JukkaRopponen 7 Report post Posted June 12, 2015 New company has been formed at Germany, GatorArmor GmbH. This company will bring a range of new products to the markets including new and improved goalie shirts, compression shorts etc. Company has those and player shoulder pads available at Europe now and first dealer will start in Canada within the next few weeks with limited product availability.There are also several new concepts in design and test mode right now. I am part of this new company now looking after how we distribute our products as well as working with new product designs and ideas. In Finland our pro group of goalies is doing already testing with new product prototypes.Let us know what kind of products would you like to see coming out from us utilising this technology.I will post news on any developments to this thread. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Law Goalie 147 Report post Posted June 25, 2015 For those who don't know, Jukka is one of the most respected goaltending coaches in Finland, if not the world. This is a legitimate opportunity to help in the development of products that are sorely needed.Can't wait to see what you've got in the pipeline! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JukkaRopponen 7 Report post Posted June 25, 2015 First prototypes are in testing now. We made extra protection for the goalies inside elbow and Niklas Backstrom will test the product as soon as he can work on the ice after his elbow surgery. This product will be used as extra under your armpads. A full shirt version is in the works as well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Law Goalie 147 Report post Posted June 25, 2015 Excellent. Even with additional floating pads over the elbow-hinge, I've had my arms 'paralysed' by inner-elbow shots often enough to know how important well-designed secondary arm protection will be. The tricky part, of course, is maintaining close to full range-of-movement in the elbow joint; I'll be very interested to see how you approached it!Presumably the full-shirt version will include some kind of neck, sternum and clavicle coverage, and possibly the ribs as well; I do have one suggestion there. As I'm sure you've noticed, a lot of pro goalies have supplemental protection added by the equipment manager (or whoever's handling their gear at the workshop) on the top of the upper trapezius, alongside the neck. This is the part that invariably gets exposed in deep crouches and any other position where the chest is projected forward over the knees, and catching a stray puck there can result in some pretty debilitating injuries. I would be extremely interested to see a base-layer shirt that incorporated some kind of over-the-trapezius protection in a way that doesn't compromise neck flexibility.One question: will you be offering youth, junior, and intermediate sizes? I think this could be a huge benefit to younger/smaller goalies, particularly those who are between C/A sizes-- a major problem for growing goalies.In short, thanks for keeping us in the loop! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JukkaRopponen 7 Report post Posted June 26, 2015 We are working with several different new design ideas with a group of goalies that I coach. First prototypes are now in test phase, but we do welcome any and all ideas from fellow goalies. We are looking for 2-3 versions of goalie shirts to be the final outcome and what will be offered. Our manufacturing capability is quite flexible, so sizes should not be a problem.These are the goalies that we are using for ideas and testing:http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=7http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=25252http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=7472http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=45422Next week I will also be flying to Halifax to work with Finngoalie Pro Week and Jack Hartigans customers. We will be getting feedback from Jack's pro customers like:http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=48480Anyway, good feedback, much appreciated and keep it coming...Jukka Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Law Goalie 147 Report post Posted June 26, 2015 Great to hear about the sizing.That's a really nice range of size, experience, and playing styles in the test group; should give a pretty clear picture.One other question: at the risk of overcomplicating the design, have you thought about making the padding modular? Farrell had a version of this with the movable plastic plates that Velcro'd onto their shoulder-pads (on top of the blocks), but I was thinking more of ways to add and remove sets of blocks from the shirts, or simply move them around a little to fill in the C/A gaps. Obviously, a shirt covered in Velcro would get heavy and hot very quickly -- Velcro doesn't generally breathe well -- and it would limit the elasticity of the shirt wherever it was placed. Still, something to think about, perhaps, even if only in a limited capacity. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JukkaRopponen 7 Report post Posted July 16, 2015 We just got some new prototypes to test with our pro goalies. We will make decisions on the product availability based on the test results. New products in testing are:1) Goalie shirt with additional shoulder protection2) Goalie compression shorts with inner thigh protection Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
badger_14 601 Report post Posted July 16, 2015 Great to hear about the sizing.That's a really nice range of size, experience, and playing styles in the test group; should give a pretty clear picture.One other question: at the risk of overcomplicating the design, have you thought about making the padding modular? Farrell had a version of this with the movable plastic plates that Velcro'd onto their shoulder-pads (on top of the blocks), but I was thinking more of ways to add and remove sets of blocks from the shirts, or simply move them around a little to fill in the C/A gaps. Obviously, a shirt covered in Velcro would get heavy and hot very quickly -- Velcro doesn't generally breathe well -- and it would limit the elasticity of the shirt wherever it was placed. Still, something to think about, perhaps, even if only in a limited capacity.Would that be something like the modular plates/blocks in body armor? Like tubes or pockets sewn to strategic locations and different weights or layers of padding that could just be slotted in? Then you'd just have to velcro the top of the pocket. It might be a problem to find a way to keep blocks from compressing or shifting during motion, though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JukkaRopponen 7 Report post Posted July 16, 2015 Some of the prototypes have removable padding for our goalies to test Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JukkaRopponen 7 Report post Posted November 3, 2015 Finally we have this season products shipping here in Europe. We also did a launch at Finnish hockey expo last weekend. For goalie we have shirts and speacial comprssion shorts with inner thigh protection.Here's video from player shoulder pads demo from last weekend. It's Gator Armor owner David Zimmerman showing how protective the gear really is. https://www.facebook.com/cityhockey/videos/458035077701390/And another one with slow motion: https://www.facebook.com/GatorArmor/videos/884344744976855/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bunnyman666 445 Report post Posted November 4, 2015 After getting pinged by a puck in the inner thigh last week, I am extremely interested in those compression shorts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JukkaRopponen 7 Report post Posted November 5, 2015 After getting pinged by a puck in the inner thigh last week, I am extremely interested in those compression shorts.Just started selling those. 62€ (includes 24% Finnish VAT) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IPv6Freely 2092 Report post Posted November 5, 2015 Is there an online store in the US where we can buy your products? I'm interested in the player shirt. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beedee 227 Report post Posted November 5, 2015 Finally we have this season products shipping here in Europe. We also did a launch at Finnish hockey expo last weekend. For goalie we have shirts and speacial comprssion shorts with inner thigh protection.Here's video from player shoulder pads demo from last weekend. It's Gator Armor owner David Zimmerman showing how protective the gear really is. https://www.facebook.com/cityhockey/videos/458035077701390/And another one with slow motion: https://www.facebook.com/GatorArmor/videos/884344744976855/wow, what a douche!there wasn't a better way to demonstrate the protection other than doing multiple overhead crosschecks by an adult on a child? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JukkaRopponen 7 Report post Posted November 6, 2015 Is there an online store in the US where we can buy your products? I'm interested in the player shirt. Not yet. FinnGoalie at Halifax does sell the products, but they don't have players shirts yet. Should be part of their next shipment.Ps. Player short really works well. We just had a few Finnish pro players at Elite league adopting them. They were blown away on how comfortable they are with all the extra protection.wow, what a douche!there wasn't a better way to demonstrate the protection other than doing multiple overhead crosschecks by an adult on a child?On the contrary. People lined up at the show to get a chance to feel the crosscheck test themselves. David (the crosscheck guy) started by showing it to adults and more and more young players wanted to test also. They could not believe how protective the system is and that they really did not feel those blows hurting at all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bunnyman666 445 Report post Posted November 6, 2015 When those shorts arrive, please give a link so I can order some. Just took another stinger inside the thigh yesterday. No bruise, made the save, but I would rather just feel a thud than a stinger. Thank you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
beedee 227 Report post Posted November 6, 2015 Not yet. FinnGoalie at Halifax does sell the products, but they don't have players shirts yet. Should be part of their next shipment.Ps. Player short really works well. We just had a few Finnish pro players at Elite league adopting them. They were blown away on how comfortable they are with all the extra protection.On the contrary. People lined up at the show to get a chance to feel the crosscheck test themselves. David (the crosscheck guy) started by showing it to adults and more and more young players wanted to test also. They could not believe how protective the system is and that they really did not feel those blows hurting at all.Glad to hear no one was hurt, just the overall image of a full grown adult overhead crosschecking a child didn't sit well with me....even if they had protection on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JukkaRopponen 7 Report post Posted November 7, 2015 Glad to hear no one was hurt, just the overall image of a full grown adult overhead crosschecking a child didn't sit well with me....even if they had protection on.Understand. See this other video and look at the smile on the kids facehttps://www.facebook.com/GatorArmor/videos/886436988100964/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JukkaRopponen 7 Report post Posted November 9, 2015 When those shorts arrive, please give a link so I can order some. Just took another stinger inside the thigh yesterday. No bruise, made the save, but I would rather just feel a thud than a stinger. Thank you.Have them on stock at Finland and Germany. We can invoice you and ship from here. Send e-mail to myynti@goaliepro.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IPv6Freely 2092 Report post Posted November 9, 2015 I consider the guy lucky, he got to do what the rest of us can only ever do inside our head ;) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JukkaRopponen 7 Report post Posted November 12, 2015 We have now also short sleeve goalie shirts available Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
