HattrickSwayze

Silver color scheme right? That looks WAY better in person than it does on the customizer. I'm awfully tempted to look into one. Pics of the curve? Yeah the silver looks a million times better in person than on the Bauer site. Maybe it's just the angle, but that P14 looks pretty similar to the CCM Tavares curve. It's a bit of a squared toe too isn't it?

Silver color scheme right? That looks WAY better in person than it does on the customizer. I'm awfully tempted to look into one. Pics of the curve?

I understand it's Bradley's role, and Ovie probably would've gotten killed, but I really wanted to see Ovie fight Downie. I'm surprised he actually dropped the gloves and helmet though.

The Projekt shoulders look nice. Ragan, if you've seen them in person, are they as low profile as they look in the catalog? Are there plastic inserts on the chest or just the sternum piece? And is it just me or does it look like the cuff lettering on the black/white Franchises alternates between white and silver? Maybe it's just the image playing tricks on my eyes. "Eraser douche shower bag"......? Seriously....?

I noticed the backchecking too. I think this year he seems to be looking for passes more often as well. He still takes a lot of shots (and he should), but a few of the passes to Backstrom were passes that I don't think happened last year. I don't think being well-rounded will hurt him at all. He's got what, 53 points in 35 games? Where it will hurt him is if he starts to feel too much pressure from the C.

Is it just me or does Ovechkin seem a little more subdued lately? I haven't seen a good solid leap into the boards since before he got suspended, just a little fist pump/point to the sky.

Did I really just see that...?

Cool, thanks JR. I see a few new uncrested jerseys in my future.

Do you happen to know if the EDGE socks and uncrested jerseys will include any of the teams 3rd jerseys? I'd have to assume no, but it's worth a shot. I AM assuming that they'll be updated for teams that changed like Philly though, right?

I think that's what leads to guys getting so worked up in rec league. I've seen guys get bumped into the boards and totally flip out. Like chasing-a-guy-up-the-ice flip out. To them, because they never played check hockey, it probably felt like a rough hit. But if they could see it from the outside, they'd realize it was hardly a bump, let alone a check. I let most rec league contact go because I know in "real" hockey, it would've been a 1 on the Richter scale. I love playing against people that can take and give bumps, and not take it personal. It's ridiculous when you bump into a guy, and he tries to take your feet out from under you with his stick.

That's the thing with Niedermayer. Didn't he debate retiring before this season started? I couldn't picture them giving up a bunch to get Niedermayer, when he likely won't return next year. As far as SE division d-men, I can't think of anybody available off the top of my head that I'd really gush over. I kind of like Enstrom too, but he's pretty offensively oriented from what I've seen. I guess it depends on exactly what the Caps management/coaches want. I'm sure there's plenty of solid defensive 2nd pairing guys available, but that's pretty much what their defensive group is made up of. 2nd and 3rd pairing guys. I doubt they'd be available, but do you think they could score a guy like Shea Weber or Robyn Regehr without giving up the whole team? Although I'm probably answering my own question. If they're not available, they'd have to give up a lot to make them available.

Kind of a surprising trade. I didn't picture them moving Clark with all the "he's our captain" talk. What's the over-under on how long before Ovie gets the C? If this was just a salary dump, I'm surprised they didn't ask for any picks? I think Clark and Jurcina are worth a fair bit more than Chimera straight up. As far as Niedermayer goes, they already have him. His name's Mike Green. They need a Pronger to go alongside the Niedermayer.

$30?? Wow, prepare for your inbox to be flooded with people asking you to buy them and send them out.

Do the wood and composite end plugs have the respective shaft shapes (IE: Supreme or Vapor)?? I'd love to be able to get concave wood plugs. The ones I get at the local shop are always bigger than the shaft and completely square. And I hate to ask this question, but all this stuff comes out Spring 2010, right? I want one of those Bauer shirts with the neck protection, but I might have to settle for a Mission one if it's going to be that long.

Why does it seem like the kidney protection on the Easton pants is so low? Looks like it hardly covers above the hips. My Tackla's come up to the bottom of my rib cage. Maybe it's just the pictures. The S19 shoulders look nice, looks like they're using low profile caps on it like the ST-series. JR, do you know what the target price for the EQ5 glove is? Those caught my eye. I was hoping there'd be a glove with a similar graphics package as the pro gloves like Cammalleri uses.

Dang I didn't think there were any frozen ponds around here. That's pretty sweet.

Depends how thick the palm in your gloves is. My X88's have a thick Nash palm, and compared to my X72's with the MSH2 palm, it feels like I've got a quilt for a palm. I hate the X88's stock palm. I've been considering sending them in to get a full MSH2 palm.

Those are sweet jerseys. Any mods in the northwest to set-up an official MSH British Columbia vs. Washington rivalry game??

With girls like that, I think even Shane Doan would party hard.

I got a chance to use one tonight, and I love it. The feel is great, and the balance is surprisingly good. Like I said in my other post, my 300 shaft feels better balanced with this wood blade than the composite blade. I wasn't expecting them to be this light, and they're also very stiff. I didn't feel like I lost any pop on my shots like I did with the last wood blade I used. It felt like using a composite blade, just with way better feel. I didn't feel like I was getting my shots up high as easily though. Whether that's due to the curve or the shaft, I'm not sure. I don't feel like I'm getting quite as much flex out of this new shaft. I kind of want to try opening one up, but I'm afraid of peeling the fiberglass wrap off. Unfortunately I only got a chance to use a Hejduk blade for one shot in warm-ups. The woodies felt so good I didn't use it in the pick-up at all. I'll get a chance to use the Hejduk's more tomorrow. Smoke, if you have any other questions, shoot me a PM.

No I just wanted a straight up clone. I think it's just the openness that's making the Samsonov (original) look like it has more toe. I lined up a new blade with the original in these pictures. If you look at the bottom side of the curve, it's dead-on. But if you flip it over, you can see it doesn't line up 100%, which makes me believe the clones need to be opened up a bit more. Kind of hard to tell though.

OK my last goodies (for this week) showed up just now. My Harrow custom wood Samsonov clones. As you can see the curve is pretty close to the original, just not quite as open. At first I thought it didn't have enough toe, but after a closer look I think it's just the openness that throws it off? I kind of expected it to be off a little bit, so I'm not dissapointed, but I was really hoping it'd be a dead ringer. The profile is dead-on however, and they're very light. I took the Harrow 300 blade out of my 300 shaft, and it feels better balanced with the wood blade than with the composite. I'm excited to try them out tonight.

Today's new goodies. Hejduk tapered pro stock blades with Z-Tac coating (x2). Pictures don't catch it perfectly, but it's a smallish open toe curve. Was hoping to use one in my new Harrow shaft, but they're long hosel'd tapereds. I don't want to cut the shaft down just for these, since I don't know whether I like them. Now I'm just waiting on my Samsonov customs to arrive...

Especially with the clear cut instigator and no jersey tie down. But we all know by now how inconsistent the suspensions are. Wasn't it in the playoffs last year when Carcillo got a game for that face-off rabbit punch, but Cammalleri's blatant punch to Havlat's face went unpunished? That was a real head scratcher. Those two incidents certainly proved the "if superstar: turn head" approach.