HattrickSwayze

X72's showed up today. Love the MSH2 palm, but they're a little tight in the fingers. It's rubbing my knuckles wrong on my left hand. I'm hoping they'll loosen up after I use them a bit. They do look good though.

I wish I knew where to find one. That's a sweet curve.

Wow, a new SE16 with a right handed toe curve?? I want that sooo bad. You're a lucky guy. :o How much did you get it for?? If you don't like it, let me know. I picked up a retail SE16 in the store the other day. I love the balance of it. Feels really good in your hands.

I like the ads too. Some people think they're distracting, but I think it's a cool change from the regular hockey jerseys.

Got a present from my sister. Sinupret Ice Tigers jersey. Should look good with my white Mission gloves. :)

If possible try to keep us updated on those pants, I'm not too satisfied with the fit of my One90s and the Hustler pants look very appealing. If you're open to other companies, you could check out the Mission Fuel pants. I bought a pair of Fuel 90's when I was in Vancouver, and I like them a lot. I tried those and a pair of Tacks 652's on. The Tack's had more padding on the hips and a little more on the thighs, but the Fuel's fit a lot better. For me (6'1, 170), pants are either too small or too big. The Tacks mediums were too tight, and the larges were way too big. What I like about the Fuels is they have a lace-up front, and two belts. The lower belt goes through the inside of the pant, and it's like the internal belt the new Vector pants have. You can tighten it around your hips so they pants stay put. That was the big problem I had with my Eastons, they always slid down. Plus the Fuels have a lot of protection for your back and sides. I'm really impressed with them for the price, and since Mission-Itech got bought out, they might be going on clearance soon. I might put some pictures of them up later.

Picked up a stick in Vancouver. G.Hogeboom RBK 7v pro stock. It's basically a heel curve with a toe kink at the end. Couldn't find any toe curves so I settled for this. I can see where the blade is inserted, so if it breaks I still have a decent shaft for a back-up. Bought these from Rustpot on here. Mission H750's.

Yeah those Eagles and Eastons are sick. I really like the suede-look. I'd love to get a pair of Eagles, but just a little too spendy for me. Maybe for X-mas.

The black holders look really sweet. That makes me wanna black out the holders on my One75's. Did you remove the holders when you dyed them?

You can see it here. Cool commercial. http://blues.nhl.tv/team/console?type=fvod...20722&tab=4 I caught it on the NHL network the other night. Was gonna post about it but figured it'd already been discussed earlier.

Easton Synergy SE6 gloves, 14", black Bought these as a replacement for my cheapo $30 Mission gloves I had bought. Butt end of my stick ended up tearing a hole in the Mission's palm. Fit: I bought these after trying on a bunch of different gloves. What I liked about my Mission's was the palm was pretty light and thin, and it just felt nice to me. I tried to find a glove that matched that feeling. Price was a factor for me which ruled out some higher end gloves, but I really did like the feel of these gloves. Plus they had features that gloves twice the price had; double-layered palm, and they were vinyl/leahter/pleather or w/e the stuff is. They fit nicely to my hands. Some were too loose or too bulky, with these being a little in between. The double layered Nash palm feels a little thick at first, but when you get used to it, it's no problem. It probably felt thick because my Mission's were single layered Nash. 8/10 Break in: Like I said, they felt pretty bulky at first. After a few hours they started to loosen up, and I started to get used to them. I was worried about losing the feel of my stick, sort of like driving with work boots on, but it wasn't a problem. One thing though is before they got broken in, they were rubbing on the knuckle of my thumb. Nothing painful, and it didn't cause any blisters. I only noticed it because I saw some light chafing there. Now that they're broken in however, I love them. 9/10 Protection: (Un)fortunately I can't really comment on this, because I haven't been hacked at very much with these on. Or maybe I have been and I just didn't notice it. I play low level rec league, so I really don't get hit much. The way they're made though, I would imagine they'll take a bit of abuse before you start to feel it. Hard for me to give this one a rating, really. Weight: These aren't heavy by any means, but they're probably not the lightest glove out there. Regardless, I don't notice them when I'm playing. They might be lighter if they were nylon, but I didn't want nylon gloves. 8/10 Durability: One of the deciding factors for me to buy these gloves was the double Nash palm. It was overlayed with a black layer right where my Missions broke through at, and I didn't want this to happen again. Unfortunately it did. Only through the top layer though. It's not really a sign of weakness from the gloves though. The stick I have is rough at the top from I think being cut down at some point. I didn't put a butt end on my stick, and the corner of the stick obviously rubs through the palm layers. I put a few extra layers of tape at the top, and it hasn't got any worse. Other than that, these glove still look brand new. I can't really fault them too bad, since I suspected my stick was what caused my old Missions to tear in the palm. 8/10 I wouldn't hesitate to buy another pair of these. They were pretty cheap ($65) for the features they have. Plus they look cool, and are available in a decent range of colors.

RBK 5k tapered composite blade. Right hand Datsyuk curve. I'm about 170 lbs, 6'0, playing low level rec league hockey. This was really only the second blade I've had, since I just started playing hockey about 6 months ago, so some of my descriptions might be a little vague. Partly because it's hard to tell if it's the blade/stick, or just my skills getting better. Stiffness: The blade was really stiff. It was part of the reason I bought it. It felt rock solid, and I figured it'd be a good thing. Not sure how to rate this one, but I'll give it a 9/10. Durability: Pretty terrible actually. I spent around $60 for this thing, and it started to chip on the bottom after a few games. A piece about a 1/2" long chipped off the bottom of the blade. Maybe a week or two later, the toe started to chip apart. It wore down to the wood, and then started to split into two pieces, both vertically and horizontally. I expected WAY more out of this blade. 1/10 Weight: Pretty light. Not sure what the weight is, but I'd assume 170 grams or so? Upside to it not being as light as a feather is it balanced the stick out kinda nicely. 7/10 Stickhandling/passing: I've heard people say composite blades don't give you very good puck feel, but I liked this blade a lot. I thought I could feel the puck on my stick a lot better than with my old wood stick. Passing felt fine to me. I was no less accurate than before. My problems receiving passes comes from my low skill level, not from the blade. 8/10 Shooting: Once I got used to the curve, my shot was pretty accurate. The Datsyuk curve with the somewhat open face helped me get the puck into the top corners easier. It wasn't bad for backhands either. 8/10 Conclusion: I liked this blade, but the durability really turned me off. I bought a Warrior Dolomite 2 for a replacement in a Robitaille pattern (pretty close to the Datsyuk curve) instead of another RBK blade. I really didn't want to spend another $40-$60, and have a different RBK blade break right away again. It'd be different if I was a higher level player, but our level games are pretty slow and not very hard on gear. Just seems like the blade should've lasted longer. It seems like it's a trend for these things to be fragile, judging by the other two reviews so far. Rating: 3.5/10