Hockey gear in New York

[bobbyorio 0]

Hi can anyone please help me? I am from Ireland but will be going to New York for a few days tomorrow. I ordered some gear over the net that I wil be collecting there. But I didnt really want to order sticks without seeing them first.

Does anyone please have addresses for hockey shops in and around Manhattan where there might be a good choice of one pieces(Synergies, Vectors etc.) and tapered shaft combos(Synthesis, L-2's etc) and maybe also some knee - shins.

So far Chelsea Piers has been reccomended to me or else in the borough of Queens Sports Plus in Middle Village.

Please let me know if anyone knows if these shops are any good are if there are any other larger stores worth checking out that arent too difficult to get to.

[Modo9 0]

This one is easy, go to Cosby's right under Madison Square Garden! The Garden is right across from Grand Central Station. The selection is good, however they tend to be a little pricey. But then again everything in Manhattan is very pricey.

[sikocycles 1]

Isnt the garden accross from Penn station?

[JR Boucicaut 3805]

Damn, Cosby's and 'selection' do not go hand in hand...it's damn near a vintage store! (Yes, I have been in there, and whenever Keith goes there I ask him if certain stuff is still there, and it usually is)

PM Keith or 2048, they should be able to help you out.

[GeeZa32 0]

GreatSkate is in NY if I recall.

[JR Boucicaut 3805]

Yeah, but upstate.

[Modo9 0]

I meant to say Penn... I hadn't had my coffee yet. And I tend to always think Grand Central because it is a very big beautiful station, unlike the undergound, grimy Penn station.

And Cosby's does have a good selection of hockey equipment for Manhattan. There are alot larger and better stocked stores with newer equipment but you have to travel to Queens.

[JR Boucicaut 3805]

LOL I did not catch that one, lol, where you trying to send the boy? Yeah, basically get out of Penn Station, then turn around and it is on the left side of Penn Plaza.

[rjdlucky 0]

Talk to Bruce at Cosby's. He will be the guy right in front of the skates and under the gloves. They can use the business considering there is no hockey season and the Rangers never make the playoffs.

[JR Boucicaut 3805]

LOL wait...is Bruce the obsessive-compulsive guy? I made the fatal mistake of mentioning to him that i worked in a store. Oh boy, he wouldn't let me go after that...

[rjdlucky 0]

Yeah. That's so funny. I forgot to mention, just ask him about the equipment. lol.

[JR Boucicaut 3805]

I also heard not to get a skate fitting from him or you'll be there forever. Bless his heart.

[bobbyorio 0]

Thanks a million guys. I was in there about 10 years ago and cant even remember it that well. I will definitely take a look there though.

I am really looking forward to the trip and will let ye know what I think o the place.

Damn CBA means I cant catch a preseason game at all.

I saw a preseason Canadiens V Sens game last year in Montreal and it was awesome!

Also does anyone know if the sportsplus in Queens is any good?

[rjdlucky 0]

lol. New York City is not the easiest place to find hockey equipment. There are a few good rink pro shops on the island, Cosby's.

[rjdlucky 0]

The Sports Plus in New Hyde Park is pretty solid. I don't know about the one in Middle Village.

[JR Boucicaut 3805]

Bobby - don't you know all of the Europeans come to Orlando to buy equipment??? :)

[Jim Bob 0]

Yeah, but upstate.

Boston is closer to NYC than Great Skate is.

[JR Boucicaut 3805]

Yup, they're in Amherst...

[Keith 0]

Paragon sports (http://www.paragonsports.com/Paragon/Shop) is just about the best sporting goods shop in NYC. They recently restocked the hockey section a bit. They have normal synthesis and grip synth shafts, Vector 120 ops, synergy si-core grips along with the other types of synergys, maybe an eclipse or apollo depending on your hand, griplites, ultralites, bubbles, ccm and easton composite blades, Vapor xx ops, M1. Cosby's is basically a shell right now. They sort of go as the business at msg goes, which basically means they haven't had much since the rangers and knicks were actually good. Last time I was there, they had some r2 shafts, a few synergys, several eclipses and a bunch of sherwood 7000 woods. As JR said, it is basically the pro shop time forgot. They are still selling christian aluminums (those old ass white ones that have "say no to drugs!" screened on the side) for full retail price! They even have a Black Steel shaft! Cosby's glory days were when wood was still in heavy nhl use and they got all the rangers' extras (btw, if you want one of mactavish's old vic woods....... I think you know where I'm going..... those chaps probably have a few dead ppl's sticks in that pile of woods). The proshop at chelsea is well-stocked right now with new stuff, but they also have their fair share of old crap like gretzky silvertips (which I find HIGHLY tempting but not for nearly $100!). Chelsea has l2s, m1, the koho ops, both ccm ops, vapor xx, eclipse, all easton ops, and probably more that I am forgetting offhand. Don't hold your breath for any tps stuff in NYC for the most part.

[JR Boucicaut 3805]

Damn, now I remember the product I kept asking Keith to check up on...the Christian Say No To Drugs shaft and the Black Steel...I went in there and was like "WOAH!"

[Keith 0]

What pisses me off about cosby's is that all of the old crap is pitiful.... Now if I could walk in there and buy some Daousts or Microns or an Easton 5100 Gold shaft... Then we would be talking...

[Brian 0]

Ahh... Did I hear the name "Bruce" mentioned at Cosbys in MSG?... please, for the love of all that is good, and right in this world... STAY AWAY FROM BRUCE.

I heard people refer to him as "the obsessive compulsive guy"... thats a very generous way to put it... the guy is FUCKING INSANE.

I have had the privilege of having my goalie skates fitted by this lunatic. Sure, the guy is an all around nice guy, and overall was very helpful... they even price matched the skates I wanted... but I was in the store for about 2 HOURS. Between getting the skates sharpened, and him "fitting them" on my feet, was an adventure. the guy was sitting there, measuring the laces, pulling them back and forth, I guess trying to get them even enough for his preference... and out of no where, between every 2 minutes of lacing up skates, he LOCKS UP.

LOCKS UP. Completely FREEZES. Dead in his motion. He did this at least 4 times throughout the lacing process. I would have said something, but this was my first of many encounters with this man, and I was too creeped out to say a word! One minute he is talking to me about baseball; this was during the post season, and the next, he freezes up, and starts repeating the same shit he said 3 minutes ago! It took him about 45 minutes to lace a pair of skates... and then another 10 to tie them up... he re-knotted the laces at least 3 times...

OCD is the LEAST of his problems.

I am well aware of the fact that he has OCD, because when you go to get your skates sharpened, thats an adventure too... he takes the sharpening ticket, and needs to make sure the perforation part that is torn off is completely straight. He held me in the store for a good 3 or 4 minutes evening out a little piece of paper, not to mention crossing out his writing, and re-writing shit, to make sure its "perfect" enough for him.

I am sure Keith can tell you other stories, I can too... but I will leave with another gem...

The tape incident... when he knocked over about 20+ rolls of tape, and was screamed at by a bitter old racist man, and proceded to pick them up one by one, and try to stack them "perfectly"... I watched him for a good 5 minutes before I decided to leave, fiddling with rolls of tape trying to stack them...

He is quite the creep.

Edit:

Keith reminded me of another quite dubious incident... A man, and his son ask for a price on a pair of inline skates lying there in a box, so this guy picks up one of the skates, and is looking/staring at it for a few seconds, and DROPS it on the floor... in which the chassis of the skate breaks off and goes flying across the floor. The guy picks up both pieces; stares at them again, and says something along the lines of "huh... i guess we cant sell this anymore..." and puts it back in the box!

He has provided me with much humor in my life... and for that, I thank him.

[rjdlucky 0]

What's wrong with that? I mean who doesn't have an extra three hours to kill? lol.

[JR Boucicaut 3805]

DOes he sharpen?

[2048 0]

Sports plus in middle village is ok for gloves and some skates, but the one in new hyde park is much better. Way more sticks, skates and equipment in general.

Paragons is funny..no one there knows anything about gear and it's all overpriced. Except for when they have crazy blowouts where you can get z-bubbles and quest 1 shafts for 10 bucks, top end jofa shoulder pads for 40 and top end gloves for about 40 as well.

Edit- Sports plus tends to stock a lot of tps stuff if that's what you're looking for, but they do really love easton as well, so you'll get a good selection of synergies and tps one pieces.

Also, there's some play it again sports around LI that have a decent amount of gear. There's one by the sports plus in New Hyde park and another one a bit farther away.