sickwilly

Any ideas on how long Gagne will be out? Id have to imagine he'll miss the Olympics. 6-8 weeks, so I would imagine that hurts his Olympic chances. I just can't see Gagne getting the call this time around with Canada's depth.I'm not sure how much of it was due to injury, but he looked invisible in the games I've watched this year.

...or santa.

Anyone actually see it happen or see tooth marks on his hand? I couldn't see from the replay, but Letang was sure acting like Hartnell bit him.

Hell yeah! Liked the story they told about Emery getting up early to do rehab with Coburn. Seemed like a good sign to me. Still skeptical, but I like the start. I think this was the first time I can remember hoping a Flyers player would get his butt kicked in a fight, though (Carcillo).

Can't wait to hear it. My wife just ordered it for us. Really liked "A Looking in View". The reviews I've read on Amazon have been quite good.

Send him down or waive him.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot That's one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.

Should have named him George after George Tackaberry .. if you didnt already, lol. Hell, his middle name should have been Tackaberry lol Love the suggestions... but he got his names from my wife's dad and the guy that brought me to the rink for 5am practices. Tackaberry reminds me a little too much of the guy from Police Academy. I also have a good buddy George who'd never leave it alone if I went with George. He has his first stick already, at 2 weeks. Green ultralite jr. An oldie but a goody!

(Raises devil horn hand salute at eric) Agalloch plus one more vote for Opeth.

My wife recently delivered our second child on Saturday. Both are doing well. I've skated in CCMs for years. He was born at 1052 am.

Some updates since I last post Switched from Cascade CHX to Bauer 9500 Helmet Ordered a pair of Christian/Harrow Pants on ebay (hoping they're light... they were only 20 bucks new, and fat-guy sized) Got a bunch of new sticks, wife only caught me for one of them 2 TPS Rubber CSR tapered shafts Mission Fuel Ti-Pro Pro Stock w/Sakic clone curve New XN10 Red lite shaft Winn Well g500's Sakic The sticks are all great... so I'm having a hard time sticking to one setup.

This thread was a great idea. Nice to hear everyone's good news. Congrats!

Another one for cutting the thumbs of my gloves "loose". It cost me an injury once in juniors, but can't get used to using them the other way. Now that I'm old, fat and playing only beer league, I'm using pretty much only the bottom half of an old pair of pants. Just unbuttoned the top half and threw it out. (I have a pair of "safe" pants, if I need them). I also ripped the legs for more mobility. There are the old blue ones with stars and red/white stripes on the sides. Those pants are probably the ugliest piece of equipment within 100 miles, but they're comfy!

Early congrats on graduation. If they absolutely won't give in, you could turn it into that stick or piece of equipment you've been holding out on because of the student budget!

Just found an arena fairly close to home that keeps its ice in for almost 2 months later than the rink I've been going to. Also found a couple of good groups to skate with there. No more 2 month period with no hockey and no golf!

Redlite XN10 Sr. Stiff (also have used a regular) Reviewer: 6'1 235 lbs, center (ice only) Blades used: Montreal m95, Montreal CMC, Montreal CMX, Tour Crossrip Modifications: None other than cutting the end plug slightly. Initial Impression: Great looking, light as hell. Love the finish. Stick Feel: 9/10 Can feel a little off-balance with heavier blades b/c the shaft is so light. Great feel, though. Shooting: Rocket Launcher. Standard shafts work well for me because I get a lot on/behind my slapshot. I just find that they have more control than OPS. The Regular flex was amazing for writers, but too whippy for slappers. Probably more related to me than the shaft. About equal to or slightly better than the Z-Bubble (with greater durability). Best shaft ever (for me). 10/10 (I'd give it a 12, if I could) Durability: The durability of the stiff flex I own has been great. Doing better than anything I've owned and used for a year. In fact, it's one of the few shafts I've ever had last through a full winter of beer league and shinny. The regular flex broke rather quickly, blocking a slapshot 8/10. Conclusion: Overall, this is probably my favorite shaft ever, over the Tri-Core, Ultra Lite, and Z-Bubble. I still keep an eye out for these popping up on eBay. Once I break the OPS' that I have, I'll probably go back to these for as long as I can find 'em. 9.5/10 P.S. If anyone can recommend any newer shafts that perform similarly, I'm all ears! Edit, My RL XN10's are still going strong. I'd probably go a bit higher than my initial durability rating. Since my initial review, I have tried it with newer, high-end composite blades including the one95, one 90 and AK27. Just amazing in terms of feel, lightness and balance, especially with the one 95 blade. Best combo I've used so far.

I bought a pair of Vector ZG130's with the T-Blades on them because they were on sale fro $229. I would have preferred sticking with the E-pro's, but figured that if I needed to, I could swap out my blades from my E60's. Initial Impression- Took me little or no time at all to get used to the setup. The T Blades are very, very light. To be truthful, I notice the difference more when comparing the weight in my hands than when I'm wearing them. They are light, though. Performance- You do glide well, but not enough so to make it worth using them. When I switched back to traditional holders, I found I was getting more "pop" out of my stride. I would rate them a little lower than the E-Pro. Noise - I could never get used to this. They make an annoying crunching sound everywhere you go. Opposing goalies and D-men would tell me that they could always tell exactly where I was without looking. (Also makes for easy fat jokes, if you're a big guy!). I really disliked this about the T-Blades. Variations- In my opinion this was the best thing about the T-Blade system. Lots of different hollows and 3 different rocker lengths to chose from. I found the blades to be very consistent, too. I tried to set mine up so they'd feel similar to my E60's. Durability-They did not hold their edge 3-5 times as long as traditional steel, and as mentioned in another review, the stabilizers were not durable. I never replaced my cracked stabilizers and noticed no loss of performance. I didn't find the T-Blades to be more resistant to damage than traditional steel, either. Overall - I'd stick with the traditional holders. The only way I'd buy the T-Blades again was if they came on the skate that I wanted at a price that I couldn't pass up. I wound up switching to Vector 10's, even though the boots had plenty of life left, mainly to get away from the T-Blades. At first, I thought that the T-Blades would be helpful, as it's hard for me to get my skates sharpened competently. I've had better luck getting more mileage out of sharpenings with the E-Pro, plus using a sweet stick/miraclestone combo than with the T-Blade.

Old (98) Mitsubishi Montero Sport. Need something a little higher up, 4x4 and easily replaceable if I wreck it in the weather or hit a moose. Ugly, will never get me laid, but it gets me to the rink in the worst of weather.

I generally try to make the "right pass" even if it's to a guy who's no good. Gotta keep the puck moving. I think it's really bad form for decent/good players to be overly aggresive with new players when they actually get the puck... Give the guy a second to skate and do something with it. We all know you could take the puck from him. Also, if you score, even if it's a sick goal, don't whoop it up. Act like you've done it before. Basically just be respecful, like others have said. If you get a guy with your stick or cause a bad fall by accident (accidents happen), apologize and make sure they guy's alright. Don't do anything (deliberately) that could cause injury. Better to let the play go if there's any risk of hurting anyone to make the play.

Skates - CCM Vector ZG 130, also breaking in a pair of Vector 10's. The ZG's are disgustingly light. I don't think that the T blade edges hold up nearly as well as they claim to... have also had a hard time getting them in at times. Hate the skate noise. Very comfortable and durable. Like the Vector 10 boot a lot, but am still getting re-acquainted with the E-Pros. These are awfully light, but less so that the ZG130. Helmet - Cascade CHx w/Cascade chrome cage. Extremely protective, but heavy and poorly-ventilated. Need it, though... about 1 head shot away from having to hang 'em up. The straps on the cage can become off-center. Prefer my old Jofa bubble cage. Elbow pads - Jofa 9066 - dope. Shoulders (if worn) - Jofa 8088, lightweight, good range of motion, great protection. Pants - Bauer 5000 - great protection, feel heavy (but I don't have much to compare them to). Love the zippers on the inner thighs. Good for a fat guy. Shins - Easton S9. Very comfortable, seem to work well. Gloves - Ballistik cx50... really, really light, felt broken in after about 15 mins. No final word on durability, as I've only had them for one beer league season... but ok so far. Great, great feel. Sticks - Winnwell g500 (Sakic 100) - light, great balance feels a little stiff, love it- the best out of what I currently have... the sakic clone on this one feels more open than others I've seen, so it took some getting used to..... Montreal Nitro 8500 (Euro) - classic curve, blade is really heavy... the thing is a tank, not the lightest ops, for sure (old, got a 4 on closeout). Feels like the blade is disproportionately stiff compared to the lower shaft.... still okay, though. Also have a Fuel (Boyes), 2 TPS C4C XN10s (Sundin... just wish the lie was more upright, would be my faves, otherwise), Also have an XN10 redlite shaft and a Mission Hex1 Pro stock (Boyes 110) shaft. The XN10 redlight is an amazing shaft... fave shaft ever. Haven't really used either of the Mission twigs yet. Vapor xx Lindros 87 flex... too sticky, too whippy... but still solid.