Sputnik20

Look up Kneesovertoesguy on YouTube. Some highly effective exercises that focus on muscles and mobility usually overlooked by most PT, trainers, athletes.

Not sure if any of the Jersey folks here have heard yet. Stopped by and talked to Bruce at length.

They will do both, the new toe and the old, but I would highly recommend going with the new plastic caps, as that is the bulk of my issues with the skates. The exposed leather and stitching around the toe is what has worn through completely on both skates, on both sides. The new toe cover eliminates that wear spot.

I haven't had the pleasure of ordering or even seeing 60 pairs. Seeing the condition of my skates after 6 months of light c-league action I must say I was hugely disappointed. My retail 20K's which I have had since their release date are in much much (I'll add another one for exclamation) much better shape. I would hate to see what an NHLer's VH skates look like after a week. At this stage of their existence, I will give their design a 4, and durability a 3.

My beef with VH, aside from what I mentioned above, was that I ordered my skates in March/April 2015, by May/June they announced the new improved tendon guard and toe cover, and by July/August they announced lower price for Junior size skates. It would have been so very nice of them to take a moment of their time to mention their (near) future planned improvements and suggest for me to wait to place the order until these new "updates" were implemented. At the end, I had to spend another $100 shipping them back, only to not have my issues (stitching around the toe box, and boot length) not resolved.

Attention to detail, durability issues, inability to resolve a requests/issues. For a company that small, making such a unique product, I expected top shelf results. Loving my Easton Mako's right now though!!

Posted this in the "Team Jersey" thread, but I am sooooo excited about them... .....and here they are Had to change the Tackla logo... ...but in addition, I also scored this beauty Olive V10 QuoteMultiQuoteEdit

^^ All because of him ^^ Model: Pro+ Fit: Narrow/short Size: 13” -1/2" cuff Foam: EVA dual density PE insert: 2.0 mm Thumb: flex Palm: Pittard digital 0.85 mm Overlay: Pittard digital 0.85 mm Gusset: Poly knit black (stretch) Palm fit: standard Finger length: standard Gusset height: -1/4" Cuff length: -1/2" Embroidery: SPUTNIK20 Pinky side: (left) Lucia (right) SofiaNo "Screaming E" on cuff roll "Lubo" fingers and finger tip inserts on the left hand but not the right

Not that I could have. Not that I should have. But I had to have... Model: Pro+ Fit: Narrow/short Size: 13” -1/2" cuff Foam: EVA dual density PE insert: 2.0 mm Thumb: flex Palm: Pittard digital 0.85 mm Overlay: Pittard digital 0.85 mm Gusset: Poly knit black (stretch) Palm fit: standard Finger length: standard Gusset height: -1/4" Cuff length: -1/2" Embroidery: SPUTNIK20 Pinky side: (left) Lucia (right) SofiaNo "Screaming E" on cuff roll "Lubo" fingers and finger tip inserts on the left hand but not the right Jesse from The Hockey Shop coming through once again. Will be ordering another pair for my second team soon.

Just received confirmation that my skates have shipped...3 weeks from day of order on the nose. Do I care whether I paid in USD or CND? Not really. Unlike a lot of people (maybe) I do not disassociate USA and Canada as foreign countries, even though they are. It's true that I love the US a bit more than Canada, but I also love New Jersey a bit more than New York. The above being said, I really hope that these skates will solve a lot of the fit issues I experience with every single retail/stock skate. And if they do, I will be super proud to wear a skate made on this side of the world, by people I can reach out and talk to. What's the difference in $$?? So I may have to skip a few burrito bowls at Chipotle next month, although not likely. That's the bottom line for me. I want to be comfortable in my skates. For decades I have struggled with fit, even doing the custom route previously a number of times. I will pay whatever. The idea of paying $900 for skates should pain me more than most. For 17+ years I have managed or owned pro shops, so my skates were always free. Since I quit the biz, I now have to buy skates at or close to retail, but thankfully my size 5.0-EE's are usually half the price of the senior sized counterparts. And I gleefully dropped the $900 for a chance to be pain free.

Retail Easton Air's.

I hope my wife never sees this....

That's fine. A month might be enough time for you to get to NJ anyways.

A good friend of mine is an assistant store manager there, and he has confirmed that they did not receive the 5.0 and 5.5 wide. The sizes they did sell were in the senior range.

I guarantee that they don't get one of each size/width (at least not in Easton) since there were no 5.0-Regular, 5.0-Wide, 5.5-Wide, 7.5-Wide. I find it hard to believe that they would have sold those sizes within two days of release, especially the wides in 5.0 and 5.5. A Bauer skate maybe, but an Easton?

I have just returned from trying on the Mako's at HM. The skate is really nice overall. After a "half" bake, I must say the heel of the skate felt incredible. The length was a little long, as I was trying on a 5.5. The volume seemed slightly too shallow for my foot, however I felt no pressure from the tongue/laces, which was a very pleasant change from other skates I have tried before. The width was insufficient for me in the mid-foot, ball of the foot area. My feet went numb very quickly, however I wasn't in pain as I often suffer from other skates in that area. Lastly the top of the boot dug into my leg while I was sitting there, but I know that can be easily remedied. I can't say the skate has met all my expectations yet, I really need to try it in my size 5.0-Wide to truly tell. Just for reference, I currently wear a 20K 5.0-EE The one thing I was disappointed in was the fact that HM did not have a full size/width run on a brand new skate to try on.

Why would you not be able to bake (any skate) more than once??? When trying to sell skates, I found that to be an invaluable selling point. Have baked every single one of my own skates more than once, even more than twice. It's not like you are dealing with dairy here.

Curious to see if there will be a JR size available? I don't think there would be, but would love to try these out. If anybody has that information, would be glad to know.

I've been meaning to go there, make a day trip of visiting "The Big 5" stores in NJ, well four. Curious to see if any of them offering anything worthwhile or different.

Perhaps, but I'd rather not say publicly. I might be selling it, since the size is a bit larger than I would prefer it. That is once I get a smaller size.

I don't usually showcase my stuff, but I am really excited about this new gear I am starting to use. and the skates.... Skates: All black beauties! Hybrid Graf Supra 705-703 Size: 5.75-EE/B Grey Clarino Liner Up-sized tongue Up-sized toe box +1 Stiffer No stitching in heel No model window No zig-zag (regretably) Superfeet LS2

agreed...the few times where there were people in line, they did not object to having that player cut in...if it would ever happen to them, they would want the same treatment. We get a lot of mid game sharpening from travel teams, since most places south, north, and west of us couldnt sharpen a pencil..even a mechanical one...just saying

The easiest way I found to deal with really really old closeout products, is to donate it. I put together three $7,000+ (cost) pallets of stuff and sent it to none profit and charitable hockey organizations in HM's and PH's territories. We took a great deduction at the end of the year (I think it came out to $27,000 retail) and I moved product I had a hard time selling, even online. This works well in a number of ways. I hate doing 50% off or more sales. I hate to saturate my own territory with closeout deals and then not sell any of the new products for the following year. Example, I ran a store where the owner decided to have a 75% off blowout on product that was two years old or more. A customer bought three pairs of skates, 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0. I sold three pair of skates for the price of one, and I will not see that customer for the next three years. It's not the way to go. Now I look for donation and sending products overseas (China, Russia, and Ukraine) to get rid of old stock.

What would be best, if there was a universal MAP, that everybody had to adhere to, online or in store. Or like you said, raise MAP to 50%, which would allow the LHS's to make 35 or 40 points. Can you imagine the cheapest youth skates going for $70 bucks online and $55 in the store. Even the playing field. Planned discounts, so everybody discounts the item on the same day for the same % or $$. It will never happen. One way I battle closeouts, is now we know that a new pair of skates comes out every two years. I book a volume of new skates that first year, and sit on it till the newer ones come out two years later. I'll order any sizes I need as I need them. I do this with everything, sticks, protective, gloves. Only helmets tend to have a life span more than two years. I have never charged anybody the fee yet (a year after posting the sign), and our "wrestling matches" with time wasters has been cut to almost nothing, while we still sell a ton of skates.

I agree with Jimmy, we stopped stocking top end goalie stuff... Plus our new store is member exclusive discount club, which deters a number of people, but those who pay attention see the value in buying an annual membership and benefit from the savings, and the expertise. Agreed, being on the western side of PH from you, there are just too many shops in our area now...not enough hockey being played for all the available equipment.