steve66

They come out this Friday (June 30th) in the UK. Really excited for these skates! When we were presented these skates at the same time as the FT1, the 70K stole the show for me.

Have been very impressed by the new CCM protective & skate offerings thus far. The Shoulders and Elbows are super comfy, and the inclusion of the D30 is an upgrade in protection from past models.

I've found that a lot of UK stores advertise the chassis, but not many hold them in stock. Try Puck Stop and you'll get a cheaper rate on converting your skate if you buy the chassis there http://puckstop.com/acatalog/Chassis.html

There are some Pros wearing them over here in Europe. Personally not a fan of black holders.

Decided to convert my old APX skates for inline now that I have my new APX2 skates.

I've got the same one Buzz. It feels absolutley bullet proof!

This line stood out at me regarding the elbow pads: "if you are one of those guys like me who won’t get rid of their Jofas, this surely makes it tempting to" That really is high praise indeed, and I shall be trying some out at the earliest opportunity!

It's the most visible place left once you've put sponsor logos where the tear off velcro panels are.

Reebok (Euro) Pro pants

Easton Synergy EQ Pro equipment bag Blue Dimensions: 30in. x 15in. x 20in. Intro This bag is purely for Ice, I have a separate backpack style bag for roller hockey. I can never fit my pads in a backpack style bag, so I have always had different bags for each. I am not a fan of bags with external skate pockets; I prefer to have everything inside the main compartment. From past experience I have found that this style of bag is usually more durable. Hence why I now opt for the pro style bag. I have been using this bag since Dec 2011. Durability: This bag is made from a heavy duty laminated tarpaulin. To the touch, this material feels extremely durable, and this has proved to be the case. There are no scuffs, cuts or any signs of wear and tear both on the exterior and interior. The bag is in use generally two or three times a week, and on occasion more. Normally I would expect to see some damage whether it be from accidental damage in the locker room, or getting stuffed in and out of vehicles. The seams and zips feel extremely secure, and there is no sign of any damage there. 10/10 Performance: This bag has a massive main compartment. I can easily fit all of my pads with ease. There is plenty of room left over for my undergarments and uniforms, with additional room to spare. The straps/handles are very thick, which makes it comfortable to carry. it would be nice to have them a little longer so I could use two straps over one shoulder, but that’s a minor quibble, as I’m happy to sling a single handle over my shoulder. The air vents are a nice addition. They are not something that you find on every pro style bag. I do not leave my kit in my bag for very long before and after each use, so I cannot properly say if this works really well. I guess I’ll find out on some of the longer road trips coming up. However, my main concern would be that the air vents would be a weak point in the construction, but this concern has thus far been misplaced, and has proved not to be a drawback at all. A feature of this back that I am not happy about are the internal skate pockets. They are located at the ends of the bag. The pocket is in the form of a very shallow nylon opening. This particular design may work for someone with small skates, but my size 11s will not stay in there as the pocket is too shallow. I therefore just have to put my skates in the main compartment, and the skate pockets are used for tape and a water bottle. 8/10 Value: This bag was cheap when I bought it, and the price appears to be getting lower all the time. I’m extremely happy for the performance, so in my eyes this is fantastic value for the price. 10/10 Overall: Aside from the skate pockets, there is nothing much I would change about this bag. When you add in the great price point, I think it is a real bargain, and I would highly recommend it to anyone. 9/10

Just seen Radio's tattoo on the MTV and SI sites in a feature for best NHL tattoos: http://clutch.mtv.com/2012/05/04/best-and-worst-nhl-fan-tattoos/

Bauer TotalOne SE Griptac (Euro only version) Flex: 102 Curve: P92 Height: 6'1 Weight: 230 Postition: D Time-frame of use: April 2012, part of a practice. Qualifying comment: The majority of my impressions are based upon holding the stick prior to usage. Aesthetics: I really like the graphics. I’m glad that I have the option of getting the Griptac in the darker colourway, I don’t care much for the white variation on the upper part of the shaft in the regular Griptac model. 10/10 Stick Construction, Weight and Balance: Upon inspection, the quality of the construction seemed to be to a high quality. There were no obvious flaws in the blade and shaft construction. Stick weight and balance in the hands felt very good. 10/10 Blade: Blade had a nice matte finish, didn’t appear to be too thick. Lie felt comfortable when sizing up the stick. I cannot comment upon the feel of the blade when stickhandling and shooting. NA/10 (Cannot provide an accurate score) Shaft/Flex: My personal preference is a shaft with a square double concave profile. The Tac-spiral texture added a nice amount of grip when checking it out prior to getting on the ice, but I cannot comment on how this felt when shooting or stickhandling. I have used and really enjoyed playing with a 102 flex on previous Bauer sticks and shafts, but cannot comment upon the flex profile using the TotalOne. NA/10 (Cannot provide an accurate score) Stickhandling and Passing: Not a large enough sample size to form any opinion. NA/10 (Cannot provide an accurate score) Shooting: Not a large enough sample size to form an opinion. NA/10 (Cannot provide an accurate score Durability: I’m sure this is an isolated incident, but I have to score this section as per my experience. My stick lasted 5 minutes, the majority of that was spent skating and stretching. I stick handled on the spot, took one wrist shot and then the stick broke on the following slapshot just below my bottom hand on the backhand side. Whilst in my possession, the stick received no slashes or abuse that in my mind would warrant it snapping so quickly, and easily. As mentioned previously, there were no visible defects, perhaps there might be an internal construction issue or a weakness in the composite weave? I have also used this flex before so I do not feel that the stick was merely too whippy. 0/10 Conclusion: Given my extremely limited time actually playing with the stick, I think it would be unfair to provide an overall grade. Unfortunately, I am not eligible for a warranty replacement as the stick was a gift which is understandable, so I cannot at this time continue with a new model to form, and offer a fuller opinion. Despite the big disappointment of not being able to play with the stick, I really have to commend Bauer Hockey, and Bauer Sweden for their top notch customer service. I received very prompt, helpful emails from a number of people involved, and I really appreciate them taking the time to help. NA/10

Skate: Bauer Vapor APX 10.5EE Ht./Wt.: 6'1 230 lbs. Play Level: A level adult rec league - D. Previous skates worn: Graf G7, 705. Reebok 9k, 11K. Bauer Vapor X, XX, XXX. Bauer Supreme 8090, One90. I have over the years happily interchanged between Reebok and Bauer skates, I am in the fortunate position where my foot shape is comfortable in both. My Reebok 11K had eventually broken down, and as much as I liked those skates, I felt it was time to return to Bauer. I have been skating in the APX skates November 2011. Fit (9.5/10) In Supremes I always wear a 10.5D, but due to the difference in last, I ended up with a EE width. My forefoot and heel fit perfectly from the offset. Once these skates were baked, the fit improved massively. In all my skates I miss the top eyelet in order to improve forward flexion. I feel that I can get quicker starts and corner better when I do this. However, whenever I did this wearing the APX, I would end up with cuts on my ankles, so I really appreciate the total comfort strips being included on these skates. I have since started lacing all the way up to the top eyelet to avoid these cuts. Blade/Holder (9/10) I loved the blade on my Reebok 11k’s, I loved how stiff they were. The Tuuk lightspeed 2 holders took a few skates to adjust as they are longer than the Epro holder, but now I feel that I am benefitting in terms of top end speed. One of the reasons I liked the Epro was because of the flatter profile which would allow me to control the puck off my skates when required. My prior thought that this would be affected by the more rounded TUUK holder has proved unfounded. I cannot say that I have found any significant enhancements as a direct result of the fusion steel, my edges hold out for roughly the same period of usage. If they weren’t already packaged with the skate, I wouldn’t necessarily rush out to buy them separately. Weight (10/10) The lightest skate I have ever put on my feet. I do not feel that any sacrifice has been made in protection to achieve this. Protection (10/10) As stated above, no protection has been sacrificed in order to achieve the outstanding weight of this skate, in fact I think it has improved. I have taken shots off all angles of the skate, and have yet had to miss a shift as a result. I have had no lace bite issues thanks to the fit and design of the tongue. Durability (9.5/10) There has been no structural damage to the skate. Any blow or contact to the skate does cause the design or colouring on the forefoot to smudge, just a minor quibble. Performance (10/10) Maneuverability, speed and acceleration have all improved. There is a definite pop to the end of my strides, and I feel that the reduced weight has contributed to improvements in acceleration and maneuverability. Overall (97%) I am extremely happy to have changed from Reebok back to Bauer. The combination of fit and performance is incredible. I worry how hard Bauer will have to work in order to top this skate.

All kinds of jealous. Looking forward to seeing what you think of it!

Good job on the IW videos

Looks good Justin, would love to see them in Europe too.

It sounds like it'll be all 80s

Good news on the Osterkamp signing, looks lik ethings are going in the right direction.

Those skates are worn by number 7 - Jimmy Carter. Another photo can be seen here if you scroll to the bottom left.

very nice mr dangL. no more Reebok?

$36 shipped?! that's just wrong. I shoulda seen those! :)

looks like a solid lineup. hopefully i can get my hands a couple of 52Cals....

So they couldn't make this more similar to the TPS one? I had closed the TPS one ready to look at SW, and i honestly thought i had closed the wrong one, and was still looking at TPS.

All of the bags look great, but the Eraser Bags do look particularly sharp!

Looks great. Any LTR help required?