2016-2017 Gear Sightings

[JR Boucicaut 3795]

1 hour ago, carodz said:

Couldn't find the relevant post to quote but looks like Kane is back to using Bauer's holders.

Queue up the "pro validation doesn't mean anything" posts in 3...2...1...

[DarkStar50 679]

Skates 101 colorways on the final exam : Vapor = Jetspeed, Supreme = Tacks, Nexus = RibCor.

Ok, got it.

[flip12 714]

That Nexus : RibCor is debatable (extra credit opportunity!), but that's fitting given their differing profiles.

[Troubadour 46]

On 10/29/2016 at 2:30 PM, Thirdlineplug said:

Holy Bauer Vapors Batman. There's a million different colourways they could have chosen... 

Tacks are yellow. Ribcor is green. RBZ/Jetspeeds are red. Vapors don't have a lock on using red. If they used blue, you'd say they look too much like Nexus. Orange would have been cool, but then they are just stealing Easton/Mako territory.

[Kgbeast 195]

13 hours ago, carodz said:

Couldn't find the relevant post to quote but looks like Kane is back to using Bauer's holders.

Yes... I have noticed that in their yesterdays game against Avalanche. Perhaps, the endorsement agreement with Bauer covers the holders in some way or perhaps he could try it only for so long. Who knows... I doubt he hated it or it would have never made to a real game. 

[the iceman 132]

2017 Winter Classic jerseys

[Monty22 832]

Those are kind of underwhelming.  

[IPv6Freely 2092]

Agree, very boring. I would have liked to see the 1952 uniforms. 

[flip12 714]

I like them. Much better than the Blues' standard jerseys.

[Quintin 16]

One has to wonder, how many Winter Classics does Chicago need to have before they re-use an old design?

[DarkStar50 679]

8 hours ago, the iceman said:

2017 Winter Classic jerseys

Fuck it 1967 vs 1967. Put it to bed.

[chippa13 1844]

On 11/3/2016 at 10:42 PM, JR Boucicaut said:

Queue up the "pro validation doesn't mean anything" posts in 3...2...1...

I thought it was going to be the "equipment managers just use whatever they have laying around".

[JR Boucicaut 3795]

10 hours ago, chippa13 said:

I thought it was going to be the "equipment managers just use whatever they have laying around".

Yet several teams fully switched to Edge in one fell swoop.

Usually most retail products don't take off at pro. This did, despite the "thought" that the steel was inferior.  Obviously it wasn't a dealbreaker. 

[GoalForFun 176]

On 11/4/2016 at 6:43 PM, Quintin said:

One has to wonder, how many Winter Classics does Chicago need to have before they re-use an old design?

29.

[colins 246]

On 10/24/2016 at 3:21 PM, start_today said:

Prior to the edge holder, did anyone besides pro-EQMs and helicopter dads who think they are EQMs worry about changing steel taking 2 minutes instead of 7? 

What percent of hockey players even bring extra steel to the bench, and out of those, how many ever need it? This whole quick change runner seems like a solution just dying to have a problem to solve. 

Even at Major Midget level it's common for team EQM's to insist players supply extra steel so players don't miss a part of a game due to broken steel. That's not a Edge vs. Non-Edge thing, it just means you need to have extra steel on hand for example when you're on the road for a 4 or 5 game tournament and the cost of having extra steel vs. the cost of missing a half a game makes the $70 investment a no-brainer.

 

colins

[colins 246]

On 10/25/2016 at 0:38 AM, mojo122 said:

 

I never carried my 2^nd set to the rink until the night when I lost an edge several minutes into the game.  In all fairness, the majority of the reasons why someone has a 2^nd set of steel are:

 

 

 

1)    Players are on travel teams and parents don’t want to worry about who is sharpening their steel when they are out of town.

 

2)    They have players playing on backyard rink ice or pond ice and want separate steel for that purpose.

 

3)    They have multiple sets to reduce how often they have to visit the shop for sharpening.

 

 

 

Before the LS Edge holders very few had a 2^nd set because it wasn’t as easy to change out the steel.  LS Edge changed that.

 

 

 

CCM Steel can be changed in a couple of minutes if your EQM has a flat top screwdriver and correct socket wrench on hand. That's been the case for quite a while before Edge came around.

The game changer with Edge is that now it's just as easy to pop your dull blades out, and take them to your sharpener while you continue to use your boots with your 2nd set. No downtime, skates are always available and the dull steel can be sharpened whenever.

 

colins

[Kgbeast 195]

5 hours ago, colins said:

The game changer with Edge is that now it's just as easy to pop your dull blades out, and take them to your sharpener while you continue to use your boots with your 2nd set. No downtime, skates are always available and the dull steel can be sharpened whenever.

...you can do that with any other skates that have removable blades (as you said in the same post)... you might have to take your boot off which makes a 10 seconds job a 5 minutes one, but calling this a game changer is a bit too strong for what it does. I have watched tons of pro and international comp games this far and have not seeing once a player limping off with a broken runner. I did see one that lost the entire holder. Also, over the years, I saw a handful of other skate malfunction incidents when a whole runner gets knocked out of the holder. most likely the screw butt broke off on regular Lightspeed holders. But that is literally 4-5 incidents in a few hundred games. Not sure if the Edge is a solution for that, time will tell.

[Kgbeast 195]

6 hours ago, JR Boucicaut said:

Yet several teams fully switched to Edge in one fell swoop.

Usually most retail products don't take off at pro. This did, despite the "thought" that the steel was inferior.  Obviously it wasn't a dealbreaker. 

Don't pros have their skates sharpened every time they take them of their feet? At that rate, a steel that lasts an hour of hard ice time should be acceptable.

[Zac911 317]

17 hours ago, colins said:

 

CCM Steel can be changed in a couple of minutes if your EQM has a flat top screwdriver and correct socket wrench on hand. That's been the case for quite a while before Edge came around.

The game changer with Edge is that now it's just as easy to pop your dull blades out, and take them to your sharpener while you continue to use your boots with your 2nd set. No downtime, skates are always available and the dull steel can be sharpened whenever.

 

colins

That's how it works on paper,  but the reality that I have seen is that most do not buy that extra set of steel.  This was really all about trying to maximize the sale and move more steel.

It should be noted that I have had a second set of steel in my bag for the last 16 years.  

[218hockey 50]

Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon lost a blade out of his Nexus skate in Colorado yesterday. I was wondering if he got hit by a puck or what happened.  ??? He was out there for a while on one knee.

[Zac911 317]

1 hour ago, 218hockey said:

Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon lost a blade out of his Nexus skate in Colorado yesterday. I was wondering if he got hit by a puck or what happened.  ??? He was out there for a while on one knee.

These are not the droids you are looking for......

[colins 246]

On 11/6/2016 at 4:50 AM, Kgbeast said:

...you can do that with any other skates that have removable blades (as you said in the same post)... you might have to take your boot off which makes a 10 seconds job a 5 minutes one, but calling this a game changer is a bit too strong for what it does. I have watched tons of pro and international comp games this far and have not seeing once a player limping off with a broken runner. I did see one that lost the entire holder. Also, over the years, I saw a handful of other skate malfunction incidents when a whole runner gets knocked out of the holder. most likely the screw butt broke off on regular Lightspeed holders. But that is literally 4-5 incidents in a few hundred games. Not sure if the Edge is a solution for that, time will tell.

 

Things I've seen with my own eyes within the past few months:

- Player breaking steel in the middle of the game, leaving the ice and coming back within 10 minutes after he found a matching size spare runner in his buddies bag (Midget).

- Player involved in day long high performance camp (Bantam), on day two between sessions his dad popped out his Edge runners for his sharpened spares while then going to get the dull blades sharpened to have on hand in case of a lost edge or failure. If these are traditional Lightspeed holders that doesn't happen. If they are CCM it probably doesn't happen either, although they are easy to change people don't think of them as quick-change like the Edge holders are.

These are the behaviors and actions I'm seeing at my local rinks. Can't speak for anywhere else. Edge has changed the way regular hockey folks approach 'runner management' for lack of a better term.

 

colins

[Kgbeast 195]

14 hours ago, 218hockey said:

Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon lost a blade out of his Nexus skate in Colorado yesterday. I was wondering if he got hit by a puck or what happened.  ??? He was out there for a while on one knee.

This happens a couple of times every season as far back as 2010. I think this started with LightSpeen2 holder. Although it is a fairly rear occurrence, it seems that Edge holders does not address it (I am assuming he had Edge holders on). This is usually caused by an impact, (puck to the holder or skate into the boards during a hit or fall). The impact has to happen a certain way as well, so this does not happen very often. 

[chippa13 1844]

On 11/6/2016 at 3:20 AM, Kgbeast said:

...you can do that with any other skates that have removable blades (as you said in the same post)... you might have to take your boot off which makes a 10 seconds job a 5 minutes one, but calling this a game changer is a bit too strong for what it does. I have watched tons of pro and international comp games this far and have not seeing once a player limping off with a broken runner. I did see one that lost the entire holder. Also, over the years, I saw a handful of other skate malfunction incidents when a whole runner gets knocked out of the holder. most likely the screw butt broke off on regular Lightspeed holders. But that is literally 4-5 incidents in a few hundred games. Not sure if the Edge is a solution for that, time will tell.

Let's see, a player missing a single shift while he puts hit foot up and the EQM pops in a blade or a player misses half a period because he has to take off his skate, hand it to the EQM, the EQM has to use a tool to remove screws from CCM/GRAF/other holder, EQM returns skate to player and player puts the skate back on. Which do you think a coach/GM/player/EQM would prefer?

Players have been going down the tunnel with EQMs forever to get an edge fixed or the like. The Edge holder is a game changer.

[All Flash 49]

EDGE Holder is a game changer but this also adds more work for the  EQM, at the pro level you're changing EDGE holders four times a year minimum, to replace soft holders. At the Junior and rep level you talking at least once a year minimum,...... IMHO. For the average beer leaguer, I don't think that this matters. Unless of course he is very finicky about a sharpening, or is willing to pay to have different holders put on. Not to mention that he has no choice if he wears Bauer skates moving forward.