start_today

Little late here, but have there been any low pressure conversations with the kid about his performance in games vs practice and what he thinks it might be? Not a coach, but I work with kids with lots of different learning styles and personalities. As adults, we are often trying to solve problems for kids and remove obstacles and all that without ever just sitting down and actually getting the child’s honest take on the situation.

When I experimented with the p28, I could ONLY sauce the puck. ha Felt like I had to really focus to zip a firm flat pass on the ice. I’m sure working with it a little more I could have mastered it, but like others have said, it felt like I really had to pay attention to what I was doing. p88 lets me be comfortably mediocre without overthinking it.

SheaTheodore gloves and you use his curve. Someone has a hockey crush. 😉

You know your feet best, but I’m gonna prod a bit and ask if the skates truly are “reasonably comfortable?” Having to rehab all week to be able to skate on the weekend seems like something isn’t right. Nine games over a weekend is a lot, but skates shouldn’t so hard on your feet that you can’t walk. Are you able to find a place with free returns and order a boatload of skates to try on? And, if you don’t mind me asking, where do you live that can support needing a ref for 9 games on a weekend, but doesn’t have a hockey store within 5 hours? Not doubting you, just curious.

Watched a collision the other night in a competent low key pick up where player A lost an edge and slid through player B, both guys are good skaters and were moving fast. Player B’s foot hit player A in the head, then player B flew in the air and landed hard on his back then smacked his head. Two potential head injuries (both guys are fine) on a fluke play because it was the end of that night. Wear a helmet that fits and works.

Why would playing in a no-checking / checking league make a difference in radius hollow? I don’t mean that as a sarcastic answer, legit question.

Is that pretty much the same font and green coloring as the Xbox game?

Yeah, I love those gray cuff roles. I wish more retail gloves had different colors on the cuffs.

Is the new stick a p28 or p29? You have a typo at the start or end of your post.

@Hills, who is the company who seems like they know what they are doing?

Maybe they are hoping this stick will be the, ahem, Ultimate Warrior.

How stiff are the tf7/9 compared to other skates? My wife got a gift card to Pure Hockey and I’m trying to nudge her to try Trues since she’s never been 100% happy with her skates (various iterations of supreme 170/180 level, EE). Pure seems like they only have the TF9, and my worry is they might be too stiff. I know it’s primarily a try it on and see how it feels to you type thing, but on ice feel is different than in store. Need to check and see if they are honoring the 30 day thing.

Do we know if there are plans in the works for an Ellipse .5?

I was trying to find weight measurements for blades from that era, but I couldn’t. I don’t think the eq50 was that much, if any, heavier. However, I think people were freaked out by seeing the “weights” in the heel, when in reality they were just ill convinced visuals. Just seeing them made people think of added weight, regardless of actual feel/balance.

My answer is the competitive level, for the reasons everyone else has listed, but what two sticks are you comparing? People might be able to give you some comparative options if price is an issue Also, where are you buying these? You can buy brand new pro stock sticks for $100-$150. That’s too much for a used stick where you don’t know what’s happened to it.

Not having an endcap gives me nightmares about butt ending myself in the zamboni door and impaling myself. (I don’t think I’ve had a stick stuck in the boards in years, and taping a butt end would disperse enough of the force that it wouldn’t be any more painful than normal. Still. Nightmares.)

I picked up 3.1 Shoulder, Elbows, and Shinguards around american thanksgiving. I was on the IR/COVID list for a bit, so I've only played two games with them. I'm 6'2", 185-190lbs, kinda thin build. I tend to be a medium in volume for most stuff, and a large in length, and often go the medium route. For all three sets of pads, once I put them on, I didn't think about them being new and didn't notice them while playing at all. My previous elbows and shoulder pads we probably 12ish years old. I've played with other stuff, and nothing felt as good as those. These, I like. Other new pads I've worn I keep readjusting during the game, until they eventually conform to my body. All of these felt like they fit my body right away, and I didn't find myself readjusting anything once I got on the ice. One thing I noticed when I first tried them on, it felt like all of the strapping was appropriate size for a medium. Because of my body size/shape, in other brands I often have shin and elbow straps as tight as they go, and I have trouble imagining what type of body would need the straps at maximum extension. It's like manufacturers create too much room to open up, but don't allow well for pads to tighten smaller. I don't have any of the straps on the tightest setting. Both the velcro attachment points and strap size means that if the straps start to stretch after a few years, I still have to room to play and retain the same tightness. That's not to say they have a shallow fit or super tight fit, I think STX was just more mindful of ways to design the velcro to offer more options on the smaller side. Shoulders(medium): (Previous pads Mission fuel 90, M) These fit close, but not tight or awkward. For me, the fit was comfortable, but not ground breaking. Visually, I don't feel like they are anymore low-profile than my 12 year old Mission Fuel shoulders, but those seemed relatively low profile, to me. On a profile scale, the STX are much closer to 5030s than Douglass Defenders. Bicep straps are fixed on the pads, so there's no velcro. I've always set those straps then never undone them, so I like this. I just now noticed that the bicep guards are attached to the shoulder caps with velcro, so you can move those up and down as you want. There's a horizontal strap sewn into the should cap, then another thick nylon strap loops through that, and velcros to itself. This gives a little bit of play, which I think will keep the bicep pad centered on your arm, and offer more freedom of movement without sacrificing protection. Front has a hard plastic piece down the sternum, and firm foam to the sides of that. Back is firm foam down the spine, and softer foam to the sides. On the front and back, you essentially have three areas- rigid middle piece, foam to the side of that, and kidney/rib padding toward the bottom. They are attached to each other via well sewn neoprene, which I think offers a more flexible fit, rather than all being one or two pieces. It keeps all the pads close together, but gives enough flexibility that it doesn't feel restrictive. I do kinda worry about how that neoprene will hold up over years and years. Regardless of my mirror-test rambling above, these feel more low-profile than other pads, and fit snug to your body and move with it. Elbows (medium): (Previous pads reebok 10k, M) The first thing you notice is the neoprene sleeve that your arm fits into, which effectively replaces a third strap. I was nervous about this, but after putting it on, didn't really think much about it. It is a full sleeve that your arm goes through. Before seeing them, I thought maybe it was just attached to the top, and your elbow rested on the pad the way traditional elbows do. The area under/around the sleeve does appear to be finished like a normal pad, so if you somehow ripped out the sleeve, it's not like your arm would be sitting against uncomfortable material. Fit was comfortable. The forearm strap runs 360 degrees around the whole forearm and secured with velcro, which I like. Felt like the strap really secured it evenly, as opposed to most pads which just pull the top pieces together. I think this strap will accommodate more arm types. Pads are hard plastic along the bottom and back, and firm foam towards the sides and top of the arm. I worry about the long term durability of the sleeve, but looking at the inside of the pad, you might be able to rip all of it and have the pad still function. Bicep strap and forearm strap seem secure enough that they can do all the heavy lifting in that scenario. Shins: (Previous Pads: CCM QLT 290, 16") I bought 16" because I have longish legs and wear the pads over my tongues. They felt like they might be a touch longer than other 16". Padding around the edges and back feels more sturdy that on the QLTs I'm moving out of. Strapping on the calf is thick, and actually tightens enough around my calf. Calf strap is also wide enough that it won't create some weird obvious pressure on your leg. The strap that sits just below the knee is great. Similar to the elbows, the strap goes all the way around the shinguard, the same way tape would, so it provides a nice snug fit. You could also easily cut this strap off if you are one of those people. I do wish this strap attached a touch lower, the very top of the strap rests sort of on the back of my knee joint. But, everyone has different bodies and if it fit me perfectly, it might be too low on someone else. Flexibility and comfort are good. I do notice the top flap on my left pad catching on my pants. These are pretty thick foam, thicker than I've ever seen there. This is good for extra protection, but means I can't quickly bend/deform it to keep from snagging my pants. I assume it will break in. (I also suspect better skating form and sitting a little lower would help here. But that's another thread.) Padding in the knee seems good. I haven't taken a fall straight on them yet. There's both adequate padding in the shinguard, and the liner also has some padding in it that feels thicker than other pads.

Interesting he said “g3 curve.” I wonder if he misspoke, or didn’t quite know what was going on with his stick.

Marchand has that weird shaved wooden butt end, plus holes in his gloves. I don’t know if they PHEW facebook group is still a thing, but he must give people on there fits.

I hope when Bauer launches their new $20 laser snipe dangles wooden insert that we get a cut of the profits.

2020 stick, 2005 butt end

I would assume it’s this. Johnny Suburb wants the best most elite stick possible, and wood is old fashioned. Who cares if the stick doesn’t feel as good or is balanced weird. Plus, the mid 00s had a widespread obsession with saving weight, regardless of practical effect, and having a wooden end plug adds fives of grams.

Check out this new Italian Hockey company. Bags are a little pricey, but we always say we wish we had more options.

One league I play in is really good about sharing info. But, then they are also reliant on players contacting them, so they are limited by that. The other league does not seem to be aware that COVID is a concern to any degree, beyond MA curfew limiting their access to ice time.

They shoulda got Snoop to be the model for the Pens jersey.