2010 Warrior Goal Catalogue

[JR Boucicaut 3801]

http://www.modsquadhockey.com/forums/index...amp;showfile=71

I'll have Mike do the review on this, possibly this week. He knows this stuff better than I do, and he saw it in Detroit at the MSH Skate.

[Netminder32 32]

Sorry about the delay JR. It's been crazy busy...

First off let me start by saying I'm always a little hesitant to review anything that I have not personally tried. That having been said... neither has anyone else. :) Most of this stuff is new to the market so these comments are based more on personal observations and appearances as opposed to real life experience.

Pads:

I'm glad Warrior took their time in getting this stuff to market. From all appearances it would seem they thoroughly did their homework and came up with some pretty unique products. They have incorporated little things that work from other gear and gone ahead and added their own flair. The Messiah line is their Pro Line available with full customization and incorporates a lot of design aspects from the popular RBK pads in it's leg channel while still using knee rolls and segmented outer rolls on the pad facing. From what I saw at the showing, it is extremely light and flexible. Should work well for either butterfly or hybrid style of play. The Swagger pads are their Senior line and actually my personal preference. While they don't offer the customization of the Messiah pad, they do have a leg channel more closely resembling a Velocity pad. These pads are again very light weight and flexy. Should be amazing on ice.

Gloves:

The Messiah blocker is again the Pro line product while the Swagger is the Senior line. The biggest note on the blockers is once again weight. Or lack there of. Warrior has really pushed the envelope in making these gloves ultra light without sacrificing any protection. I have to say, I've been using a Brian's Zero G prototype glove for the past couple months and the Warrior was definitely every bit as light. The only thing I didn't like was the sidewall protection on the Messiah glove. It seemed a little overkill. I preferred the simpler sidewall on the Swagger. Other noteworthy positive additions are the padded smart palm and dual flared cut on the blocker board. The smart palm only puts extra protection where it is necessary which gives you good shock isolation while still allowing for good puck feel. It really is a pretty unique palm design. The blocker board was really what impressed me most though. The dual flared cut really looks like it is going to work well on ice for us goalies that like to add that paddle down style to our game. There is literally nothing else like it currently on the market! I can't wait to try one of these blockers out.

The trappers are where Warrior really seemed to set out and make something completely different. Anyone who has seen Carey Price this year will recall he's been going back and forth between a one piece cuff and the traditional two piece cuff on his Velocity glove. Looks like something Vaughn has in the books for future product development. Well Warrior is coming right out of the gates with a one piece cuff on it's Messiah trapper. To me this is a pretty big gamble for Warrior. I mentioned to Keith at the show that other companies have tried this in the past without much success. Us goalies are a funny lot. Once we get used to something we aren't very open to change (reference failed products like the Vapor goalie pads...too radical, too soon). But he assured me the Messiah will be available with either the one piece or a two piece cuff if you want to order it that way. Othewise the trappers are again insanely light. They have a comfortable break and it is segmented with a dual break zone that offers more of a "C" type closure. Both models have the funnel thumb that has become my personal favourite since the Velocity One glove although the thumb is not as flat as on the original Velo. It seems a good compromise between the large flat original funnel thumb and the deep blocker style thumb. Should play really well for all goalie types.

Pants

There are again two models of pant coming out, Messiah = Pro and Swagger = Senior. I didn't get to see these in person though if they are anything like the player pants I'm sure they'll be a huge success. Just from the pics and catalogue write up they look like they would compare well to the Tackla/Vaughn goalie pants.

Bag

The wheeled goalie bag looks pretty nice although again I didn't see this at the show. I'd be interested in seeing how well the handle and base hold up as these seem to be problem areas for most other bags I've tried. Looking forward to seeing these in person before passing final judgement. :)

Sticks

There are FIVE! models of goalie sticks this year. :o The Fortress one piece composite, the Messiah one piece composite, the Abyss foam core, the Swagger urethane core and the Woodrow "woodie". These sticks are already proven winners and this year they have even been improved on. The Fortress and Messiah have been rebalanced and the weight distribution is much better on this years sticks. In addition the Fortress received an improved graphics treatment. The Swagger is already the stick of choice for many NHL goalers (nuff said). And now we have a new choice. My personal favourite already...introducing the Woodrow stick. Made in Canada and a real work horse. If you are like me and prefer the puck feel of a woodie over a composite you are absolutely going to love this stick. This stick is remarkably well balanced and very durable. I've been using the Woodrow that I received to "demo" at the MSH skate three times a week since and it has taken a literal beating with no (and I mean none!) chipping in the paddle. This was always a big problem on my Christians. Additionally, for a wood stick it is actually quite light. Weight wise it compares pretty favourable to my Itech foam core. I'm pretty sure Warrior is going to be the benchmark in goalie sticks for some time to come as they now offer a flavour of stick to suit any goalies personal tastes.

[Law Goalie 147]

It's a fine line.

On the sublimation side (literally), I love Warrior's idea of using the entire lateral gusset as one continuous sublimated piece: saves on weight (no more Jenpro letters sewn on), simplifies construction, and makes the whole pad and its branding look much, much slicker. They certainly could have done more. IMO, the only places you really need synthetic leather on a pad are the medial surfaces, wrapped maybe an inch over onto the face of the pad, and major structural points like the top and bottom bindings, and the vertical roll. Pretty well the entire face of the pad *and* the leg-channel could have been sublimated. Would that have been too radical? Maybe.

I think Lefebvre has been incredibly shrewd about how he has developed the Reebok line. Every year, there are only a small number of very specific changes that take the gear forward. He certainly could have gone bindingless on both gloves this year, but he chose to do the glove first and wait on the blocker. Even the jump from the 590 to the original Premier Series pad wasn't that extreme.