Moving out of old CCM Supra Pants

[JoeyJ0506 192]

I have been wearing a pair of CCM Supra pants that I bought at a Play It Again Sports probably 4 or 5 years ago. These things have no spinal protection, and since I bought them I have developed some back problems that I want to protect with some good spinal protection. Secondly, as far as sizing goes I'm confused on whether the way pants are sized has changed as of late. I wear 33" or 34" waistline pants depending on what brand they are, and the Supra pants are a size XL and seem to fit perfectly on my waist. But all the sizing guides I'm looking at online seem to have 33-34 listed in size large. I guess I would like to have a bit of a looser fit in my legs too because I have some big thighs. I've found one place that still has the RBK 8k in stock (seems to be what I'm looking for) and they're in size XL, will they fit true to the sizing guide or will I be okay going with the way that my current pants fit. Also any suggestions on other quality pants that meet my needs would be appreciated. I'm sorry if this is stupid, but I've recently upgraded all of my gear, and the pants are the last thing to get the upgrade, and since there's not anywhere nearby that carries higher end stuff to try on, I'm looking to the great hockey minds on this forum to help me out. Thank you all, in advance.