands and thumb that give you a tighter fit, similar to Eagles, but you would have to cut them off the gloves to achieve a really loose fit. 7/10 Weight & Mobility For being so large, they aren't as heavy as expected. The 50/50 outer shell likely helps with this, although I suspect there aren't as many plastic inserts as other high end gloves. The cuffs allow plenty of wrist movement, better than most gloves on the rack today. The fingers move very freely right from the get go. For the most part, I don't notice that they are on, which is good. The palm feels good, not overly thin or thick, but very soft and comfortable on the inside. 8/10 Protection The rolls seem to have great protection, but I have taken a couple slashes and whacks to the side and they hurt quite a bit. I believe they could use more plastic inserts around the fingers. The thumb seems adequately protected. 8/10 Durability I've only had them a couple months now, but there is some stitching that looks to be coming loose. The palm seems to have some wear even though I'm using Tacki-Mac grips that are supposed to have very little. I'm not sure the gloves will last much beyond one season, although they still look great. 7/10 Price At first glance, they seem to be a bargain, especially on the clearance rack. But with a lack of protection around the fingers and the suspect durability, they may not be as great as they seem. Still, they are a good glove for the money. 9/10 Intangibles The look is great for these gloves, embroidery on the logo is top notch, and they have almost no break-in time. Conclusions For a 4-roll type glove, these have a great price, although they might not have the protection and durability to back it up. I am happy with them right now, but will likely try some One95's or similar gloves next season. Overall 8/10