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VegasHockey

Shoulder pad suggestions?

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I dont play "beer league" but do skate with a group of ex-professional hockey players, most of them between the ages of 27-36. In one of our last ice times, I was on a 2-on-1 and the other player's pass was slightly behind at the bottom of the circle. The pass caused me to rotate a bit off balance to get the one-time shot off and as I was going full speed I didn't quite get a chance to recover and caught an edge and slid into the boards. I knew as soon as I hit the boards that something was wrong as I hit with such force I had the wind knocked out of me. Sure enough, my collar bone is pretty mangled and it's going to take quite a long time to heal. I keep thinking if I was wearing more protective shoulder pads that maybe my collarbone would have survived the crash, but after looking at players like McDavid, who also had a very similar injury, I am not sure that shoulder pads could even prevent such from happening. Should I consider going with a more professional pair of shoulder pads compared to my current ones which are very basic and quite old?

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I think you answered your own question with the McDavid thing... shoulder pads aren't designed to prevent injuries like that, there's only so much they can do and absorbing a full force impact between you and the boards would be asking quite a lot.  I wear CCM RBZ shoulder pads, they're a model below the top ones from maybe 2-3 years ago, I chose them because they're relatively low profile, lightweight and provide good mobility while also providing some good protection.  These won't protect me from major impacts with the boards but they do a great job with the normal bumping and grinding of beer league hockey and keep my surgically repaired shoulder feeling a little more protected.

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Sounds like you need supplemental protection; I’d look into the Bauer Elite goal padded shirt - it has more clavicle coverage than the player variant.  

 

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They're nice but the shoulder caps feel like football pads. My philsophy has been that if the CL/RBZ is good enough for 99% of the NHL then it's good enough for us normal folk.

The upcoming Jetspeed shoulder also looks like a very nice upgrade to that lineage compared to the Quicklite which was awful. 

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16 hours ago, xstartxtodayx said:

I think you answered your own question with the McDavid thing... shoulder pads aren't designed to prevent injuries like that, there's only so much they can do and absorbing a full force impact between you and the boards would be asking quite a lot.  I wear CCM RBZ shoulder pads, they're a model below the top ones from maybe 2-3 years ago, I chose them because they're relatively low profile, lightweight and provide good mobility while also providing some good protection.  These won't protect me from major impacts with the boards but they do a great job with the normal bumping and grinding of beer league hockey and keep my surgically repaired shoulder feeling a little more protected.

Better shoulder pads will protect you in the event of major impacts with the boards though. True, they can't rule out completely the chance of a broken collar bone, but they'll do more to protect against deep bruising and joint damage. Good shoulder pads today are so good at doing just that, I think it's easy to forget that they do still do a lot of good even if they can't cover every possible occurrence 100%.

Edit: forgot my recommendation. I upgraded from awful but light and mobile Easton Pro Light Designs to Warrior AX1's and couldn't have been happier. They're heavier than APX2's, but it's not noticeable on the ice. I find their combination of protection and mobility incredible. If I could do it again, I'd probably just get AX2's instead because the two-piece bicep protection is overkill with my 20K elbows and that whole bicep area is a bit of a mess to get lined up just right.

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6 minutes ago, Cavs019 said:

They're nice but the shoulder caps feel like football pads. My philsophy has been that if the CL/RBZ is good enough for 99% of the NHL then it's good enough for us normal folk.

The upcoming Jetspeed shoulder also looks like a very nice upgrade to that lineage compared to the Quicklite which was awful. 

The new JetSpeed stuff does look really good, reminds me of the U+ CL pro stock stuff. 

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2 hours ago, Nicholas G said:

The new JetSpeed stuff does look really good, reminds me of the U+ CL pro stock stuff. 

How does the Crazy Light Pro Stock gear compare to retail? Also, I’ve seen guys in shoulders, elbows, pants. Anyone wearing the shin guards or they mostly still use Jofa/Rbk/CCM?

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I always think of shoulder pads in the same realm as visors and cages. The cool kids wear mimimal protection, but once you've seen one or two people separate a shoulder or take a puck in the face, you realize that you're ok wearing a little extra. 

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I'm currently in Super Tacks shoulders, but I plan on trying the new Jetspeeds when they get released. I play defense, so I occasionally get an errand shot or get tangled up in the corners. I've been very happy with them. I don't understand how some guys don't wear shoulder pads. Hockey is a high-speed game, I wouldn't want to hit another player/boards/post without something to protect my upper body.

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3 hours ago, FlyChicaga said:

I'm currently in Super Tacks shoulders, but I plan on trying the new Jetspeeds when they get released. I play defense, so I occasionally get an errand shot or get tangled up in the corners. I've been very happy with them. I don't understand how some guys don't wear shoulder pads. Hockey is a high-speed game, I wouldn't want to hit another player/boards/post without something to protect my upper body.

Me either.

Most guys I see not wearing them are guys who picked up hockey as adults, they've never worn or owned a pair of shoulder pads, so they don't wear them.

I wouldn't play without them, matter of fact it would feel very awkward.

It's funny I was at my annual work hockey tournament last week, lost an edge in the 1st game, and while taking a shot off the rush, blew an edge and went sailing into the boards left shoulder first. It hurt and I was a bit stiff the next day, still played the remaining 4 games of the tourney. Sleeping on my shoulder has been a bit of discomfort but that's it.

A week later before a rec skate a friend of mine whose only picked up hockey in the past year asked me about going without shoulder pads, as his brother does and says it's better. I told him I wouldn't recommend it, and he owns a nice set of Easton pads.

That very game, I went to make a cross-crease pass, caught a rut and slide shoulder first into the boards, same left shoulder. This time hurt even more than the week prior, as I wasn't fully healed. I looked at my teammate after the fall and said "that's why I always wear shoulder pads"

There is no doubt had I slide into the boards either time without shoulder pads on I would of been more seriously injured.

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16 minutes ago, chippa13 said:

I see it the other way. Most guys who picked up the game late around here wear them and the majority who always played the game don't.

I would think it would be that way as well. Might be just my group that is like this.

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58 minutes ago, chippa13 said:

I see it the other way. Most guys who picked up the game late around here wear them and the majority who always played the game don't.

Same. 

I wear them in games, not as a result of board collisions and stuff, but being shorter, I catch a lot of elbows to the shoulder area, or sticks on occasion.

I don't wear them in a pickup game.

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I see a blended mix. Some guys who played pro will and won't wear them. Some of the news guys too. Either way, without wearing anything, even piece of garbage old Sher-Wood shoulders, I wouldn't get on the ice. I'm never worried about what I do that can cause an injury. I worry about others who may result in me getting injured. The random shot/deflection, rut in the ice, some guy who can stop slamming into me, or the dirty guy who likes to slew foot. 

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4 hours ago, chippa13 said:

I see it the other way. Most guys who picked up the game late around here wear them and the majority who always played the game don't.

Same. 

I'll also add that a broken clavicle is an extremely common (albeit "sucky") injury in ice hockey. 

In a majority of cases the shoulder pads (whether they are minimal or the most protective on the market), would have done little to prevent the break from occuring. 

Source- 4 broken collarbones by the time I was 40. Doctors each time told me they can't count the times that hockey or motorcross was the culprit. 

Give it the full time to heal. Its not an injury you want to come back early from. 

 

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