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I love my Sole insoles, they're heat moldable and don't raise your heel as much as some others (like Superfeet). I use Sole Active thin, but they also have a medium version with a touch more padding but honestly the thin have more than enough padding imo.

I'm all for it, if anything we need more variety in the mid to high performance levels, not saying they need to build a pro level skate but something most beer leaguers could really enjoy. The 701 looks interesting and the 501 in white looks gorgeous. Now will they do a blue holder like the old ICM's Gretzky rocked? Maybe this opens the door for some other classic brands to come back... looking at you Micron, I would so rock some new modern Mega Air 90's.

Personally, I've never read/used the reviews on any of the sites like Pure Hockey, Hockey Monkey, Ice Warehouse, etc. I'll watch new gear breakdown videos some of them put out but if I want reviews I'll use google and read them on sites like MSH, S2K, or Reddit because, let's face it, the ones who are capable of giving a meaningful review aren't posting on the store websites, they're posting on sites like this one (and Reddit is a mixed bag, you have to weed through a lot of nonsense but sometimes you get some decent reviews).

I always had the gold one, wanted that blue/yellow so bad. Later on I traded a friend for the Gretzky mirrored one, man was that cool. Still a piece of rebar but it looked badass.

Past 10 years all seem the same to me stickwise, not much has changed other than hype, maybe 25+ years ago into the 2 piece generation I'd say the Z-Bubble for sure, the classic green one was my go-to. Before that in the wood generation of the mid 90's I'd have to say the Victoriaville 4050 since it was one of the first sticks I could flex since it was one of the more whippy sticks.

This was an early xmas gift for myself. I picked up these gloves almost 2 years ago for around $20, the palms had some holes, loops were cut, and the gussets were disintegrating. I sent them to ITR hockey so he could work some magic, had him put some airknit gussets and AX Suede palms with a Kovy overlay, they feel awesome now. Untitled by Jon Schusteritsch, on Flickr Untitled by Jon Schusteritsch, on Flickr

I just tried an ACP Pro girdle last night and noticed it didn't have any padding there either, my Super Tacks one has a little something, but like swede said, I don't think that little padding there is doing much anyways. I didn't notice it missing while playing last night.

I bit the bullet and ordered the tapered ones in my size (the 35% off clearance price deal was too good to pass up, basically paid half price for them). They fit just like the OG Jetspeeds before CCM offered the "Tapered/Regular" options, which is perfect for my foot. Went in and had them baked today by Dave aka beerleaguecaptain and I'll give them a shot on the ice tomorrow night, so far they feel awesome.

I searched a bit but couldn't find anything too in depth. Regarding the current CCM skate fits (regular, tapered, wide)... is the current "tapered" fit similar or the same as the old Jetspeed fit from the FT2 era? I had a pair of FT390's for a little and they were definitely tapered feeling and weren't a bad fit at all. I tried on some newer Jetspeeds in the regular fit today and they felt ok but they didn't have anything in tapered for me to try on (my foot is on the skinnier side so in my head I thought tapered might be a better fit). I am currently in FT4 Pros that were custom made for someone else (got a great deal on SLS a few years ago), I don't know the fit profile or anything since they're customs, just that they fit ok but are maybe a half size too big and have too much volume (I swapped to an XS tongue which ate up some volume and use a thicker insole which helps but they still feel a little bigger than I'd like). I know Hockey Monkey has a big sale now on clearance stuff and they have FT6 Pros in a tapered fit in my size, I'm just hesitant to order blindly since the store didn't have any for me to try (drove an hour+ to go there today), there's also a Pure Hockey about an hour away but I won't be able to get there until Saturday maybe and not even sure what they have in stock, so I thought I'd ask here in the meantime for any experience/expertise on the matter.

I was just in Pure Hockey last week and saw these new "Deluxe" models. I too thought they'd be lower end retro sticks, how Bauer did with the Synergy, but they felt and were priced the same as the top end models just with special graphics which I thought was a much better approach. Can't add anything definitively but they did feel the same as the current QR6 Pro and Alpha and were priced the same, I would also love to know for sure.

I'm using the Active Medium right now since my skates were custom for someone else and I wanted to eat up a little volume (I also added a thicker tongue and the combo worked perfect). These are thicker than Speed Plates which were really thin and hard (I had the 1.0 version), these have a firm layer on the bottom made of EVA which has a little give compared to the hard plastic feel of speed plates but not much, and a little cushion layer on top, overall it's slightly thicker than Superfeet but it doesn't have the plastic heel riser how Superfeet do so your heel isn't lifted. Sole also makes a a thin version which is just the firmer EVA material without the cushioned layer on top, this is probably still a little thicker than the Speed Plate due the different material (speed plates felt so thin and hard, the EVA on the bottom of mine is firm but not solid feeling if that makes any sense).

I've used Superfeet Carbon in the past and they were ok but I would get some arch pain from them sometimes and in my newest skates (Jetspeed FT4 Pro) they just didn't sit right and created some painful edges on the inside of the foot. I have since switched to Sole brand which are heat moldable and don't have such an aggressive arch, they're night and day from the Superfeet in terms of comfort and support for my feet, also they have a nice pocket for the heel but it doesn't elevate it how Superfeet tend to do slightly. I have tried Bauer speed plates in the past and within 5 minutes I had to take them out, way too hard and uncomfortable, really made my arches hurt too which was disappointing since it was the first heat moldable pair I tried and I had high hopes.

I haven't used any personally but I know Arcane makes some, I have a pair of their normal socks and they're great, really well made (pretty sure Peter Forsberg is involved with the company somehow). I'd imagine all will be similarly hard to put on though since the kevlar material needed for the protection doesn't have much stretch. Many of the pro stock hockey socks I have come with a rear panel from ankle to just under the knee with a kevlar lining which I think is great, wish companies made retail hockey socks like this for all ages, definitely a lot easier, and if you pull them over the tendon guard you'll get some great protection.

Heard rumblings of them selling the name back to Louisville and the new ones being Louisville TPS's again, it better be for those prices.

I found a pair of worn down Step Steel for XS holders, size 271, in my garage, if that's your size you're welcome to it to play around with.