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Netminder32

2007 One Goal Hockey Show Goalie Equipment

By Netminder32, in Goal Equipment

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Netminder32    32

Netminder32
Posted

My thoughts and observations from the 2007 Toronto One Goal Hockey Show.

Olie:

As many of you know I am a big advocate for Olie’s high end MA2000 and its wider cousin the MA7000 series of masks. I had the pleasure of actually meeting Keith Oldfield from Olie in person and discussing his new masks for 2007. He informed me that they are going to be incorporating a new bonding chemical to better adhere the fiberglass and kevlar layers in their masks and implementing a new vacuum molding production process to eliminate air voids. They have eliminated the troublesome moisture wicking liners that separated from the base liner and acted as a sponge actually retaining the moisture on the older masks. The new masks will also feature finished interiors and openings as well as exteriors. This will eliminate the occasional sharp edges found on backing plates and vent holes. Also, they will be introducing a stainless steel version of their cages which will be available at no extra charge. Combine all this with Olie’s sweet factory paint jobs and low pricing and you have a value that just can’t be matched.

TPS:

This is a company with new ownership, new vision and a good selection of new product, most of which we have already seen with their Lunqvist inspired series of Response Armor gear. However, watch for them to be introducing yet another series of new one piece composite sticks to their line up and a new series of response chest and arm protectors in 2007. The new sticks feature a grip section to alleviate the slippage found with many of the new super smooth finishes. The c/a’s look to stack up well to any of the new product coming to marked offering similar styling and protection. Just have to wait and see what the pricing will be like.

Eagle:

Eagle had their next generation of Fusion 2 and Sentry 2 gear on display. The pads were really nice a good evolution of their previous gear with minor improvements and 11" widths. The Sentry 2 chest and arm unit looked HUGE! I’m still a big fan of their version of the Curtis Curve goalie stick which is also offered with the trigger finger if you are so inclined. I didn’t notice any other changes to their line up.

Brians:

Brian’s had samples of all of their current line up out. I didn’t notice anything new from them but I guess that should be expected when their whole line up was pretty much completely redesigned in 2006.

Nike/Bauer:

Nike/Bauer had their new 2007 Supreme SE pads on display. They still seem to me to be a really nicely reworked Vaughn Velocity inspired pad with some BNH tweaks. They are offering two different knee configurations designed to perform specifically for hybrid or profly styles of play. Really nice looking pad although they seemed to be a bit on the heavy side. I still believe the XXX goalie pant is far and away the best pant on the market and the XXX chest and arm is equally well designed although more companies have a good c/a on the market now.

Mission/Itech

Oddly enough nothing really stood out for me at the Mission/Itech display. There wasn’t any Mission goalie gear and the Itech stuff was just the retail gear already on the market. Nothing really inspiring with the possible exception of a new Team Canada inspired paint scheme on one of their masks.

Vaughn

The Vaughn booth was packed as everyone was trying to see what the new V3 7500 series of gear was going to be like. After seeing the pads in person I’m still convinced there is no improving on the V2 and I suspect Vaughn may feel the same since they did not discontinue the V2’s for 2007. The new pads have some minor modifications and a new graphic but the graphic is awful and the mods don’t really make much sense to me. The stock +1 thigh rise sizing is the only thing that they desperately needed to add to the line but even then it should have been a +2 or +3. Vaughn has notoriously short thigh rises.

The trapper and blocker have both been redesigned as well. The blocker will be a modernized thin board style with the V2 type thumb side. Looks like a winning combination although the jury is still out on the new graphic. The trapper received a lot of modifications including a more pronounced 5500 style thumb vs the funnel thumb that I am such a big fan of. Also the wrist board has two angled deflectors now. There is a new one piece composite goal stick on the horizon for Vaughn in 2007 although sticks have never been their market and this one just doesn’t have any significant design improvement to make me think this is going to be their stepping stone. Unless someone is into brand name matching I can’t see the Vaughn sticks making any sort of impact. The other new items for 2007 include a newly designed mask with a super wide chin and the redesigned Epic c/a. Again, I don’t know what Vaughn was thinking on the mask. It’s downright awful. The Epic c/a on the other hand looks like a winner. It is essentially Vaughns wildly successful 5500 c/a with NHL spec sizing and some updated materials.

Stomp

I met with Darren Stomp and talked in great detail with him about his new Stomp Mfg gear. Specifically the gloves. For the past couple years I’ve heard rumours about his company but nothing ever came to light until this years show. Darren informed me this was because he wanted to do everything right with this new company. As many of you recall it was Darren’s father Sonny and Brian Heaton that originally founded Brian’s and Darren has been in this business a long, long time. He strategically placed his new company in the Kingsville area which gave him a large talent pool of skilled former Brian’s and Heaton employees to draw upon. Many of whom he has known personally for years. He secured contracts for the highest grade materials for his gear and will be introducing a new patented palm material that he has exclusive rights for which will eliminate “stingers†entirely. His gloves will be the only gloves on the market incorporating this palm material and moving away from the foam and felt that has been used exclusively by manufacturers for decades. As you can probably tell by now I was completely blown away by his new gloves. If there is an “innovation†award for goalie gear in 2007, Stomp Mfg will surely have this one locked up. Watch for their company website and offerings to be up soon. www.stompmfg.com

Pro Mask

I’m pretty sure this was the first time that the reps from Pro Mask made the trek from Sweden to take part in the show. They had their new true flat faced pads on display as well as the new Raptor mask. While both were innovative I can’t really see them making any impact in the North American market. The pads were a little too unusual and don’t seem to really offer any functional improvement to what is currently on the market. The mask was pretty nice and will incorporate silicone based gels into the lining but again, it’s kind of radical for our market and the price is going to keep it from being a viable alternative.

Sherwood

Sherwood had their current retail line up on display including the SWD line of pads, gloves and c/a’s. I imagine their attractive pricing and innovative gear will keep them around for a while. The Cerebrus equipment bag is the same as the Vaughn at ¾ of the price. Arguably the best wheeled goalie bag currently on the market. As always, I’m sure Sherwood will lead the way in sticks. Their new C10 goalie stick is light and well balanced, all the things everyone has come to expect from Sherwood.

Others

Graf is introducing another new goalie skate….and I missed their booth. :(

Torspo, Ballistik and Montreal bringing some low end goalie gear into the American market. Nothing earth shattering, seems comparable to D&R gear. Eddy and Sportmask had their products on display but nothing new that I noticed. None of the direct retailers had a booth (Smith, Battram etc). I was hoping that Vortek would have been there but they were absent as well. Maybe next show in Detroit. And that pretty much sums up my experience….

Link to the pics...

Dukes Hockey always has a GREAT in depth review and more pics as well.

Dukes Hockey show review by PBGas

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Chadd    916

Chadd
Posted

Eagle:

... I’m still a big fan of their version of the Curtis Curve goalie stick which is also offered with the trigger finger if you are so inclined.

For what it's worth Christian has a composite curtis curve this year.

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sogaduch    0

sogaduch
Posted

Eagle:

... I’m still a big fan of their version of the Curtis Curve goalie stick which is also offered with the trigger finger if you are so inclined.

For what it's worth Christian has a composite curtis curve this year.

yeah i saw there booth but didnt get a chance to check the booth out indepth

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Netminder32    32

Netminder32
Posted

Stomp

...Watch for their company website and offerings to be up soon. www.stompmfg.com

when I typed it in, it transfered me to http://www.pigeonbaycottages.com/stompmfg. wtf?

I don't have any confirmation on this but it's a pretty solid hunch. Pigeon Bay Cottages happens to be located in Kingsville, Stomp Mfg. is located in Kingsville. The Stomp family is located in Kingsville. My best guess...the family owns the cottage business and currently Stomp Mfg. is being hosted on their cottage business web server as a sub directory.

This will make sense to anyone who has ever done web pages I'm sure...

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Netminder32    32

Netminder32
Posted

Nothing to be sorry about... We're talking about a whole new company here. They don't even have product out yet other than what you are seeing right here on ModSquad. :)

Just letting you guys in on the latest and greatest happenings in the goalie world. Keep watching for the Stomp site to be introduced when their product line is officially launched. It's gonna be some sweet gear.

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Netminder32    32

Netminder32
Posted

For those of you whom are interested, Stomp Mfg. has added a little intro page to the site with some pics, but essentially the site is still under construction.

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