vek

Judging by the overwhelming numbers of players that I skate with that complain about skating the first few times on a new sharp, I'd say the majority of rec players are on too deep a hollow.

My wife made me buy a honda odyssey today and trade in my beloved tsx. At least I was able to get the NHL edition.

Well, I'm back on regular ROH. Never could resolve the stability issues with the FBV, and never could seem to get a consistent feeling sharpening. For whatever reason, I'm a far better player on 5/8ths.

If there's one thing the post-lockout Leafs have been good at, its putting together win streaks when it doesn't matter anymore. That said, Kulemin and Bozak have shown that they can be legitimate top 6 forwards. And clearly losing Blake and Toskala has been addition by subtraction. It'll be interesting to see what Burke does over the summer. He still has Kaberle to peddle.

My brother in law has an Australian Shepherd and it pretty much convinced me never to own one. It's an awful lot of work to own a dog that is clearly smarter than I am.

When half the forwards only meet their goalie at the team banquet at the end of the year (sorry to dust off an old chestnut), you can hardly blame the goalie/defense for so many goals allowed.

I'm not sure that shouldn't have been a goal. Ovechkin hit Gill legitimately as he played the puck as an attempt to gain possession. It wasn't like he ran him with the intent of bowling for goalies. Spectacular play, regardless...

Kessel always looks super tired when he doesn't have the puck. Perhaps that's why he hasn't won a puck battle or attempted anything more than a half-assed backcheck all season. The Leafs are really going to have to work some magic to get someone to play with him to mask his deficiencies.

I don't think I've seen any players carry the puck so much and accomplish nothing like Grabovski and Blake. Repeatedly carrying the puck at full speed into the opponents zone, around the net, and completing the horseshoe almost back out to the point with a weak, off balance wrist shot on net. Neither one has any interest in going anywhere near the net on a regular basis, and have the point totals to prove it. I don't know why Burke tolerates this type of player on his team. Ponikarovsky and Kulimen are two more that have skill, size and strength, but just refuse to use it enough to make a consistent difference in the game. You might see a shift or two where they compete, but seem to think that the game will just come to them. Wallin is a headscratcher as to why he was even signed/not with the Marlies now. Stajan is a player that needs size and skill around him to produce, which the leafs don't have. Its sad to say, but the only Leafs forward I see actually showing up night on night is Primeau and Stempniak. When Wilson is fired and Burke cleans up the dead wood, I'll be a fan of this team again, but now, its pretty funny to watch.

If Ted Nolan hasn't been completely blacklisted from the NHL, there's no denying his credentials. To me, the Blues are just overflowing with talent locked in a far too rigid system. They need a player's coach.

Quick question on the 100/50 - if I'm having stability/slip issues on the flats of the 90/75, the 100/50 would be worse, due to the even shallower hollow, no?

It was both skates, not just the one. I get my skates done at National Sports - they've always done a great job. I read a bit through the thread, and think perhaps I'm just on the wrong hollow. I don't know exactly how to put this; when standing upright, almost on the flat on the blade, or a very steep angle, the blade simply washes out for me on this hollow. I know that you can't expect much grip unless you're getting some pressure on a shallower angle on the blade, but when changing direction/quick bodyweight shifts, I continually catch the blade at an angle where it literally feels like someone put a skateguard on my blade, and the skate slips out laterally from underneath me for a few inches, and then catches again. This didn't happen much during the summer, but it was starting last few skates, and now bigtime tonight. Perhaps its the enhanced "flat" on the FBV that results in so much glide that's contributing to my instability at these angles; at any rate, I'll experiment a bit, and I appreciate the advice.

Yeah, ; I was attributing it to the ice getting progressively harder over the last few weeks. The rink was an icebox tonight. Although I'm suprised that it (the ice temp) could have such a dramatic difference; perhaps there's other factors, as you mention.

I suppose its possible, but the reason I got the fresh sharpening is because I felt the same washout/"floatiness" on my last game, (but nothing as bad as this), and was losing confidence in the edges being there when i needed them in low speed/low bite angle movements. It'll be a good experiment to try the old 1/2 roh, and see if I can feel a major difference in stability (and reduced glide)

I just had a terrible skate tonight on a fresh 90/75. The outside edges of my blades were completely washing out unless my full weight was put on them. Unfortunately jammed my knee pretty badly falling into the boards as a result. Its strange, because I've had decent success on that cut before... perhaps this bad performance was due to the harder ice. I've tried 100/75, and it was far too deep a hollow. I don't believe my LHS has a 100/50, so I'm going back to a 1/2 roh.

The Leafs are an utter joke. I especially like their PK. It basically consists of zero puck pressure - just standing there, and allowing the opposition to perform set plays. Wilson is a boob. Dollars to donuts, I'm going to be sitting by the teevee watching Boston get the first overall pick for the next two years. But that's okay, because Kessel is just so awesome. Real fans of the team have been waiting for a full scale rebuild since the lockout. And now that they're bad enough to have it happen properly, they trade away their picks. Idiots.

I think Wilson is possibly the worst coach in the history of the team, of which there's been many. I'm so sick of listening to that arrogant gasbag throw his players under the bus.

Agree - but seeing the disparity, it makes the deal for Kessel look even more ridiculous. The Leafs badly needed to keep those picks, and continue a full rebuild.

That game would be an embarrassment for any team, expecially one that claimed to have rebuilt their defence core. It honestly looked like amateur hour out there watching the Caps play keep-away in the Leaf's zone all night. The difference in skill level between the two teams was just frightening.

Gustavsson. Hoo boy. I know its just pre-season, but its hard not to think the Leafs may have landed a real blue-chipper.

You could be very well right, but I think its quite telling that Boston made a priority to lock up others (ie-Krecji) ahead of Kessel. I just wonder why Burke is so gung ho on him. He doesn't fit the mold of the Perry/Getzlaf type of player that the Leafs sorely need. And there's a lot of reports of Kessel not being particularly well-liked by his teammates wherever he's played. I hope that's wrong, but there seems to be a lot of risk in mortgaging substantial future on him being a great team guy and major contributor.

I think Burke is making a mistake going after Kessel. Once he's away from Savard and a good supporting cast, he'll just be another small winger in Toronto putting up reduced numbers without first line support. And it sort of seems that Boston isn't exactly heartbroken to be shopping him. The Leafs need to preserve their draft picks.

1. I had the same opinion when I first tried the FBV, but found that taking a stone to the edges before each skate seemed to extend the length of time between sharpenings, to the point to which I get them sharpened now about the same as with my old hollow. I think there's probably some psychology in it as well, since there is definitely a "floaty" feeling when not using your edges that kind of gives you less confidence in your blades until you get used to the fact they're always there when you need them. 2. Seems a bit lengthy....

Most of the National Sports locations have it too. I've had it done in the Vaughn and Markham stores, and they've done a good job every time.

Hmm. You honestly can't see the difference between an actual hockey play, like a fake or a deke, vs. someone tapping their stick trying to trick someone into a mistaken ID pass? I guess I'm on my own.