

start_today
Members++-
Content Count
1356 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
106 -
Feedback
0%
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Downloads
Gallery
Store
MSH News and Articles
Everything posted by start_today
-
TPS Response Sticks: Back For Another Iconic Shift
start_today replied to A2rhino's topic in Ice Hockey Equipment
Ok, again, I’m jaded and don’t like anything. But, this is just a brand name stamped on a mediocre stick, right? Like the “synergy” sticks that are a low tier Bauer with Easton graphics and a higher price point than they should have. No one under 40 actually cares if some ancient brand makes sticks again. If this were a new, modern build offering something unique, wouldn’t they use a new name to capture the youth market, who is far and away the biggest selling point? And if it’s the “classic” TPS, why does anyone care about people who have been out of the game for 20 years? And, outside of the XN10 (which, to be fair, people loved), TPS was never putting out GREAT sticks, right? They were fine, but it’s not like they were pushing boundaries and doing interesting stuff and suddenly stopped. Nostalgia for the sake of nostalgia. I’m happy to be proven wrong but, nothing about this strikes me as actually exciting. -
tl;dr - Good sizing. Actual bag material seems decent, but components feel cheap. Trash zipper, weak stitching. Main zipper useless after 6 months. Overall, feels like a cheaply produced and designed piece that looks good at first but falls apart quickly Picked up one of these last winter after looking at new bags for a while. I wanted a “nice” bag, and this seemed better than the high end bags from Bauer and CCM, and less expensive than those “designer” brands I held off using it a bit after I got it because I wasn’t sure I wanted it, been using it like 8 months, playing 3-4 times a week. Things I like: Good sizing. The Medium bag feels slightly bigger than normal medium bags. All my stuff fits fine and I (mostly) don’t have to Tetris it in and there’s extra space. Big U shaped opening. Skate pockets are placed weird, which limits space (see below). Lots of storage! This is what sold me. I love to have a place to keep tape, tools, extra socks and whatever else. Extra interior mesh pockets for stuff and two exterior zippered pockets for jerseys. Comes with additional laundry mesh bag. Material: Whatever it’s made of seems sturdy enough, and doesn’t have a ton of mesh on the outside. Nice shiny interior. Hockey bags have mostly moved away from dark interiors, which is nice so you don’t miss something when you’re unpacking. And it doesn’t (so far) flake off like some interiors. The “eh, could be better”: Skate pockets are both on the inside on the end of one side, which makes the bag kinda lopsided to carry, and also makes packing kinda weird because one end is noticeably more narrow if you have skates in the pockets. This seems strikingly ill-planned, like no one tried the bag before they mass produced them. Shoulder carry straps feel like they very slightly loosen if I don’t gently pick it up dead center and very slowly, so I have to readjust it because they keep getting longer The really, really bad: Zippers are terrible. One pull tab broke off the zipper after 5 months, the other the next month. Stitching around the zipper ripped out, reserving the main zipper absolutely useless. Stitching on zippers is also really bad and tore from normal zipper use. And I’m honestly a soft nerd and very gentle on stuff like this. There is/was a bag on sidelineswap with the exact same broken zipper issue, and a few of the reviews on their site also complain about bad zippers and stitching. I’ve seen one other person with their bag and zipper was also broken. Maybe they hold up fine for some people. I personally absolutely recommend against these. I contacted them about the zipper and stitching issues and whoever responded said they only guarantee bags for 6 months. Partly my fault for not contacting them immediately, but I figured I’d rather work with a 90% functional zipper than deal with the return. Maybe I’m a naive sucker stuck in the past who thinks a hockey bag should last a whole year. I wanted this to be a solution for a “nice” bag, but not the (what seems to me) expensive cost of Conway and Banks or Mammoth. But, the actual construction of the bag is weak at critical points, and overall design is awkward. I wish I’d spent the extra on one of those bags and not wasted it on this. Another lesson in You get what you pay for and/or If it seems to good to be true, it is.
-
I feel like between sidelineswap and people thinking everything is collectible or an investment, the only good team sales are minor league and college teams. Any NHL stuff is going to be either picked over or not worth the money when you know you can find it online with a little patience.
-
Buy the stick and curve that works for your playing style. Whether or not I like a low kick stick has absolutely zero bearing on if you like it. If you want feedback from people, list some of your favorite sticks you’ve used, and they can help you dial in what that translates to in Bauer 2025.
-
Yeah, his description of both Malkin blades as being “very similar” to a p88 is bizarre. It simply isn’t, and that’s super obvious side by side, and I imagine leads to a lot of disappoint. It’s like the curve on the 712 starts more towards the toe enough that it changes your shooting mechanics. And yeah, for a lot of people who aren’t nerding out on this stuff “similar to a p88” is probably true, but he gets so in the weeds talking about he similarities and differences in other curves, it’s weird he’s lazy about that description. He also seems to kinda hate p88s as old fashioned, so maybe that’s it haha. I keep searching for the p88 variant that will make me happy and shoot harder and more accurate and be a more complete and the answer I keep coming back to is…….just the regular p88. There is absolutely 100% not a life lesson there and I refuse to learn anything, and will continue to spend money chasing the dragon.
-
It’s in the PRO Hockey Sticks thread. I think it’s awesome and quietly kinda huge. When that guy started his company, the logo was a silhouette of Overchkin. Now they guy is breaking what was thought to be an unbreakable record using that brand. It’s kinda touching, honestly. And, it’s awesome that someone is producing good sticks at accessible price. It started as a passion project and the guy who runs PRO seems to genuinely enjoy it and want to do a good job, and not just cash in first chance he gets. (Cue immediately selling his company to Halliburton or something haha)
-
UPS Canada Package Marked Delivered to BSharp Ottawa
start_today replied to iceman8310's topic in Ice Hockey Equipment
I think they either lost it and are covering their asses or someone stole it and is pretending it’s lost. But, I’m just a guy on the Internet who tends to not trust people/businesses when it comes to money. Maybe there’s a reasonable, small misunderstand or mistake that can be resolved. -
UPS Canada Package Marked Delivered to BSharp Ottawa
start_today replied to iceman8310's topic in Ice Hockey Equipment
Maybe I’m cynical, but, don’t all signs point to the store received the package, employee Colin signed for it, and then somehow the package got lost, so now the store is lying and denying to cover their mistake? Simply marked delivered has some potential tracking error issues, but signed for by employee doesn’t leave many options. In my experience with American UPS, (we ship a lot of packages to customers through UPS for my job) once something is signed for, or confirmed delivered, they won’t do much of an investigation, because they did their part. If it’s lost or stolen, they mostly say “sucks brah.” -
Questions/Opinions Wanted on Smell and Gear
start_today replied to poly's topic in Ice Hockey Equipment
Are you a fan asking about the smell of a rink? That has nothing to do with the equipment, and everting to do with the cleaning processes at the rink. It smells like bodies and bathrooms because the rink don’t clean thoroughly, if at all. It’s the same reason most public bathrooms smell stronger than yours at home. -
3D Edge Analysis - sparks vs Blackstone up close
start_today replied to Paluce's topic in Ice Hockey Equipment
Ewww. Can you edit the post to reflect that? One thing I love about Modsquad is the objectivity from a diverse population. People can have big feelings about who does their sharpening and what process is better, but that feels gross when he says “no subjective feelings” and he’s shilling for his own work. -
VH Footwear/TRUE by Scott Van Horne
start_today replied to dsjunior1388's topic in Ice Hockey Equipment
Cool, I look forward to True products turning into mediocre slop once this private equity firm guts the company and processes and starts charging more to wring out every penny. -
For some of us who are old and set in our ways, as person who both contributed to the proliferation of p28esque curves and ultra-stiff boots, this guy is bordering on super villain status.
-
VH Footwear/TRUE by Scott Van Horne
start_today replied to dsjunior1388's topic in Ice Hockey Equipment
What’s the advantage of them being 3D printed? Are the tongues somehow customized to you? -
Buying gloves online, looking for some feedback
start_today replied to jgiant's topic in Ice Hockey Equipment
What’s so bad about the quality/design of recent glove offerings? -
The stick blade compression is really good. You can point a a ton of NHL players who have elite skill sets and use fairly different blades. It’s more about picking a steel profile and radius that works for you and sticking with it,and learning to maximize that, rather than constantly tinkering and fantasizing that changing the shape of your runner is gonna give you better hockey sense and make you noticeably faster.
-
This is my guess too. You only relaunch the TPS brand to appeal to a bunch of middle aged folk, and you’re doing it way more on nostalgia than tech.
-
What (if any) holders have the same hole patter as Bauer edge? My friend cracked his Edge holder and we are looking at other options. Would like to avoid drilling new holes.
-
Everyone over 40 thinks these look amazing, everyone under 30 is like “where are the racing stripes, grandpa?”
-
Has anyone worn the CCM m150 referee jersey? How does it fit? This is the cheaper model, not the pro. Specifically looking at how much room the sleeves have for elbows. I’m looking to get into reffing, but also not wanting to drop a bunch of money if I don’t like it. So, hoping to get buy on the less expensive jersey and ideally being able to use player elbows rather than buying a new set for reffing.
-
Possible Supination - Outside Edge Issues
start_today replied to FlyChicaga's topic in Ice Hockey Equipment
When he was working at a different shop before he had his own thing, he put inline chasis on a pair of ice skates for me, so essentially a holder swap. It’s been 12 or so years and I barely use them, but he did a good job. In all of my experiences with him, both mailing steel and in person, he has really good attention to detail, so I’d personally trust him. -
Sounds like you have at least two stores near you. The store with the Bauer scanner and the one without. Go and try on a ton of skates. Seems like you need to figure out what size skate you wear and what boot shape best fits your foot. You’re all over the place with sizing. Do you have access to a store with staff who are skilled at fitting skates? Go and have them help you get your size and shape dialed in. You’ve already made a 1k+ mistake. If you don’t have a local store you trust, spend some time and money driving to one you do trust. Buying skates blind off of the internet, especially customs that may have some weird stuff going on, is just throwing more money around that may or may not work.
-
Sparx Skate Sharpener - At home sharpener
start_today replied to tamtamg's topic in Ice Hockey Equipment
Apologies, I’m not a tools-y or technical person. What size washer do you use? Is there a particular thickness or diameter I should get? Thanks! -
Anyone know what part this is?
start_today replied to shoot_the_goalie's topic in Ice Hockey Equipment
Yeah, this looks like something that maybe fell in the helmet, and then fell out of the helmet, but isn’t actually related to the helmet. -
Average consumers too often equate price to quality, so they assume high end true skates can’t be as good as Bauer or CCM if the flagship doesn’t cost four figures. True makes the price four digits, and when Johnny Suburb and his mom go skate shopping in August, suddenly Trues are now on the same tier because they cost more.
-
Every logo and design that Utah has produced would be underwhelming and uninspired for a beer league team, let alone a franchise that cost a billion dollars.