12" inch shin guards for a bantam player

[akravetz 29]

My son plays Tier 2 hockey, in the Chicago leagues and it's pretty chippy. He's 4'10, 90 to 95 pounds. He's a centerman whose not afraid to mix it up in the corners or in front of the center. He needs new shins but I'm looking at all the different brands and I can't make heads or tails of things. Thoughts on what a good set would be or better yet, what to look for as every brand as their own thing. Keep in mind that I just got new skates and will need new shoulders and elbows within a few months. Puberty sucks. 

 

Andy in Peoria. 

[colins 246]

9 hours ago, akravetz said:

My son plays Tier 2 hockey, in the Chicago leagues and it's pretty chippy. He's 4'10, 90 to 95 pounds. He's a centerman whose not afraid to mix it up in the corners or in front of the center. He needs new shins but I'm looking at all the different brands and I can't make heads or tails of things. Thoughts on what a good set would be or better yet, what to look for as every brand as their own thing. Keep in mind that I just got new skates and will need new shoulders and elbows within a few months. Puberty sucks. 

 

Andy in Peoria. 

 

If it's chippy and he plays that way too, I'd look for the calf coverage as being the biggest variance between the current offerings. You need to go try a bunch on, but look for which ones have good comfortable coverage across the majority of his calf. Some models leave that area pretty exposed, and a chop back there can ruin a good shift in a hurry when that happens. There's also a good bit of variance in how wide the different top end models are - he plays Centre, so unless he has tree trunk lower legs I'd stick with the narrower options for mobility reasons. Usually D men prefer the wider ones for blocking shots, but on a forward I think you want to keep things narrow to ensure mobility/crossovers aren't impeded by bulky shins. 

 

colins

[akravetz 29]

Yeah, he has always liked Vapors in the past as he likes a more narrow shin but I was looking online and they are so much money. Then I saw other brands and I was trying to think what was comparable for less money. 🙂 Hockey dad. here. 

He's primarily a center but also the 7th D on the team as he used to play D for about four years before they finally decided he was better at center. 

[EJB 488]

If he/you are not opposed to used, I have a pair of 12" CCM RBZ's that I'll send to you for the discounted price of free.  They're in good condition and have just been sitting in the garage collecting dust since we moved to 13".  If so, I have some 14" coming tomorrow and I'd just ship out in whatever box they come in. 

No big deal if not, just throwing it out there.

https://ibb.co/Q9pJ5nL
https://ibb.co/gJdgLV4
https://ibb.co/8MZ9wWJ
https://ibb.co/sbjY1RD
https://ibb.co/k3J006Q

Edited July 23, 2019 by EJB

[akravetz 29]

I'm good with anything that is free. You are far too kind. We are buying skates and everything else this year as the boy shot up (for him) from 4'5 to 4'10. He's a giant at 13. 🙂 Doesn't help that his parents are 5'4 and 5' .... 

But yeah, sure, I have heard good things about those shins and if you don't mind, I'll message you. I wear 13-inch shins and mine are X30 vapors that are about 10 years old. They are too big for him but the 11s are too small. So we tired on 12s and they seemed okay at a store. We'll see. sure. Thanks.

 

Andy in Peoria 

[start_today 770]

I will totally donate some money to a Learn To Play a program in honor of you guys sharing used equipment. Best site. 

[caveman27 208]

On 7/22/2019 at 11:56 PM, akravetz said:

My son plays Tier 2 hockey, in the Chicago leagues and it's pretty chippy. He's 4'10, 90 to 95 pounds. He's a centerman whose not afraid to mix it up in the corners or in front of the center. He needs new shins but I'm looking at all the different brands and I can't make heads or tails of things. Thoughts on what a good set would be or better yet, what to look for as every brand as their own thing. Keep in mind that I just got new skates and will need new shoulders and elbows within a few months. Puberty sucks. 

 

Andy in Peoria. 

Not sure if you've checked out sidelineswap.com. No, I don't get a commission for referring them. It's eBay-ish but you can find used and new gear there. I've bought "new", "old-stock" gear that are no longer made by manufacturers or sold by the major retailers but are cheaper than new. I've only bought senior sized stuff, and don't know how much junior sized stuff is out there.

[akravetz 29]

On 7/23/2019 at 5:28 PM, start_today said:

I will totally donate some money to a Learn To Play a program in honor of you guys sharing used equipment. Best site. 

Our org here in Peoria, Ill. has a used gear sale where gear is sold for pretty much nothing. Shins $5 to $10 with half the money going to the org and half about going to the seller. Often times, however, as a coach, I have given old pants, shins, helmets, sticks to kids during the year as well, we have them and it helps them and me (empties the garage). The biggest thing stopping hockey from getting bigger is the cost. I'd love to set up an inner city team for kids as well, learning to skate and play levels the playing field for everyone.