shooter27

Have they been submitted to the NHLfor approval? What is the process for doing that and the associated cost? The NHL approved ThermaBlades, so why wouldn’t they approve these?

Somebody asked it above, and I'm curious as well, what happens when the flare gets worn down from sharpening? I assume that will change the angle of the edges to the ice. Does that mean one needs to change hollow as their blade wears down to get the same bite?

I wore the original Cooper girdle (forget what it was called, it was white) back in mites/squirts. Loved that thing

Has the 13.5" size glove been discontinued?

Thanks for the info. The car has never been overheated or run without coolant. But, recently about 10-15% of the time the engine misfires while stopped at lights, so I'm pretty sure the dealer isn't pulling a snow job. I'll call around to try to find a more reasonable quote on the repair. If anyone knows of a solid mechanic in/around LA I'm all ears. Thanks again.

So my dealer told me I've got a leaking head gasket (09 Infiniti G37, 60k miles). They quoted me $4500 to fix it and since I'm about 6 months from trading it in for something new, that doesn't seem to make sense. I've seen a bunch of different sealer products (like this: https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/bluedevil-head-gasket-sealant-38386/7120032-P) that one can use to fix the issue (at least temporarily) but I'm not really mechanical like that so the instructions confuse me. Do I have to clear the cooling system before putting in the sealant? If so, how do I do that? The guy at Auto Zone told me I have to change the oil after using this type of product, is that correct? Would a mechanic be willing to run the sealant process for me? What should something like that cost? If I do decide to have it fully repaired, is $4500 a reasonable number? Thanks for the help

This looks great. I was really excited for the TotalOne MX3 girdle that had a similar integrated girdle/shell setup, but I hated the fact that the internal piece didn't have a separate waist strap. Very happy that this one does.

I'm still a little skeptical. In the video above, Johansson is fawning over how great they are - yet he hasn't switch to use them. That to me signals a disconnect. Would Marsblade need to pay an NHL licensing fee or since their is no branding, would the be exempt? I guess if they have to pay the fee and don't currently have the cash, that could explain the disconnect. On another note - do the sound like t-blades to anyone else?

Bloomberg is a great information source for public companies. It's information and reporting for small private companies is spotty at best.

Given that Graf AG is the largest creditor of Graf Canada, it's quite possible they now own Graf Canada, but they didn't previously. You wouldn't put a subsidiary into bankruptcy because of an inter-company debt.

This is incorrect. Graf Canada was not a subsidiary of Graf AG, it was a separate company with a manufacturing and distribution agreement. If you read the bankruptcy docs you'll see that Graf AG is one of Graft Canada's largest creditors due to a $2M loan. I don't know what's happening now, whether Graf AG is stepping into the NA market or if Graf Canada has been able to secure DIP financing.

It's absolutely true. If you read the bk documents it's very explicitly only Graf Canada, not Graf CH. People can still get Graf product if you want it, you just need to import it from Switzerland, and pay the applicable taxes of course.

Pretty crazy that they're going BK due to less then US$3M in debt, especially after apparently getting a CDN$2M cash infusion from Graf AG in May of last year. I know the FX rate has tanked, but wow. They must've burned through that cash instead of using it to pay down BMO.

The guy that told you that you can't fit a fishbowl to non-Bauer helmets is flat out wrong. If you watched the NCAA championship game there were several North Dakota players wearing CCM Resistance helmets with the fishbowl. If you look at any NCAA team that wears CCM, Easton or Warrior helmets you'll likely find at least a couple guys wearing the fishbowl with them.

So they're now using 3D scanning for hockey skates? That's interesting because a couple years ago I asked Scott about using the 3D system they used for speed skates for hockey skates and he said they didn't do it because the bottom came out in an odd shape that they couldn't attach a holder to. I guess they fixed that issue.

Count me as very curious. If anyone can capture the segment and post it here it would be much appreciated.

100% agree with this. Though the sherwood had a lower lie slightly. The other one I would add is Jagr's pro curve for right shots.

Wonder if the PK series skates ever made it to retail. Or were they so capital constrained they couldn't afford manufacturing?

If you were quoted CAD and charged a different price in USD, that doesn't jibe with the explanation Garth posted stating they originally charged $900 in both USD and CAD because the currencies were roughly at par and the current issue is more an extension of maintaining the same policy and not of charging US customers more. If they in fact previously charged US customers CAD and then converted it to USD (or had PayPal do it) then the current situation would be a change of business practice. However, the true effect is still more one of giving the Canadian customer a discount (by charging them 900 CAD) then it is increasing the price to the US customer and price gouging. I'm not commenting on "right" or "wrong" I just don't believe it's fair to say they're price gouging by keeping the USD price constant. If anything I would criticize them for not raising the CAD price to account for the exchange fluctuation and sacrificing margin. I don't think it would be appropriate for them to price in CAD for US customers (or charge a lower price in USD) since they price everywhere in the world outside of Canada in USD. The prudent thing in my opinion would be to charge Canadian customers in USD as well (which effectively raises the CAD price). That would be the best way for them to ensure they are treating all their customers equally. The current situation doesn't single out the US customer and disadvantage them, it singles out the Canadian customer and gives them an advantage.

I agree that VH is too small to be worrying about currency hedging. Given the generally accepted business practices, the normal thing to do for VH would be to price the skates based off the currency of their materials costs, in this case USD and charge everyone in the same currency. If they were to simply do this, then the complaints being voiced here would be moot. The CAD price wouldn't change but it would effectively be increased with the change in exchange rate. As they said, they charge overseas customers USD as well, so the normal practice would be to charge Canadian customers USD. For whatever reason, they have chosen to alter their business practices for the Canadian market to keep the price consistent in CAD. Is the price gouging against US and International customers? Not really, it would be more accurate to say it's price discounting for Canadian customers. It also penalizes the company by cutting into its margin on Canadian sales. Being a Canadian company I can see why they would want to keep the CAD price consistent, but by treating Canada different then the rest of the world by charging them CAD instead of USD, they have opened themselves up to the type of criticism here. If they're I willing to take a lower margin on their Canadian business, that's their perogative, but it does risk alienating non-Canadian customers.

Makes perfect sense. Much appreciated.

Thanks for the reply. That's great information. Is the recommended molding sequence what raganblink described above? Heat the skate/speed plate, step in the skate, stand for a few seconds, then sit and lace up?

Does the Speed Plate get molded during the same process as the rest of the skate or is it a separate process? I have the custom Sidas insoles, but was told to not use them when I heat molded my skates because the heat of the skate could potentially warm the insole to the point that it changed shape as well. It sounds like the Speed Plate is a bit more of an integrated process?

The look of the Surgeon line reminds me very much of lax gear.

I asked him about the scanning and he said the scanning ends up creating a boot that has a heavily contoured outsole which makes a hockey holder not sit right on the outsole.