Warrior Messiah Goalie Gear - the whole set up

[Netminder32 32]

Warrior Messiah Goalie Gear Review:

This review is going to be a little different in format although I’ve included the traditional MSH review breakdown at the end. I haven’t used this gear extensively so it is not a "long term" review, but I have used it enough to form an opinion so I’ve used an evaluation format of: Initial Impressions, On Ice Impressions and Traditional MSH Ratings. Additionally there is a lot of gear being reviewed here all at once as opposed to the normal individual pieces format. What isn't different is there are a lot of pictures for you to view so you can get a really good look at the gear.

First I have to start by mentioning this is simply my opinion on all these things so take it for what it is worth. I have literally tried hundreds of pieces of equipment over the years so I’ve pretty much formed an idea of what works and doesn’t work…for “me”. The key here being “me”. Others will like different things for different reasons so this is simply “my” take on all this gear. Your experience could be quite different… and with that having been said, on to the gear!

The gear:

Pads: Warrior Messiah 34+2 (nhl spec)

Trapper: Warrior Messiah – fixed cuff version (nhl spec)

Blocker: Warrior Messiah (nhl spec)

Pants: Warrior Messiah - large (nhl spec)

Initial Impressions:

Pads: Right out of the box I was pretty impressed with the pads. They were my size (important), very light weight, and had a subtle but proper “S” bend to them. They felt quite natural performing a “carpet fly”. The landing gear was large and offered suitable cushioning for the knee. I was concerned with how busy the leg channel looked. Warrior has a laced in leg channel that can be removed for a more RBK type experience or laced in for a more Vaughn type experience. The later of course being my preference. The leg channel did however have a lot of movement in it when laced into place (think thigh board type of mounting). So my concern was that it would feel sloppy. Also, there is a whole lot of strapping and velcro going on there to keep you leg firmly in the channel. Again it’s a pretty busy set up with lots of velcro straps for the channel, a velcro strap for the knee, three leather leg straps, two more nylon knee straps and a leather boot strap. :o My biggest concerns for the pads however was in the toe/footbed area. While the offset toe really helps the butterfly, it REALLY, REALLY, hinders natural pad recovery. I’ve never had a good experience with offset toe pads. Also the shape of the boot area bothered me. It was square and my past experience has also always been bad with square toe boxes. I prefer a slight taper to allow for a more gradual transition into a butterfly.

Trapper: The trapper offered a lot of adjustment on your hand which I liked. I prefer to keep my glove tight and with a velcro strap across the fingers, another on the back of the hand and a nylon wrist strap I was able to lock in pretty good. I wasn’t as impressed with the access to those straps though. Unlike my velocity trapper where everything is accessible through a quick access velcro strap at the base of the pocket. The Warrior glove requires you to completely undo the velcro straps from the plastic loops to access the inside straps. You then need to feed the strap back though the loop to secure it once you are strapped in. It can be done, it’s just not as easy. The break on the trapper was perfectly located and would feel great except for the overly stuffed palm. While I do realize there is a small trend towards goalies who don’t close their glove and prefer to “basket catch” there is still a large population of goalies who like their glove to snap shut and I fall into that later category.

Blocker: The blocker seemed to be a combination of good and bad innovation. I love the multi angled surface of the blocker board allowing for paddle down play. I liked the fact that the fingers on the palm were short enough to fit my hands. But I didn’t like the excessive width of the fingers/palm area. Now I have smaller hands (14” glove size) and my fingers are at the very ends of the finger stalls so someone with larger hands wouldn’t even be able to use the blocker with this palm. That having been said, I’m pretty sure my fingers and hand would need to about double in size to fit the width of this palm. It’s so weird being both short and wide. It feels really sloppy on your hand even with the velcro strap tightened down. Otherwise, the finger protection is great and ample. There is a full box protector for your pointer finger and a full wrap around two layer deep protection for the rest of your fingers. The sidewall is big and has a secondary gap fill for the stick blade opening. Basically this thing is bullet proof all while remaining exceptionally light.

Pants: The pants are exceptionally light and mobile. The quality of construction is very evident with a lot of higher end materials being used throughout and all fully embroidered logos. Even the hip flaps which are often inadequate on most goalie pants extend fully around to the side of the pant. The pant legs extend down fully to the knee area of the pad and the belly protection extends quite high to prevent gapping. The only things that I wasn’t impressed with were the inner thigh pads that did not fully extend around to the back of the leg and the thin floating belly pad. I would have liked to have seen a little more padding on the belly pad and had it stitched into the pant at the base.

On Ice Impressions:

Pads: My experience with the pads on ice both confirmed some of my concerns and pleasantly surprised me. Now first off, getting dressed is a whole new experience with all the straps on these pads. While this does offer an unparalleled opportunity to fine tune adjustment, it is also really a nuisance doing up all that strapping. On the ice I found that as expected the pads would butterfly effortlessly due to the offset toe however pad recovery was not simply difficult but impossible. There was absolutely no way to recover the pads to a flat front facing. They simply angled off at exactly the angle of the lace path of the pad binding over the skate. (see pix) No amount of coaxing could get the pads to face square to the shooter. Also, the square toe box caused my skates to momentarily lose contact with the ice when transitioning into a butterfly causing my leg to shoot out momentarily until the overdrives would allow me to regain control. It’s a split second motion but it’s unnerving and potentially bad for your groin. On the other hand I was surprised by how well the leg channel actually worked on ice. It didn’t feel sloppy at all, allowed for smooth rotation and really made the pads feel like a natural extension of your leg. I did notice that my legs felt hotter being strapped in so securely to the channel though. The only other concern I had was almost every time I recovered from a butterfly I noticed that the velcro on the knee lock had come undone and had to be reattached. I attribute this to the rather small diameter of the square patch of velcro used to adhere the knee lock. It probably should have been much larger like on my Vaughns.

Trapper: On ice the trapper was actually the biggest surprise of all for me. With it’s overly beefy palm I was concerned with “pop outs” and not being able to close the glove. It actually plays better on ice that you would presume off ice. While there is no way you will ever form a snap shut “pancake style” closure with this trapper it is just pliable enough to snare the puck and keep it in the pocket. The break is perfect, the pocket is perfect and the fact you can really strap this glove down is great. It’s actually quite comfortable and relatively easy to adjust to playing with. The only knock from my perspective is the fact it is NHL legal… … and I would have liked to have had easier access to the internal adjusting straps. The way it is set up now you have to undo the strap entirely to adjust the internal strapping, then try an pass the strap back through a small plastic ring to reseal the velcro. (see pix) No biggie off the ice when you are just playing with the glove but it really is a pain with a chest and arm protector on.

Blocker: The blocker plays on ice exactly as I would have imagined. The multi tapered blocker board is excellent for paddle down play and the rebound control is predictable. There is more than ample protection but the light weight is not sacrificed. This is possibly one of the lightest blockers on the market. The only real knock on the blocker is the palm. It looks sloppy on initial inspection and as it gets wet during game play it really feels sloppy. Two things I would have liked to have seen to improve the blocker would be 1) a tighter fitting palm more closer to a TPS/Sherwood style and 2) not for my benefit but for most others, longer fingers or possibly a choice between a “medium” and “large” palm when ordering. ie: One size to accommodate up to 14” glove hand and another to accommodate a 15” and over glove size. Just a thought…

Pants: I never experienced any problems with the pants while playing. They are actually quite comfortable right from the get go. Despite the light weight and appearance of sparse padding, I never felt any stingers during game play. I’d have to say they are quite protective. I like the simple overall design, the high quality materials used in the construction and the little extras like fully embroidered logos. The only thing I would change on the pants is the inner thigh pads. I would much prefer to see them extend to the back of the leg. They just end too soon which causes them to bunch up if you have your legs pressed together in a tight butterfly and leaves your inner thighs open for abuse if you are sprawling. Otherwise I wouldn’t change a thing… a really nice pant!

Conclusion/Ratings: And in keeping with ModSquad format… the rankings.

Pads

~ Fit 5/10

From the ankle up the pads are great, from the ankle down… a nightmare.

~ Protection 10/10

Ample protection, no vulnerable areas.

~ Weight 10/10

Very light weight.

~ Durability 10/10

All high quality materials.

~ Intangibles 5/10

The leg channel gets a little hot. Would have liked to have seen easier to replace leg and especially boot straps (they are all fully stitched in). The square and offset toe designs have both got to go. From a personal preference standpoint, I’d like a softer foam construction, they are a little rigid.

~ Overall rating 8/10

Trapper

~ Fit 10/10

Trapper fits great and has lots of adjustability.

~ Protection 10/10

AMPLE protection. Possibly to the point of a fault. You will never feel a stinger with this palm.

~ Weight 10/10

Extremely light weight.

~ Durability 10/10

All high quality materials.

~ Intangibles 6/10

Palm is too thick for my liking, I prefer a more positive “snap” closure.

Access to the inner straps is a little cumbersome.

~ Overall Rating 9/10

Blocker

~ Fit 6/10

Palm fit is sloppy.

~ Protection 10/10

Very protective, no gaps.

~ Weight 10/10

Extremely light weight.

~ Durability 10/10

All high quality materials.

~ Intangibles 5/10

If your hand is both short and wide, you will love this palm. If you have larger hands, it won’t fit properly.

~ Overall Rating 8/10

Pants

~ Fit 10/10

Fit is true to size and the pants are very mobile.

~ Protection 8/10

Very protective, though I would like to have seen a little more padding on the belly flap and longer inner thigh protection.

~ Weight 10/10

Extremely light weight.

~ Durability 10/10

All high quality materials.

~ Intangibles 10/10

I like that Warrior used fully embroidered logos. The pants look and feel durable like they will last a long time but are game ready right out of the box.

~ Overall Rating 9/10

Messiah Goalie Pad pix

more pics

Messiah glove pictures

Messiah Pants pictures

... sorry about the picture links. The board won't display over 10 images for some reason.