Chadd

It's cheaper, but that doesn't mean that it's less protective.

I watched most of the third period last night, missed the rest due to x-mas shopping obligations, and I have one question; Has anyone ever seen Stempniak pass the puck? Maybe it was just an odd couple of shifts, but that guy was just throwing pucks at the net from everywhere and not even looking to see if anyone was more open. It did result in one goal for the Blues though, thanks to Backes (I believe) screening Osgood in the crease. Glad to see my observations jibe with someone who watched him coach more often than I have. Then again, you defended Avery when he was in LA so I'm not sure if that helps or hurts my case. ;)

Neither one scored 30 under his watch and Frolov is the only one to get big minutes on a regular basis.

I'm calling BS on that one. His youngest 30 goal scorer was Ziggy Palffy when he was 28 in Murray's first year as a coach. His youngest leading scorer as a head coach was Jason Allison when he was 26 and had 74 points, 21 points less than he had in Boston the previous year. He was forced to play a lot of young guys in LA and didn't do much with most of them.

Looks like he's not going - http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=224834&hubname=nhl Hopefully that means he's valuable enough to get regular ice time.

A big thanks to Andy for bringing out the new CCM/RBK swag to the MSH skate. As we were helping Jill put away some of the gear I noticed the Vector VN helmet had been left in the bag. I will be buying one. It seemed like a lot of other people were impressed as well. This thing is great.

I think he tends to be more candid about his aims rather than rolling out the stock answers that many athletes do, some see this as cocky, personally I like the straight talking - particularly if you can back it up as he has so far. There's a fine line between being confident and being cocky and everyone judges that line differently. You need to have the confidence that you belong at the NHL level and I don't see anything wrong with a guy saying he believes that he has the talent to stick with the team.

I have had that backfire me back more often than not. I've had a few good customers who would say thank you and become repeat customers, but I've also had a lot who have a sense of entitlement. I would stay open late and they would complain because we didn't have the exact product they wanted, the wrong color, "we're just looking"... or they would spend an hour trying to decide which pair of $45 (new) skates they wanted to buy. "What are the benefits of the Impact 50 skates over the 92 tacks?, my bantam is on the ice everyday and I want them to last him." Heaven forbid you try to talk them into an appropriate skate though... "You are just trying to get more money out of me! These bottom end skates will be fine, give me two sizes up from what you put him in so he has room to grow." Sorry for the rant, I just found retail extremely frustrating. You try your hardest to put people into the product that is best for them (ex. not putting your 14 yr old bantam in rec. hockey skates) and they bite your head off. They always would come back two weeks later yelling again because we sold them an inappropriate skate and now jr has a broken foot from taking a puck. I could go on and on. There are great customers out there. You build a rapport with them and it's awesome. I had a lot of customers who would call ahead to make sure I was there so I could sharpen their skates, but on the other hand I had the jackasses who in front of their daughters would ask a male associate to sharpen their skates because "girls don't know how to sharpen". Respectfulness is a two-way street, you treat the customers with respect and hope they will give you the same. If they don't, you just have to nod and smile and hope that karma comes back to bite them. I've never had anyone complain when I've said told them it was time to go. Usually something like, "sorry, but I'd like to see my wife before she falls asleep" or " I have a game tonight at another rink and I can't stick around tonight." The ones who treat you like shit should still get polite, friendly service but there's no reason to go the extra mile for them. You don't owe them and they don't owe you. That said, you make the effort as often as possible with new customers, they may surprise you from time to time. I used to get these young Amish guys coming in after spending all day in the field and stinking to high heaven. I was always friendly and polite and the sharpenings turned into sticks and the sticks turned into skates and before you know it these guys are dropping hundreds of dollars a week in the shop, all cash. We all judge people when we see them, the key is not to let those initial impressions impact how you treat customers.

Great role player, but he isn't a top flight goal scorer. When you're down a couple goals, those are the guys you need on the ice.

I've always thought that the used hockey gear business couldn't possibly be profitable enough to put up with all of the complaints.

The box score has been changed since last night. I still don't understand Mayers getting 17:55

Can someone explain Andy Murray's master plan to me? Why in the hell is Jamal Mayers getting 14+ minutes of ice time while Kariya, Boyes and Tkachuk are getting 11-12? What a shock, they lost the game too. When the team wins it often seems like it's in spite of the coach, not because of him.

Winning at the world juniors has to be more fun than watching from the pressbox.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=224376&hubname=

Somehow I have this image of Schroeder watching Lucy destroy his piano and bust of Beethoven, then calmly walking to two different closets for a new piano and new bust. The two R2XN10 shafts that are taped up and have blades in them are now broken, I've now moved into the stock of six new ones in this pic. Of course those two that are now broken help up for close to three years.

I used to stay open for those people all the time, even after being at the shop for 10+ hours and having a 45 minute drive home. It's just one of those things you do in the hockey business. I didn't have a problem chasing the "browsers" at closing by saying something like "Folks, we'll be closing up in five minutes. Let me know if you have any questions that you would like me to answer." That said, if a guy is looking to buy a bunch of new gear, you let him stay and try the stuff on.

Talk about missing out on a chance to create a great relationship with a customer. At 8 you lock the door, flip the sign to "closed" and continue helping a guy get fitted. Don't say anything or make a big deal about it and the guy will notice and remember how you helped him out. Been there and done that more than a couple times.

I know how they feel. I hate composite sticks, they're too light and I think think they wear out faster than wood. I don't take alot of slap shots either so that helps. I bought an easton stealth 300 and it lasted all of about 4 games before the tip of the blade was so chewed up you could almost pull it into 2 pieces. I went back to zcarbons immediately and have used the same stick since the summer for a 1/3 of the cost. long live the wood! err fiberglass/wood...or whatever the hell it is.... I was going through those z-carbon woodies every three games or so and that was before they changed them. After they changed them I couldn't even get through a game. Last night I finally broke my other old R2 XN10. A douchebag from the other team collapsed on it and did everything he could to break it. It cracked but didn't split in two. Good thing I have a few more in the closet.

Especially considering the treatment given to Erik Johnson. http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.htm...03-9a8f91b1120c

Double split fingers, cable knit, vented back roll...they do look like great gloves. How is the fit? Is it a tigher fitting glove, loose or in between? It's not a One90 but it isn't sloppy either.

Not from what I recall. I only had it on for a couple minutes but it seemed like a fairly small cuff, if memory serves.

The 130 is a very comfortable glove.

Watched the game off and off tonight and didn't see him much, according to the ESPN box score only a bot over 8 minutes of ice time tonight. It seems like David draws a penalty on the other team almost every time I watch them play. They seem to be getting a lot of powerplay opportunities thanks to him.

That's not going to happen, JD has publicly denied this particular trade. Why would they add another forward if they're so impressed with David's play?