Skate Help

[tamtamg 12]

So a little background on me, I have really wide feet (6.5EEEE/B on both). There are literally no retail skates that fit my feet. About a year back, I decided to try playing in net, but did not want to pay to have custom skates made for something I may not stick with. So my solution was to take my old custom x60 goalie skates and slap some goalie cowlings on them.

For the most part, they have performed admirably, but they're now starting to fall apart. I skated out in them for two years before retiring them for the first time. Unfortunately, the sides of the skates have given out and provide virtually no lateral support.

My question is; what should I do for my next set of skates? Should I go with a pair of custom Bauer Pros, or stick with what I know and convert my APX player skates when I retire them? What are the advantages of having actual goalie skates? I'm guessing they are cut differently, but how does that affect what I am currently used to skating in? Any advice would be much appreciated.

[bruins4777 1]

Try out the Bauer Pro's. I could be mistaken but I'm fairly sure the fit of the Pro's is similar to that of the APX.

If you end up going the custom route I believe that costs 800 to 1000 dollars or something? But they offer a wealth of pretty cool options like black cowlings, one60 cowling, different tounges, reinforced eyelets, and a stiff rating that can go significantly higher than stock.

As far as advantages of actual goalie skates, the difference from the work you've done here is just in the ankle cut and the "flex heel" a lot offer. But since you cut the heel off already here it doesn't get that much lower. Most goalie skates won't be nearly as stiff as your current APX's or these X60's were once upon a time. That said the stock pro's were pretty stiff in my opinion. In all honesty, I don't think actual goalie skates will be significantly different from your boots here since you already did the major transition with the cowling and blade.

[Law Goalie 147]

If the new Bauer goalie skate line fits anything like one of their player boots, that would be (to my knowledge) a first. That material construction is similar, but I'm pretty sure the last for all the Bauer goalie boots is A) the same across the entire line, and B) the usual attempt at a 'universal' fit, rather than a 'Supreme' (deep) or 'Vapor' (shallow) fit, or, god forbid, a 'Flexlite' (bananas): it's one last fits all for goalies.

I have asked Bauer in the past, and they will do custom player boots in cowlings, with or without tendon guard; I think the only thing you wouldn't be able to get are the black Tuuk cowlings, which I believe are now pro-only. I believe they can even build the backstay/collar to incorporate the elements from the goalie line, rather than just building the player boot as usual but without a tendon guard.

That said, there is effectively no difference between modern player and goalie boots. The new Bauer line is built (in terms of materials and construction) exactly like the APX player line.

A word generally on goalie skates and Achilles design... It seems to me that the only movements in which a modern goalie would encounter resistance from a full player-style tendon guard (ie. by extending the heel far outside the shoulder) are a full-on, hyper-extended 1930s-style skate-save, a massively unbalanced, technically disastrous T-push, and in an attempt to recovered from a seated position straight back into a stance, like Marty's doing here:

You can't see his right foot, but his calf would be extended significantly back behind his heel in this position. All of these positions, however, are relatively rare, only the first and last are helpful, and only the last could limit a goalie's movement substantially. Even then, it is totally possible to do this sort of recovery from a seated or supine position (pushing up with the glove and vaulting to your feet) with a high, stiff tendon guard: you just need to reach forward toward the ice with the stick, rather than waving it around as seen above, and being a little more explosive. (Most of the awkwardness above is due to the fact that Brodeur is not only recovering to his feet, but moving laterally and squaring up to a puck below the circles.)

So why do companies keep this traditional Achilles design? Because it helps them to differentiate, and because (more importantly) every element of traditional design they keep in a skate allows them one new or radical element, by and large. The One100 was a VERY staid design in most respects, and its unusual cowling *still* threw people off.

Basically, my advice, given that you've already mastered the process of mating cowlings and boots, is to find the boot that fits best and mate it to a pair of cowlings you like. Definitely check out the new Graf 7500 cowlings: they're a very interesting move toward the acute attack-angle design principles of the Bauer Vertexx and RBK/CCM Customlite.