Bauer OD1N Project

[Law Goalie 147]

Don't forget Quik Blades! hahahah

I just noticed one extremely interesting and innovative thing about the pads: the vertical roll tapers away to almost nothing at the top of the pad. While seemingly odd, this is, I assure you, absolute genius. It eliminates, simply and smoothly, two major headaches of butterfly goalies. One is that you *don't* want to force midline rebounds down to the ice; you want them to skip up into your 'gut trap' just above the pads; a low midline rebound will not only be punished routinely by elite shooters, but they will actively shoot for it from distance (e.g. point-shots). The second is that eliminating the vertical roll means much freer play for the stick in the butterfly; instead of levering the stick aside when the vertical roll gets under the paddle, you can now hold the paddle flush to the face of the pad. For active-stick goalies, this is a ENORMOUS plus.

I also noticed in the closeups of the bodysuit that the segmented hexagonal padding looks eerily like McDavid's Hexpads, which I've long admired. Provided they don't run into any problem with that embodiment, they should have a winner in terms of protection, flexibility and breathability.

[DigiV 6]

Where did the $1 Million come from?

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=696777

Says they spent over a million. So it should be around that figure.

[Harv 86]

Wow. Pretty crazy stuff when you think about it.

Interesting to see if guys like this stuff so much that they are requesting it for normal league play when the Olypmics are over.

[wrangler 157]

LOL-- that's awesome.

I'm wondering if either of you has read The Languages of Pao by Jack Vance.

[DigiV 6]

Because the Canadian Press reported it, it must be true. Hmmmmmmmm

Carry on...

I'm confused. Are we having an argument? Is there some reason to doubt this round about number isn't accurate ? What's the controversy here

[Beleafer 14]

Kind of agree here the protective is definitely the most appealing to me too.

Even less likely to hit retail. It has to be customized to your body shape.. would cost a fortune.

[troy 12]

Fine, I'll be the first to say it: the holders look like a great stick/puck snare. Can't wait until someone gets the toe of their blade in Ovechkin's holder and inadvertently deliver a compound tib/fib fracture while Bauer slowly backs out of the room darting their eyes. But seriously. Also, kicking a bouncing puck will be much more difficult. I think five years from now this project will show its full usefulness.

[flip12 714]

Even if that were the case where the whole holder was replaceable, imagine the cost.

A retail pair of edge holders are around $70, steel around $55, where a clap-skate holder and blade pair can be around $300-350 for a better one. There's at least room for it at an elite level. It seems like it could be just like a carbon bike frame--apparently amazing to ride, but I don't think I'll ever buy one, because their durability is supposedly far below aluminum or steel and I wouldn't come close to getting the full benefit out of it over the other materials. Yet, professional teams would be killing their chance to compete if they didn't buy the less durable, higher performing frames.

LOL-- that's awesome.

Thanks :) was up doing late-night homework, so my mind was both fried and in or around that conceptual region.

Don't forget Quik Blades! hahahah

I just noticed one extremely interesting and innovative thing about the pads: the vertical roll tapers away to almost nothing at the top of the pad. While seemingly odd, this is, I assure you, absolute genius. It eliminates, simply and smoothly, two major headaches of butterfly goalies. One is that you *don't* want to force midline rebounds down to the ice; you want them to skip up into your 'gut trap' just above the pads; a low midline rebound will not only be punished routinely by elite shooters, but they will actively shoot for it from distance (e.g. point-shots). The second is that eliminating the vertical roll means much freer play for the stick in the butterfly; instead of levering the stick aside when the vertical roll gets under the paddle, you can now hold the paddle flush to the face of the pad. For active-stick goalies, this is a ENORMOUS plus.

I also noticed in the closeups of the bodysuit that the segmented hexagonal padding looks eerily like McDavid's Hexpads, which I've long admired. Provided they don't run into any problem with that embodiment, they should have a winner in terms of protection, flexibility and breathability.

My last thought when they were presenting the goalie equipment was, 'great, just what hockey needs, better goaltending and lower scoring.' What they did to pad weight reduction is freaky when you consider how much goaltending has improved along with technological improvements over the last 20-years. I kept thinking, this will make the 5-hole close that much quicker. As much as I'm intrigued by the holder, I think the goalie pad change is the most impressive.

I'm wondering if either of you has read The Languages of Pao by Jack Vance.

I haven't yet, but after looking it up, I want to pick it up as soon as possible.

[romdj 26]

The press kit says these new holder are the first carbon composite holders, but weren't the original Easton RazorBladz the first holders to use carbon composite?

T-Blades also have a carbon version that's still available today too..

Even less likely to hit retail. It has to be customized to your body shape.. would cost a fortune.

Considering It's stuff that could be heat molded (Curv material) and that you see in the market today shin pads (for soccer at least) that can be heat molded, this isn't that much science fiction.

VH uses 3d scanner for their high end custom skates...just saying..

A retail pair of edge holders are around $70, steel around $55, where a clap-skate holder and blade pair can be around $300-350 for a better one. There's at least room for it at an elite level. It seems like it could be just like a carbon bike frame--apparently amazing to ride, but I don't think I'll ever buy one, because their durability is supposedly far below aluminum or steel and I wouldn't come close to getting the full benefit out of it over the other materials. Yet, professional teams would be killing their chance to compete if they didn't buy the less durable, higher performing frames.

Definitely, we're probably going to see a hybrid of these holders and the lightspeed edges (removeable runner) in the future.

[markush 12]

Some good FAQ from Bauer:

http://www.bauer.com/blog/

[All Flash 49]

Wow...........

and I also now want to read the Jack Vance book The Languages of Pao.

[leonzhu 7]

Those holders are really ugly, and are probably dangerous for tripping. I also doubt it really is one piece with the sole, because there are just as many rivets as my LS edge!

That said, the idea of a one-piece outsole and holder combo is great for weight savings. Imagine LS edge, but 20% (ish) lighter. Hope this gets into the next revision of skates in 2015.

[BrondonZA 0]

did anyone notice the odd looking gloves on the player , during the conference ?

[laserrobottime 149]

Flip, that carbon bike frame argument has been debunked for years. A carbon fiber frame is stronger than all metal frames, especially at the tube junctions, and far lighter. The only issue is with failure: a carbon frame fails catastrophically without warning, where steel and aluminum show signs of fatigue/failure. Source: carbon engineer at Trek.

[DarkStar50 679]

Why wouldn't there be just as many rivets directly to the boot? Look at it closely, there is no outer sole.

[flip12 714]

Flip, that carbon bike frame argument has been debunked for years. A carbon fiber frame is stronger than all metal frames, especially at the tube junctions, and far lighter. The only issue is with failure: a carbon frame fails catastrophically without warning, where steel and aluminum show signs of fatigue/failure. Source: carbon engineer at Trek.

Good to know, thank you :)

[bunnyman666 445]

Flip, that carbon bike frame argument has been debunked for years. A carbon fiber frame is stronger than all metal frames, especially at the tube junctions, and far lighter. The only issue is with failure: a carbon frame fails catastrophically without warning, where steel and aluminum show signs of fatigue/failure. Source: carbon engineer at Trek.

I have a twenty five year old Trek carbon-tubed, aluminium lugs frame that has held up to the rigors of a high-calibre (cat2 USCF) season, as well as many years of high mile training and recreational use. I also have a Vitus from the same era- whippy as all get out, but still i. otherwise good shape. Unless we're speaking about UCI elite-level racers, where most carbon frames fail is in crashes. The right lay up of carbon fibre will outlast the metal components in a frame. I had to spec beefier metal areas in a frame I had designed because the dropouts failed in the testing of a super-stiff bike frame I had designed. I was trying to make a time trial frame for a track sprinter, and the dropouts AND the bottom bracket shell failed.

[laserrobottime 149]

Bike AND Hockey nerds: MY PEOPLE!

[Ghoose69 3]

Here's what Ken Campbell from the Hockey News had to say about the launch. Hard to measure product performance based on one player but so far it doesn't seem to have done anything for Lundqvist.

"Hockey equipment giant Bauer has done much the same thing with its new OD1N line of equipment for skaters and goalies. The company, which unveiled its new line today in Chicago, spent a million dollars to outfit six players – Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Claude Giroux, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Henrik Lundqvist – with the express purpose of making them lighter, faster and better.

Or as Craig Desjardins, general manager of ice hockey equipment for Bauer claims, “This equipment gives players a measurable scientific benefit on the ice.”

Well, we’re not exactly sure what means are being used to measure Lundqvist’s benefits. Before wearing the OD1N goal pads, Lundqvist had an 8-11-0 record with a 2.51 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. Since donning the pads for a Nov. 5 game against the Buffalo Sabres, Lundqvist has gone 2-3-1 with a 3.41 GAA and .878 save percentage."

[DarkStar50 679]

Shocker looked good in his standard canvas Converse.

Throw a Tuuk on those!

[JR Boucicaut 3799]

Shocker looked good in his standard canvas Converse.

Throw a Tuuk on those!

Haha, seriously, Shocker's always been a snappy dresser since the day I first met him 14 yrs ago. I said the same thing.

Shocker and Tim Pearson were my first Bauer contacts when I got in the business, and they're still around. Tim's son now plays for the LA Kings.

Fine, I'll be the first to say it: the holders look like a great stick/puck snare. Can't wait until someone gets the toe of their blade in Ovechkin's holder and inadvertently deliver a compound tib/fib fracture while Bauer slowly backs out of the room darting their eyes. But seriously. Also, kicking a bouncing puck will be much more difficult. I think five years from now this project will show its full usefulness.

They validated it. Don't you think that it would be common sense to think that through? I'm pretty sure they did.

did anyone notice the odd looking gloves on the player , during the conference ?

Bauer APX2 Pro

[Law Goalie 147]

Here's what Ken Campbell from the Hockey News had to say about the launch. Hard to measure product performance based on one player but so far it doesn't seem to have done anything for Lundqvist.

...

Or as Craig Desjardins, general manager of ice hockey equipment for Bauer claims, “This equipment gives players a measurable scientific benefit on the ice.”

Well, we’re not exactly sure what means are being used to measure Lundqvist’s benefits. Before wearing the OD1N goal pads, Lundqvist had an 8-11-0 record with a 2.51 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. Since donning the pads for a Nov. 5 game against the Buffalo Sabres, Lundqvist has gone 2-3-1 with a 3.41 GAA and .878 save percentage."

Specious reasoning on Campbell's part.

Not only is it deeply suspect to attribute a 5-game slump on a struggling defensive team not merely to the goalie but the goalie's *pads*, but even if you did force that attribution, Grant Fuhr's experience with the D&R Lasers, which were an even more significant drop in weight (moving from leather, duck cotton and deer hair to synthetic leathers, nylons and foams), would suggest that a dramatic decrease in weight and commensurate increase in mobility could seriously hurt a goalie's short-term performance. Fuhr reported moving so far past the play in his first few skates with the Lasers that he shelved them until he could adapt to them through a full training camp before he used anything like them in a game. (I think his first foam pads were actually Franklins, though D&R may have built them.) I can cite Fuhr's book if anyone cares. Barasso and Puppa, I recall, made similar statements when they first tried the Smith-built Aeroflex/Winlite designs (I'm slurring my brands a bit, but you know what I mean.)

It's always a mistake to confuse being groundlessly negative for being 'critical'; criticality means more than finding something negative to say in the interest of creating a facile appearance of 'balanced objectivity'.

[All Flash 49]

While I was off dreaming of mistletoes and OD1N skates,

I woke up to exhibition world Jr hockey. ( Canada vs Finland ) It got me to thinking...........

If the protective, goal pads, and skates are the 3 they chose to show.......what are the products they chose not to show that they also dreamed up?

[laserrobottime 149]

Here's what Ken Campbell from the Hockey News had to say about the launch. Hard to measure product performance based on one player but so far it doesn't seem to have done anything for Lundqvist.

"Hockey equipment giant Bauer has done much the same thing with its new OD1N line of equipment for skaters and goalies. The company, which unveiled its new line today in Chicago, spent a million dollars to outfit six players – Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Claude Giroux, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Henrik Lundqvist – with the express purpose of making them lighter, faster and better.

Or as Craig Desjardins, general manager of ice hockey equipment for Bauer claims, “This equipment gives players a measurable scientific benefit on the ice.”

Well, we’re not exactly sure what means are being used to measure Lundqvist’s benefits. Before wearing the OD1N goal pads, Lundqvist had an 8-11-0 record with a 2.51 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. Since donning the pads for a Nov. 5 game against the Buffalo Sabres, Lundqvist has gone 2-3-1 with a 3.41 GAA and .878 save percentage."

This is the same marketing spin that cycling manufacturers have been using for years. Nobody realistically expects that the new Specialized Shiv or Zip 404 dimpling will save 3.7 seconds or 56 watts over the course of a time trial, but that's what the controlled, scientific data suggests. It's a way to market the product using science -- pure and simple. Anybody who shaves their legs and wears spandex shorts is accustomed to this kind of wool over the eyes, but it's still interesting to see how hockey people react to it.

[wrangler 157]

My last thought when they were presenting the goalie equipment was, 'great, just what hockey needs, better goaltending and lower scoring.' What they did to pad weight reduction is freaky when you consider how much goaltending has improved along with technological improvements over the last 20-years. I kept thinking, this will make the 5-hole close that much quicker. As much as I'm intrigued by the holder, I think the goalie pad change is the most impressive.

I haven't yet, but after looking it up, I want to pick it up as soon as possible.

And if the 5 hole is closing that much quicker, more shots may be aimed elsewhere. That could possibly mean more scoring, due to fewer instances of the goalie trick of showing the 5 hole to draw the shot there, then taking it away in time to stop the shot. It would be interesting to see how that would work out.

Wow...........

and I also now want to read the Jack Vance book The Languages of Pao.

I hope you guys make some comments in the book thread.