Fitting a Pro for Pants in the Shop

[DarkStar50 680]

Last night John Madden of the Devils was at the rink to watch his son practice for the Mite travel team. Madden came into the pro shop and was trying on pants. When I went over to help him he already had NBH Supreme 70 pants on. He seemed to like them. I asked if he needed help or had a question. He said the pants he wears are the same ones from college at Michigan. He has never worn anything else since he played in the NHL. He said they have been completely re-covered twice already. He liked the 70s because the pant wasn't bulky and fit him well enough. He tried on RBK 6K also. He liked the idea of the girdle under the shell but decided there was too much padding in a size medium. He said he felt like a goalie! The Supreme 70 size he had on was a small. He wanted pants with thigh zippers for total freedom of movement. There was no point in showing him higher end pants since he wanted less padding, not more. It was interesting to see what protection a pro wanted in pants.

[Law Goalie 147]

It's funny he said he felt like a goallie - some of the least protective goalie equipment I've ever seen was pro-return stuff. I'm not just talking about Brodeur here, either - some guys would have about half the padding of a retail C/A taken out. I saw one set of Vaughn pants that was basically two big foam planks on the thighs, a little cradle for the hips, a belt, and absolutely nothing else - no tailbone padding, no side protection, no suspender buttons, nothing. Then again, you've got guys like Snow and Giguere adsing roofing shingles to their shoulders...

Sounds like Madden's a pretty easy-going guy.

[TBLfan 25]

Sounds like most pro players I've spoke with. MOST seem to have less inflated heads than a lot of beer leaguers.

Good story though, sad thing was that I originally thought it was the other Madden(had to reread, skipped over "of the devils")... I think it makes for a better story that way!

[NuggyBuggy 0]

So did he buy the pants you spent so much time fitting him for ?

[Rustpot 1]

Sounds like most pro players I've spoke with. MOST seem to have less inflated heads than a lot of beer leaguers.

Good story though, sad thing was that I originally thought it was the other Madden(had to reread, skipped over "of the devils")... I think it makes for a better story that way!

Definitely wouldn't be trying on S or M if it was the other Madden.

Great story. I wouldn't think pants is something that a player would hang on to for so long.

[DarkStar50 680]

So did he buy the pants you spent so much time fitting him for ?

No, he didn't buy the pants. He could request his equipment managaer to order them if he wanted. I asked what skates he was on. He said he is still on the ONE90s. Since its just the start of the travel season, I didn't want to ask a lot of questions. It will be a long season with his kid here all winter. I met his kid and the wife over the week-end. The kid is the spitting image of the father, without the scars yet.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

So did he buy the pants you spent so much time fitting him for ?

No, he didn't buy the pants. He could request his equipment managaer to order them if he wanted. I asked what skates he was on. He said he is still on the ONE90s. Since its just the start of the travel season, I didn't want to ask a lot of questions. It will be a long season with his kid here all winter. I met his kid and the wife over the week-end. The kid is the spitting image of the father, without the scars yet.

Yes, I assumed that he would just get the team to buy them for him. You made a post once about the cold shoulder treatment you give to people you know have no intention of buying. I wondered whether you also assumed that he was one of those guys too.

[RadioGaGa 162]

So did he buy the pants you spent so much time fitting him for ?

No, he didn't buy the pants. He could request his equipment managaer to order them if he wanted. I asked what skates he was on. He said he is still on the ONE90s. Since its just the start of the travel season, I didn't want to ask a lot of questions. It will be a long season with his kid here all winter. I met his kid and the wife over the week-end. The kid is the spitting image of the father, without the scars yet.

So, he goes to the LHS to try stuff on then orders on line *tisk tisk tisk* :P

[DarkStar50 680]

So did he buy the pants you spent so much time fitting him for ?

No, he didn't buy the pants. He could request his equipment managaer to order them if he wanted. I asked what skates he was on. He said he is still on the ONE90s. Since its just the start of the travel season, I didn't want to ask a lot of questions. It will be a long season with his kid here all winter. I met his kid and the wife over the week-end. The kid is the spitting image of the father, without the scars yet.

Yes, I assumed that he would just get the team to buy them for him. You made a post once about the cold shoulder treatment you give to people you know have no intention of buying. I wondered whether you also assumed that he was one of those guys too.

That is a good point you bring up. In retail situations there is something called "building goodwill." Often times, the online shopper who comes in with his 20 page computer printout from HockeyMonkey and HockeyGiant to compare prices(this happened to me two weeks ago in the middle of a very busy selling day)does have no intention of buying. This guy from two weeks ago led me to believe he was going to buy for his player overseas. I showed him everything we had based on what he found online in that price point. I was "building goodwill" because he led me to believe he would be purchasing from the shop. After he left, I never saw him again. I could have been helping the other 5 customers waiting for service ready to buy. Live and learn. In the case of John Madden, I didn't expect him to buy his NHL game pants at retail from me. I do know that I will see him and his wife and kids from now until next April. It was easy to bs with him and "build goodwill" for the pro shop. We have already sharpened his kid's skates. Its not like he will take little Johnny's skates to have the Devils team sharpener do them. He was actually looking for a helmet and pants for his kid, too. That is where I started the conversation with him. After I left him alone, I saw that a few minutes later he was trying on pants for himself. That was when I went back to see if he had any questions about what he had on. I knew that he wouldn't know what was available at retail in pants models. That was why I asked him if he needed help so I knew he would understand what he was trying on. You learn to treat every situation differently in retail. Sometimes you don't know who you are dealing with and sometimes you do. I wasn't worried about John Madden buying or not buying pants from our pro shop.