CCM CL Shin Pads

[JR Boucicaut 3802]

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[IniNew 53]

Product Details

• CCM CL (2013) Shin Pads
• Size is 15”
• Gallery

My Details

• Height: 6’ tall (6’1” on a good day)
• Weight: 192 lbs
• Position: Defense majority of time. Wing the minority.

History

I have only gone through two sets of shin guards in the last 4 years of playing. The first pair was CCM V04’s from 2010 bought on clearance. I still use these shin pads when I referee, though the kneecap has been busted for awhile from blocking a shot. I use duct tape to repair it every so often to make sure it is holding up. This speaks well for the durability of CCM’s old product -- something I will be comparing this line with. The other pair were Easton ST16’s, which I will be replacing with these brand new CCM CL (2013).

Playing Style

I spend most of my playing time on Defense, with the odd chance to play Winger. I am a physical D-Man in front of the net and I thoroughly enjoy joining the rush at any opportunity. I do not have much of a slapshot, and as a result, will typically skate the puck further down into the zone when I get a pass on the blue line. This can lead to all kinds of sticks whacking in the shin and skate area. I do not typically like to block shots. I won't lie down in front of one unless I think it will go over me. However, when a situation occurs that I won’t be able to get out of the way fast enough, my main strategy is to get as close to the shooter as possible to insure that the puck hits my shin pads. This means they take some damage -- it is the way my other pair of CCM shins busted, taking a shot directly off the cap.

Features

• Shin guard is vented in both the kneecaps and the body of the pad -- though the red fabric that is over the vents seem too thick to let air through.
• The liner is removable in the shin area by means of a single velcro strip down the middle. This is an upgrade over my previous CCM pads that had two strips that were very difficult to get lined up properly.
• Calf wrap is made of the same U-Foam that the CL shoulder pads use for the majority of the pad. This stuff is light, and bends well.
• Strapping is the standard CCM straps, with one strap on the inside that crosses over the knee bend and down to the calf area, and another strap that attaches at two separate points on the outside of the calf and at the knee bend that velcros opposite of the first strap

First Impressions

“Slick looking pad.” were the first words out of my mouth after unboxing. Shin guards obviously don’t get seen when playing, so looks are not of the utmost importance. They followed the rest of the Crazy Light line with the red and black color scheme. After unpacking them, I notice that the leg opening seemed very wide. This was not worrisome to me, as I like for my shin guards to fit deep. They are also, go figure, crazy light, weighing in at 543 grams each (according to my kitchen scale -- CCM has labeled them as 545g). Feeling the inside of this shinguard is rather impressive.

All of the liner has a nice cool touch to it -- similar to that of putting on an Under Armour shirt. Everything is incredibly soft and comfortable. As I stated above, the liner is actually separated into two different sections. The area that covers the knee, and the area that covers the shin. The piece over the shin is indeed removable. However, the piece covering the knee is not -- you can remove two velcro strips from the top of the cap, but it was stitched at the bottom, preventing you from taking it out. I am not particularly worried about removing the liner and washing them. My old CCM had a fully removable liner which I did wash occasionally, but the Easton ST16s did not.

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The straps seem a bit short, and tight on my calves. I am not sure I am going to get the full wrap, all the way around the calves like I do my ST16’s. This is a bit worrisome because I do have brain farts every once in awhile and begin to turn sideways when a shot is coming my way. I am going to attempt to push my leg far into the pad during the first skate, to get as much wrap as possible, when I do get a chance to skate in them this weekend. A benefit of the straps being so short, however, is they are nice and tight to the leg. I cannot stand having a lose shin pad, and go through plenty of tape attempting to get them to stay in place.

The final downside I have noticed is the thigh guard. I am a bit spoiled by the Easton pad in that regard as the ST16’s had a guard that was adjustable -- I was able to situate it so that it was not showing at all. I also cut the thigh pad off my original CCM pads. I will be skating with this one right where it is at -- may adjust later depending on the feeling with my girdle.

I will be skating twice tomorrow with a hefty 5 hour break between the two. I will be able to review the drying capabilities of the U-Foam and the Liner. Look for an update on Sunday morning.

[IniNew 53]

As of last night, I got two games under my belt with the shin guards.

The lightness does not really transfer to the ice, in my opinion. Your legs are typically the most powerful muscles in your body. As a result it doesn't make since to really "feel" the lightness of the pads. They may still have an effect.

As I expected, the wrap is not nearly as protective as my old Easton pads. The Eastons had a piece of molded/softish plastic that the strap held all the way around your calves. These do not. Here is a photo of the wrap.

The larger of the two wraps (on the right) is on the outside of the pad. This is a good thing, I actually took a shot off this flap and felt some minor pain. It was honestly less painful than I thought it would be with the little protection back there. The U-Foam did a good job of dissipating the impact.. The "wings" that protect the bend of the knee are a bit awkward and large. Socks, of course, hold them down so it is not much of an issue.

The strap system works very well in game. I decided not to use tape the 2nd game of the night, because they were held in place so well. I suspect they will stretch out over time, but we'll see. As of now, I'm rather impressed with them.

Drying wise, the shin guards were the first piece of gear to dry completely. After my first game I laid all of the gear out, and checked it in 15-20 minute intervals. The shin guards were completely dried in 50 minutes. My elbow pads, for comparison, were still wet 3 hours later when I put them back on for the 2nd game.

Over all, I am rather impressed with the initial offerings. Durability will be on the top of my list of things to watch now.

[IniNew 53]

Two more games under my belt over the last three days.

The foam that makes up the areas touching your knee and shin (the removable part) is very interesting. I can't decided if I like it or not. The reason being, when I get the pad in place, and a bit of skating it feels like the pad "sticks". I have to pull the pad out, and up to move it out of the way if I want to tighten my skate laces. The pros of this are obviously the pad staying in place very well. I've experienced 0-movement of the shin pad once I pull my socks up. The downsides, on the other hand, is not being able to move the pad when I need to adjust. I am leaning towards it being a "pro" of the pad.

A few concerns developing with the pads.

Firstly, as you can see in the photos in my previous post, I don't wear a base layer that covers my legs. You can also see that the straps on the pads, come into direct contact with the skin with the way they were attached. On my old Easton ST16 shins, the straps that went around the upper part of the calf were removed almost immediately, leaving just the thick, cotton like strap along the lower calf, that was also protected by the padded wrap in the back. Because there is nothing between my leg, and the straps on these CL's, I can feel a bit of irritation from the straps rubbing. The straps are very, very secure -- to the point where the only reason I use tape is habit, so you can imagine the rubbing that occurs.

2nd aspect of the fit, they're not nearly as deep as I anticipated. The pads fit rather shallow, and have a more extreme taper than I'm used to at the bottom of the pad.

There also appears to be some physical wear on the caps of the pads already. I'll take photos when I arrive back at home, but it appears I fell, moved to my knees while sliding in anticipation to get back up, and it "rubbed" some of the pad. Hard to describe accurately.

Pending the durability of the caps, this pad is rather average. There are some promising features in the foams, but outside of that--nothing remarkable.