Starting in Goal as an Adult

[IPv6Freely 2087]

That blows, big time. Sorry to hear :(

[bunnyman666 445]

@magnets That BLOWS!!!!! Sorry to read that, matey! Hopefully, some solution can be had where you can still play.

[badger_14 601]

Magnets, that sucks, I'm so sorry to hear that.   I hope something can be done. 

[magnets 98]

Thanks for the sympathy guys.

The group that are building the new rink have announced that they're investigating options for a temporary rink, so all hope is not completely lost.  I've got a seat at the next association board meeting where they will be talking about their options, so hopefully some good news might come from it.

The A and B Grade league was supposed to start this weekend, and the national league starts early next month, so hopefully something comes out of it...

[IPv6Freely 2087]

I had one of the best pickup games I've ever had on Tuesday. Unfortunately, my camera battery was dead so I didn't get any footage. Really sucks.

No goals in the first hour, and only a couple the entire time. Made a ton of saves, and was very busy, unlike last week. I'm really kicking myself for not charging my gopro :(

I also learned how protective my maltese collar is, unfortunately. I'm 100% sure it saved me a trip to the hospital, that's for sure. It was a shot in close, going up high. Normally I'd have my chin tucked on anything close like that, but since the shot was high I kind of lifted my entire body up hoping to get it in the chest instead of in the face, and it ended up just going in between. Oops. Would have been better off taking it off the mask, but oh well. 

[tedpenguins 93]

My team must have really thought I played pretty well last week cause they gave me the start again last night. We ended up winning 7-2 and I thought my positioning had already improved drastically from last week. The other team brought in  a ringer and he ended up beating me on the last goal. He managed to sneak it in 5-hole and the first one ended up doing the same. I had bought my leg pads used and they are about 2-3 inches too short so my 5-hole doesn't get completely covered. Now that I know that I enjoy playing in net I'm gonna start putting together some money to buy a pair of leg pads that actually fit me perfectly. I wanna try and stay at around $500 or less but if there's a pad that is only a bit more and has outstanding reviews I would definitely consider them. Based off of that does anyone have some recommendations? All my other gear I got for good deals and it's all decent stuff but the leg pad problem needs to get fixed. 

[IPv6Freely 2087]

29 minutes ago, tedpenguins said:

My team must have really thought I played pretty well last week cause they gave me the start again last night. We ended up winning 7-2 and I thought my positioning had already improved drastically from last week. The other team brought in  a ringer and he ended up beating me on the last goal. He managed to sneak it in 5-hole and the first one ended up doing the same. I had bought my leg pads used and they are about 2-3 inches too short so my 5-hole doesn't get completely covered. Now that I know that I enjoy playing in net I'm gonna start putting together some money to buy a pair of leg pads that actually fit me perfectly. I wanna try and stay at around $500 or less but if there's a pad that is only a bit more and has outstanding reviews I would definitely consider them. Based off of that does anyone have some recommendations? All my other gear I got for good deals and it's all decent stuff but the leg pad problem needs to get fixed. 

A slightly used set of Brian's senior pads (subzero 6.0 or GNetik 5.0) would be ideal in that price range!

What size do you wear?

Edit: $599 CAD! https://www.thegoaliecrease.com/display_product.asp?product_id=3660

 

[tedpenguins 93]

Dang thats one heck of a deal! I can fit between a 32 and a 33 just depending on brand of course. I've never actually tried on a set of Brian's. How do they compare with the other pads on the market?

[tedpenguins 93]

http://goalie.totalhockey.com/product/Reebok_Premier_X24_Goalie_Leg_Pads_%5bSENIOR%5d/itm/15612-41/

 

I might go check these out later today or tomorrow. I like the way that the Reeboks I have right now fit and I think I would like them twice as much if I had a pair that actually fit. I'll check out a pair of Brian's, Vaughn's, and Bauer's while I'm there though. 

[badger_14 601]

Didn't feel too great this morning and the both of us (goalies) got shelled again.  Also, the Screaming Man managed to sign himself up again!  He was on his best behavior, and skating out, but I was not (and several of my teammates were not) happy with this.  I don't care if he's on my side for the day or not.   

 

Made some good saves, though.  One I caught between my knees and sort of sat back and went into tetris mode to protect it, and the other guy kept jabbing at me, and I jabbed back at him, and Misha had to pry him off me.  And they were playing on the same side!  Things got wicked intense the last 10 minutes or so - the pace quickened considerably.  I did make the last stop of the game right at the horn, though. 

 

In a half-hour, I return to the rink for tournament team tryouts.  For two hours.  Because, of course, the best plan of action for a Saturday is to play and practice hockey for three hours.

 

(Next week is Spring Break for the school down the street, and the rink is having extra stick time hours, and I can make 3 of 5 if I so choose.) 

[IPv6Freely 2087]

3 hours ago, tedpenguins said:

Dang thats one heck of a deal! I can fit between a 32 and a 33 just depending on brand of course. I've never actually tried on a set of Brian's. How do they compare with the other pads on the market?

Brian's will be far better made than pretty much anything at the same price point, even at the beginner or senior level. Build quality is amazing.

 

They also have smart straps, so the strapping is all elastic, which means you can wear the pad tight to your leg and still have complete range of motion (for both you and the actual pad rotation). Modern goalies strap their leather straps super loose so that the pad can rotate for the butterfly. With Brian's you can strap them tight and still get the same effect. The toe tie is also elastic so you can wear that tight to your toe as well and it stretches in the butterfly (saving your ankles from strain) and also snaps the pads right back into place when you get up.

 

I would HIGHLY recommend them. They just might take some getting used to for anyone used to leather strapping. I was lucky that I started with them so I didn't have to adjust.

My new pads should be arriving late April and I might sell my old ones (Brian's S-Series) 33+1 if you're interested. I'm still undecided if I'm going to sell them or just keep them as a backup. 

[tedpenguins 93]

I'll definitely try on the Brian's in store then! If the Reebok's really grow on me while I'm there I'll probably get them but if the fit of the Brian's really stands out to me I'll wait them out a bit and save up some extra money to get those. At least I'm shopping while everything's going on sale!

[badger_14 601]

No one made it clear that the tryout was a joint tryout for both the A/B and C/D tournament teams - where the coaches observe and then assign people based on skill level.

 

This meant the goalies (all five of us) were pelted by mostly B-level players for an hour at high-speed drills.  Even the more experienced (B-level) goalies were like: "F this."  I think I held myself reasonably well, all things considered.  The ice was absolute crap (the skating lesson people had left the rink windows open for the two hours preceeding the tryout, and it was roughly 60 yesterday), I stepped on (and slid on) pucks twice, caught a rut and fell in the middle of trying to stop a puck (still stopped the puck), someone fired a shot that seriously bruised my thumb...

 

After about 15 minutes of being shelled the goalies collectively decided it was more a war between us and the players than any of us competing against each other.

 

The skaters' drills were actually much harder than the scrimmage itself, because you got no chance to get set, it was just boom-boom-boom right after the other.  There was a breakaway drill where we had to swap out every three shots without pause.  Scrimmage was much better - my Saturday group is mixed level and this was a higher pace for the most part, but I've also played against B/C players and mainly they are not clever just fancy with the dangles. 

[tedpenguins 93]

Tried on the Brian's in store but they just seemed like too much adjustment for me while I'm still getting used to pads in general. The way they rotated was insane! I ended up getting the Reebok's. I just couldn't beat the price of them, with my rewards from Total Hockey I ended up getting the price down to $250. They didn't have many colors in stock so I ordered online right there in the store. Can't say enough about the customer service of Total Hockey! My 5-hole problem should be completely fixed though. Ended up with a 33+1 and they're absolutely perfect! When I do decide to upgrade again in the future it will for sure be a tough decision between Brian's and CCM. I just couldn't stop myself from taking up the great deal I was getting on the Reebok's. The employees also told me that they've been selling those left-and-right since they started the deal so that lead to me acting pretty fast on those. Can't wait for them to get here but too bad I've got a bye week this next week. I'll have to see about some drop in over the weekend. 

[IPv6Freely 2087]

3 hours ago, tedpenguins said:

Tried on the Brian's in store but they just seemed like too much adjustment for me while I'm still getting used to pads in general. The way they rotated was insane! I ended up getting the Reebok's. I just couldn't beat the price of them, with my rewards from Total Hockey I ended up getting the price down to $250. They didn't have many colors in stock so I ordered online right there in the store. Can't say enough about the customer service of Total Hockey! My 5-hole problem should be completely fixed though. Ended up with a 33+1 and they're absolutely perfect! When I do decide to upgrade again in the future it will for sure be a tough decision between Brian's and CCM. I just couldn't stop myself from taking up the great deal I was getting on the Reebok's. The employees also told me that they've been selling those left-and-right since they started the deal so that lead to me acting pretty fast on those. Can't wait for them to get here but too bad I've got a bye week this next week. I'll have to see about some drop in over the weekend. 

Awesome!! Make sure you post photos when you get them!  What colours did you get? 

[tedpenguins 93]

Sure will! I should get them Tuesday or Wednesday but I won't be able to actually see them until Thursday when I get home from college. Ended up going with a white/black/black. If you look at the navy/sport gold option its basically those with any color on those being black on mine.  I just think the white and black looks sharp with pretty much any jersey colors and it'll match good with the rest of my gear. 

[IPv6Freely 2087]

Absolutely! I even went fairly neutral on a custom set just because you never know. I only put red in sections that would be easy to pad wrap; the rest are black and white.

 

I kind of wish I'd gone all out on colours but oh well. Probably smarter to go neutral.

[IPv6Freely 2087]

Pickup this past tuesday was probably the best I've ever played. Sadly, my GoPro battery was dead after 5 minutes. Really kicking myself for not charging it :(

 

Moving on to last night...

 

Pretty happy with this game. Despite going down 2-0 early on two crap goals, the team stormed back and we ended up winning 6-3. Very happy with my play except for those first two goals, and then my blunder playing the puck in the 3rd period nearly leading to a goal.

 

 

 

[bunnyman666 445]

On March 11, 2016 at 1:22 PM, OptimusReim said:

Brian's will be far better made than pretty much anything at the same price point, even at the beginner or senior level. Build quality is amazing.

 

They also have smart straps, so the strapping is all elastic, which means you can wear the pad tight to your leg and still have complete range of motion (for both you and the actual pad rotation). Modern goalies strap their leather straps super loose so that the pad can rotate for the butterfly. With Brian's you can strap them tight and still get the same effect. The toe tie is also elastic so you can wear that tight to your toe as well and it stretches in the butterfly (saving your ankles from strain) and also snaps the pads right back into place when you get up.

 

I would HIGHLY recommend them. They just might take some getting used to for anyone used to leather strapping. I was lucky that I started with them so I didn't have to adjust.

My new pads should be arriving late April and I might sell my old ones (Brian's S-Series) 33+1 if you're interested. I'm still undecided if I'm going to sell them or just keep them as a backup. 

 

I second the Brian's Smart Toe straps, though there is a new kid in town: Monster Goalie. Look them up. The K strap is PHENOMENAL! The quality of their elastics is subliminal, and the K strap is an elastic version of the "professor strap". You can eliminate most of your strapping with the K strap.

[bunnyman666 445]

17 hours ago, tedpenguins said:

Sure will! I should get them Tuesday or Wednesday but I won't be able to actually see them until Thursday when I get home from college. Ended up going with a white/black/black. If you look at the navy/sport gold option its basically those with any color on those being black on mine.  I just think the white and black looks sharp with pretty much any jersey colors and it'll match good with the rest of my gear. 

 

The only "better" neutral would either be all-white, retro tan, or even grey. Sounds like a good purchase.

[beedee 224]

We kicked off our new season on Friday night with an 8-1 win. Two guys on our team had hatties and the third guy had two goals. I had a shuttie going until about halfway through the 2nd period, fairly easy shot from up high came in, dropped into butterfly and made the easy save, but instead of softening/killing the rebound I kind of flicked my stick and shot the rebound out to the left side of the slot. They had two guys right in the slot, our D had one tied up and of course the rebound went to the other guy, whom buried it just inside the far post, out of reach of my left leg that I kicked out, it was a good shot.

According to the scoresheet, I stopped 17 of 18. I will be out of town for this weeks game, which is against my former team.

[IPv6Freely 2087]

12 hours ago, bunnyman666 said:

 

I second the Brian's Smart Toe straps, though there is a new kid in town: Monster Goalie. Look them up. The K strap is PHENOMENAL! The quality of their elastics is subliminal, and the K strap is an elastic version of the "professor strap". You can eliminate most of your strapping with the K strap.

I've been using the HAL straps for some time now. Far better than the Brian's straps. 

[bunnyman666 445]

10 minutes ago, OptimusReim said:

I've been using the HAL straps for some time now. Far better than the Brian's straps. 

 

I bought three sets of Brian's and plan on trying the HAL when those turn to trash.

[IPv6Freely 2087]

Ugh, not a great night for me. I seemed to be off my angles and fighting the puck all night long. Where last week it felt like everything was a save to the belly, last night was scrambly as all hell. I was barely busy at all, yet let in a ton of goals. It felt like every shot went in. Oh well, better luck next week!

 

 

Oh, and we were going old school San Diego with retro Gulls jerseys this week! 
 

[tedpenguins 93]

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.