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I had a 310 for a week but it didn't fit my head, it was too square especially in the front. It felt good at first but then 5 minutes into the game I'd have a lot of pain no matter how I adjusted it, I guess my head is just too oval for it. I guess once you find that helmet that's just the right shape for you it's the one you keep coming back to.

see, I'm the opposite... I can't stand that hard bike helmet type shell inside the V10 and many newer helmets, I prefer the cushioning the VN gives me. I've also tried a Bauer IMS9 and didn't care for that padding either. My V08's are both maybe 10 years old and still have soft padding, seeing how I might be able to find a new one here or there I'll have to keep my eyes open.

Looks, fit, etc. the weight is basically the same as most other helmets I guess. I can't stand the newer helmets, they just don't feel or fit me right, but the V08's are perfect and I love the way they look. I'm guessing this is why so many pros still use them too... also their design is part of the reason I thought they couldn't sell them (something about they contracted someone to design it but never paid or somehow didn't uphold their part of the contract, so now they weren't allowed to sell commercially anymore, don't quote me on that being 100% accurate bu something to that extent).

Just saw a brand new CCM V08 combo at Dicks yesterday and had to check what year it was. I thought CCM wasn't allowed to sell those at retail anymore due to the lawsuit? I almost bought it out of instinct since I wouldn't mind another new one in the stable but they only had larges. https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/ccm-vector-08-ice-hockey-helmet-combo-16ccmuvctr08hlmtchkp/16ccmuvctr08hlmtchkp

The Tacks girdle fits WAYYYY tighter than the 9K girdle. Both are adjustable length wise but the Tacks also feels a little shorter in the legs than the 9K (and the thigh wrap on the Tacks is like 1/3 the size of the 9K, I have pretty skinny legs and the Tacks were tight on my thighs which never happens, on the 9K I have the thigh straps all the way over and they're just barely snug).

disclaimer - I am in no way an expert, pretty far from it, but I did find mention of the Quad .5 while searching this site when I was researching profiles a few months ago. I had originally tried a Quad 1 (that Pure Hokey recommended), it was nice but I felt it was too short in the front, felt I was tipping forwards a little too much, so that lead me to the Quad .5 which was my glass slipper. For the record, I'm in a 7.5 skate (263 blade I think), '9" and about 165-170lbs if any of that matters. Again, as for the technical stuff I don't know much lol, just know this one happened to work well for me.

I was worried at first as well butafter my first skate realized it's fine. I usually notch it one hole tighter for better readings and to keep it in place more, then it sits nicely under the cuff of my glove away from danger. I guess this may vary depending on what gloves/size gloves you wear so just test it out before hand... I wear 14" HG12's with the floating cuff so they pretty much keep the watch protected at all tims which is nice also I'm a lefty too and no issues). btw, I love the app.

For a finishing touch to protect and add a super hard layer you might want to look into a clear coat for car wheels (Duplicolor and Krylon make them from what I remember in gloss and matte). I used to paint car wheels, usually rattle can a set for the winter with snow tires, and that stuff protected from road salt and snow like a champ, could only imagine it would be really great on a cage too. As for cages I currently have a Reakt on one helmet and a Profile II on the other. I honestly don't notice a difference in weight once they're strapped on, not one bit. The one thing I do notice is that I don't like the shape of the Reakt as much, it sits closer to my face and has an odd shape from the side, currently contemplating picking up a second Profile II to replace the Reakt with.

Was just buying a stick for my 6yo and saw that Bauer has a new curve called a P01... unfortunately it's only on their kids sticks but wow it looks great, it's like a less open less heal kinked P28, had a nice straight section from heal to mid blade then a nice toe curve, just wish they had a senior version.

Not exact on the timeline but I'm pretty sure the CL line was also referred to as RBZ, quicklite, and jetspeed at various times in its existence. It's all the same gear just new models each year, some years versions are better than the others

I feel like most modern shinguards have thinned out the inner padding so much lately. I had Super Tacks with the D30 or whatever it's called, it was great if you fell exactly on that spot but as we all know, you don't always fall square on the center of your knee. I took a few falls on the upper portion and bruised my knee pretty well since it's essentially thin padding behind the plastic shell. I have since picked up a pair of 8K pro stock shinguards with the thick liner and wow what a difference. The inner padding makes a huge difference and adds a ton more protection all around your knee while not adding much weight or bulk, no wonder so many pros still wear the old Jofa/RBK pads. Sure the d#0 stuff is great if you take a Shea Weber blast straight to the knee cap but for the most part that stuff just seems like marketing nonsense to me.

I don't get the cream shells... why not tan to match the gloves? Or at least swap the white on the jersey/socks for cream to match the shell? Reminds me of a mis-matched Beer League uniform.

Gloves now a days don't require much break in from what I've seen, most are good to go from the start... long gone are the days of full leather bricks taking months to break in 😂 the struggle was real back in the 90's... I still have flashbacks of breaking in Easton Air GX gloves, those things were torture but oh so rad.

Yes, most accept returns if you have not used/damaged the product. I bought mine from Pure Hockey online and returned it to their store since I was in the area. Just be exstra careful when installing it and testing around the house. Not sure what sort of guarantee anyone has once you've tried it on the ice.

I wear a small V08 (and medium in Bauer's). Cage and helmet size don't really correlate since everyone head and face sizes are different, I typically wear a large Bauer Profile II and Reakt cage, CCM cages never fit right, medium is too short and large too long, damn Goldilocks syndrome 😣

They're designed to fit on all helmets in theory so yea it should fit. I bought one and returned it. I put it on my V08 and it just felt a little too short, like my chin was left exposed a bit (this was my concern since it was a "one size fits all" senior shield and, in my experience, I've always sized up in cages to get a proper fit). I flipped the clips upside down to see if that gave me a little extra length and it I found it wasn't as easy as it is with a cage... the flipped clips gave me a little extra length but they changed the angle (of the dangle?) and the shield didn't even come close to sitting in the J clips (no matter how I adjusted them) and also left 2 slits between the helmet and top of shield that were large enough for a stick blade to easily slide into since now it was angled outwards ever so slightly. So my conclusion was mostly that shields don't fit my head/face correctly so I'll stick with my cage, too bad because it was a nice looking shield.

Might have better luck in the 2019-20 thread:

One thing to try before you go spending money is to try a different lacing style (if you search there is a thread or two that discusses various lacing techniques and pros/cons of each). My old Bauers were so stiff/high that I never felt I got enough fwd lean, but when I undid the top eyelet I too felt sloppy... I found the key was to skip the second from the top eyelet (look at pics of Crosby and his skates, he does the same), this gave me the support I was used to but loosened it just enough to allow more fwd lean, it was a win-win for me. Like I said, it might be worth a try before you go spending money (and even then you might like it and do it in whatever skates you get next).

Just saw this pic on Step's FB page with a different view of Kuch's skates, I don't remember seeing this one posted yet (and most images are blocked at work so sorry if it's old):

2 part question... A.) How far do you travel to play hockey yourself? How far do you live from the nearest rink or rinks? B.) How far do you drive your children to play or learn to play hockey? I know they're similar questions, basically, how far does everyone live from their nearest rink? Growing up in Nassau County on Long Island I was about 10mins away from a rink, I learned to skate and play on that rink, then as I got older I played on a bunch of rinks all between 10-35mins from home. Now I live out on the north eastern end of Long Island and the closest rink is a 45-60 minute drive (depending on traffic, etc). The league I play in plays at all different rinks since hockey rinks are few and far between on Long Island (in total I think we have about a dozen, most of which are in Nassau County which is the western part of the island). Most games I drive an hour plus to play, between 45-70 miles each way depending non the location, all late at night of course since those are the only hours us old folk get. Some drives home I contemplate if the drive is worth it and wonder how crazy I am for doing it, then again I wouldn't trade it for anything. Now that my kids are getting old enough to play I'm faced with that issue as well... they've been doing skating lessons at the closest rink (45min drive each way on Sunday mornings, well 45 mins there and over an hour and half home since all the citiots head to my neighborhood to pick pumpkins and apples and drink wine this time of year). My 9yo daughter seems like she might drop hockey in favor of swimming (yet another hike for us), but my 6yo son is just starting a learn to play program next month and I know he's in it for the long run (they both play roller hockey near home so already have a love for the game). So yea, does it ever get any easier??? Sorry this wasn't much of a question as it was a vent, just wanted to see if I was alone in living so far from a sport that I love.

Someone on S2K snagged a locker room close up of the skates, I don't want to steal his photo so here's a link to the post: http://www.sports2k.com/forum/index.php?/topic/5078-2019-2020-pro-stock-sightings/?p=364894

Superfeet Yellow or Carbon are great, I've had the Carbon Pro for the past 4 or so years in 2 skates and love them. CCM has a new line of insoles called Orthomove I believe, they're similar to the SF Yellow but have 2 or 3 different arch height adjustments (basically an attachment to the arch area to raise it various degrees), I've heard the quality is equal to SF but the adjustable arch option might be good for you to find the right fit.

yea, pretty sure the image of him with STX gloves/stick was from training camp, he was also using a Warrior at some point in camp but once the season started he's been in full CCM. From what I can guess you prob. won't see him in CCM marketing since he most likely didn't sign an endorsement deal with them (honestly that additional money would be pocket change to him).

Teammate grabbed a couple nice ones of me last night with my camera, nice to be on that side of the lens sometimes (I'm a league photographer so I shoot between shifts, I try to teach some teammates how to use the camera in hopes to be in photos but usually the results aren't that great, last night I played with another photographer who knew what they were doing 🙂)