Starting in Goal as an Adult

[IPv6Freely 2092]

1 hour ago, tedpenguins said:

My pads have been delivered!  I should have pictures on at around 3ish tomorrow once I get home. Can't wait to see them let alone try them out. I'm gonna have to see about some drop in over the weekend.

Looking forward to seeing them! Make sure you pose in them "awkward Scott darling" style! 

[tedpenguins 93]

Here they are! I'm not quite sure how they got white/black/black because they look like the white/white/black to me but they still look awesome and I'm happy with them.  I added the rest of my gear into the pick too. My blocker is a Reebok 28 and the glove is a CCM extreme flex 400. The helmet is a bauer 940 custom painted to look like Fleury's from the stadium series a few years ago. I can already tell I'm probably going to be taking the thigh risers off of the pad just because they like to get caught on my pants but everything else works awesome!

Edited March 17, 2016 by tedpenguins

[IPv6Freely 2092]

2 hours ago, tedpenguins said:

 

Here they are! I'm not quite sure how they got white/black/black because they look like the white/white/black to me but they still look awesome and I'm happy with them.  I added the rest of my gear into the pick too. My blocker is a Reebok 28 and the glove is a CCM extreme flex 400. The helmet is a bauer 940 custom painted to look like Fleury's from the stadium series a few years ago. I can already tell I'm probably going to be taking the thigh risers off of the pad just because they like to get caught on my pants but everything else works awesome!

Awesome! You just need some black pad wrap on that blocker! ;) 

 

And yea... the thigh boards are kind of a dead tech these days. Pretty pointless. What knee pads do you wear?

[tedpenguins 93]

The blocker definitely needs some black on it. I'm gonna try out some duct tape first and see how well that holds up first then I think I'll check out the pad wraps.

 

I've got Vaughn LT80 knee pads and I'm actually really impressed with them. I wasn't expecting a whole lot out of them since they were the cheapest on the market but they've been phenomenal so far. I had a bit of a problem with some of the velcro straps rubbing against my legs weird but a pair of knee compression sleeves took care of that. The thigh boards just seem like dead weight and I'm surprised no company has really done anything with them yet. They just take up space and seem to agitate pretty much everyone.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Noooooo don't use duct tape! You can buy pad wrap in strips that are much cheaper than a full sheet. Since you're only doing a bit, it's probably the way to go! 

[tedpenguins 93]

I'll definitely have to check those out then! I was under the impression that they only sold them in the sheets.

[bunnyman666 445]

@tedpenguins My two cents worth on the thigh boards and Padskinz-

 

1) yes, those thigh boards are pretty silly, but save them as you now have extra padding to use in something else and an extra set of quick release closures (if so equipped). You will find that your CA gets more mods than any other piece of equipment. 

 

2) The sheets are the only way to fly if you're going to try and follow the lines in black on the graphic portions on your blocker. Besides, I cover the nose of my blocker with Padskins to prevent wear when playing paddle-down and if some waterhead ploughs into you and cuts your pads with their skates, you can patch the cut after you beat the crap out of the said aggressor. I always keep black and white Padskinz material around for the purposes I wrote about more than changing graphics.

 

Good looking set you have. Well done!

[tedpenguins 93]

Thank you! After looking at the padskinz online I'm probably going to pick some up. I was really anticipating a higher price tag on them but you can't beat $20 for a small amount to just try it out. I've been thinking of doing some minor adjustments to my pads already. My first set of pads were actually the Reebok X-Pulses so they do have a lot of protection and the leg channels were super comfortable. I might stitch some velcro into the leg channel of my new pads and just take the removable liner out of the X-Pulses to put into the X24's. I'm gonna head to drop in on Sunday before I do this so I know what the pad feels like without them, but I'm still not 100% sure if I'll do it or not. If it's not a huge difference in feel then I probably won't just to save the extra room in the leg channel and to keep the pad lighter. I'm not quite sure how much the different types of padding in the pads has changed throughout the years so I have no clue how a higher end pad from a while ago will compare to a newer, low end pad. I'm expecting a noticeable difference between the two but the X-Pulses had a good amount of use on them so the padding was probably broken down to about the amount the X24's have. We'll find out later this weekend I guess! 

[tedpenguins 93]

I've also been working on breaking in my glove but I haven't been making much progress. I've boiled water and put the glove over the pot so the steam could get up into the foams and loosen them up a bit. That helped a bit but I'm still struggling to close the glove all the way. Any tips or ideas of what to do? I've also been using the good old-fashioned "sit on the couch with the glove on and open and close it until it starts breaking in".

[bunnyman666 445]

38 minutes ago, tedpenguins said:

I've also been working on breaking in my glove but I haven't been making much progress. I've boiled water and put the glove over the pot so the steam could get up into the foams and loosen them up a bit. That helped a bit but I'm still struggling to close the glove all the way. Any tips or ideas of what to do? I've also been using the good old-fashioned "sit on the couch with the glove on and open and close it until it starts breaking in".

 

Send the glove to Factory Mad, pay a bit of money, get it back within a week or so, admire your better closing glove. 

 

I tried the Keeps33 method (search the net), but it never worked for me. I threw my glove in the oven, put a garment steamer all over and got bupkis. I only got relief by having it re-worked. Mind that it was a Warrior Messiah, which was a claw.

Edited March 18, 2016 by bunnyman666
added a couple things

[bunnyman666 445]

22 hours ago, tedpenguins said:

Thank you! After looking at the padskinz online I'm probably going to pick some up. I was really anticipating a higher price tag on them but you can't beat $20 for a small amount to just try it out. I've been thinking of doing some minor adjustments to my pads already. My first set of pads were actually the Reebok X-Pulses so they do have a lot of protection and the leg channels were super comfortable. I might stitch some velcro into the leg channel of my new pads and just take the removable liner out of the X-Pulses to put into the X24's. I'm gonna head to drop in on Sunday before I do this so I know what the pad feels like without them, but I'm still not 100% sure if I'll do it or not. If it's not a huge difference in feel then I probably won't just to save the extra room in the leg channel and to keep the pad lighter. I'm not quite sure how much the different types of padding in the pads has changed throughout the years so I have no clue how a higher end pad from a while ago will compare to a newer, low end pad. I'm expecting a noticeable difference between the two but the X-Pulses had a good amount of use on them so the padding was probably broken down to about the amount the X24's have. We'll find out later this weekend I guess! 

 

There is much debate about whether or not the differences in pro vs. senior, senior vs. bottom-end, smu, special runs exclusive to certain stores, etc., etc. is labour (North American vs. Asian) or the just quality of materials or both.  I think the X24 is the top-line senior, so my guess is that the padding is not that much different from a top end pad from a few years back. Brian's claims their top end senior pad has 85% of the same materials found in their top end pro offering. 

 

Knowing what I know about manufacturing, foam is the cheapest part of a pad. Of course when you are trying to meet a certain price point, everything gets dumbed down. The Jenpro-like material will be thinner, high end specialty foams will not be included (especially if it has a name that must be advertised, therefore paying the manufacturer to use the name in addition to the product), straps will be flimsier, etc., etc.  

 

I don't think you have anything to worry about with your pads, as I am wearing used senior Vaughn pads (7470 V5) and they feel pretty much like a new set. I haven't felt shots in mine, and I've played in these 1-3 times per week since November in intense shinny (scrimmages, in reality). It's not like you have Bauer Reactor 2000, which are DEFINITELY a low-end pad (I have a set).

 

Many goalies I know wish for the simpler leg channels of senior pads when they buy pro and often strip them down to what a senior pad looks like in the leg channel! You may figure out how much you love the senior style leg channel!

 

Now, the only pad I would play in roller would be a low-end senior pad, as they are light weight AND relatively painless to drag across concrete (to a degree). I will be putting slick tape on my Reactor 2000 pads and try some roller hockey. I would only use them on ice in an emergency basis, as just getting my moves down in these broke them down quickly, as well as degrading the toe trims, though I hear this is a common problem with the Jenpro-like material used as toe trims on the Reactor line (save for the pro line).

[badger_14 601]

A few surprises: one, we got to play on the big rink today (the two rinks are side by side, and the smaller has been converted now to turf for the summer) - and got extra time as well, so couple of hours instead of just one.  Didn't feel too badly by the end, surprisingly.  Was getting a bit slower in reaction time.  Adjusted well to the angles and tracking the puck.  I had bought a second pair of "backup" glasses (now primary) and paid extra for super-thin fancy polycarbonate lenses and feel much less "lopsided" off the ice, and it's been easier to adjust to being without them now that the prescription is accurate and I don't have a coke bottle on one eye.   Anyway - there was the big rink, and I tried out my new jersey and was not struck down by the hockey gods for hubris.

 

 

I also found after last Saturday night a nick on the landing gear (inside fabric, not the outer leather) of my right pad, which is perplexing, because I wouldn't have stepped on my own pads, and the angle is wrong for anyone stepping on them on ice, but it looks as if they were sliced by a skate.  Maybe someone stepped on them while I was dressing?  It doesn't affect the play at all, and the rigid internal material is fine, but I should probably sew it back up.

 

I had to get my skates sharpened on Tuesday, after going to stick-and-puck and realizing oh man, these are absolutely shot after Saturday night.  Could not for the life of me recall what hollow it was - the sharpener looked at it and said usually goalies get 5/8", but said that these looked like they'd been done at 3/4".  I went with 3/4" and it worked just fine today.  I think I'm just still heavy enough that a shallower hollow isn't a problem.

 

All in all a pretty solid game - I had a shutout going for like 45 minutes, while my poor colleague across the ice got smoked, but it evened out after the first hour.  I felt comfortable and moved well.  Butterfly slides are slowly improving and becoming a reasonable part of the repertoire. 

[tedpenguins 93]

Drop in with the new pads was phenomenal. I ended up being with the normal drop in group which had a total of 3 goalies for about 15 minutes when another group came over and asked if one of us would like to head over to the rink they were on. I headed over to find out that I was going to be the only goalie over there. All the extra ice time was nice but I was starting to feel it after the first 15 minutes with that group. Ended up switching nets every 15 minutes and had a whole 45 minutes in net.

 

The pads themselves were awesome. I could easily kick the rebounds into the corners and the 5 hole wasn't a problem at all. One puck ended up squeezing through after I had stopped it but that was just because I wasn't expecting someone to come whacking at me for a rebound. Had a few go in that I probably should have stopped but I was pretty pleased considering it was only my third time in net and I was adjusting to new pads.

 

Stopped a few break aways and I was really surprised on the one save. Their winger came into the zone all alone and got me to go down. I stuck out my leg just hoping that I would get a piece of it and I ended up getting every bit of it! Hopefully this next weekend I'll get another chance to play in net with my actual team. I'm not the full time goalie but we do have one early game out of the two this weekend, so I'll just have to wait and see if our goalie can get out of work on time to get to the rink.

[bunnyman666 445]

1 hour ago, tedpenguins said:

Drop in with the new pads was phenomenal. I ended up being with the normal drop in group which had a total of 3 goalies for about 15 minutes when another group came over and asked if one of us would like to head over to the rink they were on. I headed over to find out that I was going to be the only goalie over there. All the extra ice time was nice but I was starting to feel it after the first 15 minutes with that group. Ended up switching nets every 15 minutes and had a whole 45 minutes in net.

 

The pads themselves were awesome. I could easily kick the rebounds into the corners and the 5 hole wasn't a problem at all. One puck ended up squeezing through after I had stopped it but that was just because I wasn't expecting someone to come whacking at me for a rebound. Had a few go in that I probably should have stopped but I was pretty pleased considering it was only my third time in net and I was adjusting to new pads.

 

Stopped a few break aways and I was really surprised on the one save. Their winger came into the zone all alone and got me to go down. I stuck out my leg just hoping that I would get a piece of it and I ended up getting every bit of it! Hopefully this next weekend I'll get another chance to play in net with my actual team. I'm not the full time goalie but we do have one early game out of the two this weekend, so I'll just have to wait and see if our goalie can get out of work on time to get to the rink.

 

Good onya!

 

Now having done this stuff for nearly a year, I can relate to where you are now. I still call myself a neophyte in net, and will for quite some time. But it sounds like you have a few basics down already.

 

You probably won't fit that liner from those other pads in, right? I'm telling you that a fair few experienced goalies like the uncluttered leg channels of senior pads.

[tedpenguins 93]

I probably won't at this point. Just having the landing pad in the right spot now made a huge difference. I didn't end up feeling anything when I would drop down and I've got no bruises so that's always a plus!

[beedee 227]

On Wednesday night I received an email stating I was selected to play in the 2016 Lakewood Ice Adult League All-Star game, I was pretty jazzed! Each team in Rookie and Copper was to select 2 players to represent their respective teams, and the league would choose the goalies. I was selected out of 20 teams! The league selected 4 goalies, two for each team. I was there representing my Copper team!

Here is the flyer:

The other goalie for our team never showed up, so I was playing the entire game. No biggie, although I was looking forward to just playing half of it and competing in the breakaway skills competition. The other team had two goalies, and they each played 1.5 periods, and also split the breakaway skills competition. The game had a pretty fast pace, as it mixed all of the Copper levels and there were clearly a handful of sandbaggers that should be playing in the Gold division, how they aren't is beyond me, then again, nothing surprises me with this place (or most leagues for that matter). Anyhow, I had a shutout in the first period, and we were up 4-0 after 1. I gave up 3 in the second period, the first one was whacked out of the air by the ringer, I deflected a pass from the corner that was coming to the slot with my paddle, it went up in the air about 2 feet and as it was coming down, he took a backhand swing and it went in, I have video of this and will upload later. The second goal was a great top corner snipe through a screen, couldn't see it at all, third goal was a nice back-hander top glove by the ringer. I gave up for in the 3rd, our defense was non-existent, even my dad texted me after the game saying that I should thank them (sarcasm) for allowing the other team back in the game. It really was nuts of how bad they got. Two of the goals were on me, one short side goal, and a bad top corner over my left shoulder as I was in reverse VH on the left post. There wasn't much room at all, so I suppose it was a great shot? We ended up winning 10-7, and I won the goalie portion of the shootout competition, only allowing 2 goals on 12 attempts. Each skater had 3 attempts in rapid succession, basically skating in the first puck from the blue line, taking a shot then hustling back to the blue line to get the next puck, shot, then repeat. I was getting pretty gassed as it was non-stop, and again I was the only goalie for our team.

All in all it was a lot of fun, I really dig the faster paced game. As seen on the flyer, they did do player introductions, a national anthem and we had some bomb post-game bbq catered. I was given a signed John Gibson Ducks puck, and a nice The Rinks pint glass for winning the goalie portion of the shootout competition.

Here are a couple pix of the locker room. It was cool, they had our jerseys hanging with a hat from Teemu's brand, "Aufeis", and "name-plates". They also had a big bucket full of waters and beers for us in the middle.

I didn't play in our regular beer league game on Saturday as we were in Big Bear, but I saw the scoresheet and we lost, 5-2.

 

Video of the mid-air puck whack goal. (not sure how to embed youtube on here)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7E4qesB3oY&feature=youtu.be

Edited March 21, 2016 by beedee

[IPv6Freely 2092]

22 hours ago, bunnyman666 said:

 

You probably won't fit that liner from those other pads in, right? I'm telling you that a fair few experienced goalies like the uncluttered leg channels of senior pads.

I like my leg channel as tight as possible. But I also wear Brian's... lol 

[badger_14 601]

You guys in California are so fancy with your adult leagues.  Some days, we're lucky if there are even working water fountains! 

 

But seriously BD, that's wicked nifty.  Congratulations. 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Won 3-2. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. Couldn't seem to hang on to anything, directly leading to their second goal. Not a great night at all from me. Luckily the team bailed me out and we hung on. 
 

 

[stitchy 1]

Bitch move by #89 at 4:14. You barely touched him haha...

[bunnyman666 445]

On March 21, 2016 at 0:04 PM, OptimusReim said:

I like my leg channel as tight as possible. But I also wear Brian's... lol 

 

I can't remember how much stuff is in a Brian's leg channel. Is there a lot in there? 

[IPv6Freely 2092]

1 hour ago, bunnyman666 said:

 

I can't remember how much stuff is in a Brian's leg channel. Is there a lot in there? 

These aren't what I have but all Brian's are pretty similar: http://goalie.totalhockey.com/support.aspx?pg_id=7004

[IPv6Freely 2092]

What a disaster. What you DON'T see in this video is the countless times there were 2-on-1s that DIDN'T result in saves or goals. I'd definitely had enough by the end. I don't think I've ever got changed and out the door so fast in all the time I've been playing goal. I think it's time to take a break from pickups. 

 

[beedee 227]

wow, gotta love the guy that winds up a full blown clapper from the middle of the face-off circle in PICK-UP! (at 5:03)

Edited March 24, 2016 by beedee

[IPv6Freely 2092]

34 minutes ago, beedee said:

wow, gotta love the guy that winds up a full blown clapper from the middle of the face-off circle in PICK-UP! (at 5:03)

Honestly had no problem with that. It's an easy save, especially since he got nothing on it. It was only half a windup anyway.

 

I had much more of an issue with the complete lack of defence. I know most will say not to expect D in pickup, but this is a very different type of pickup. USUALLY it's played very much like a game where the D is pretty good. These guys have all played together for literally decades. This particular night though everyone just kept disappearing. Notice at 4:40 the guy who takes the puck out of the net and goes end to end? Yea, he's a D-man. 

 

By the end I'd just had enough of it all. If the guys in front of me aren't going to bother trying, why should I? I've never gotten dressed and left so fast after a pickup before. Absolutely fuming. "You stopped going down, were you hurt?" No, I just stopped caring. 

 

I'm on the road again next week so I won't be playing. That's probably a good thing as I think I need a break. Going back to playing 3 times a week again was probably a bad idea.