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2018-2019 NHL Gear Sitings


Steph Lawa

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Kramer = Vaughn, Jerry & friend = CCM & Bauer reading that interview.

Doesn't come off too good haha. I actually just went back to my Vaughn set over 1X, but they're definitely the retro company. 14 week wait times doesn't help their case either. 

I love how all these companies are doing crazy light foams, all these new innovations on shape or sliding and Vaughn is sitting there going "...but we have magnets..."

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4 minutes ago, Moose75 said:

I love how all these companies are doing crazy light foams, all these new innovations on shape or sliding and Vaughn is sitting there going "...but we have magnets..."

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I mean, hasn't this been the case with Vaughn for the last while? They've always been behind the curve and are generally slow to follow market trends. Hell, it seems like they do it just so they stay semi-relevant.

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As someone who likes Vaughn gear, wore Vaughn gear for a long time and tries to push their gear in the store I work at, I must say that a lot of Mike Vaughn's comments in that article were very inaccurate and just straight up silly.

I'm not gonna dissect the whole thing but on some things, he basically doesn't have his facts straight and/or put his foot in his mouth. For example, he mentioned when Jose Theodore switched (to Itech in the 2005-06 season) and "..was completely gone out of the league in a couple of years". No he wasn't, Mike. Jose played every year in the NHL consistently from 2002 to 2013 with the exception of the Lockout year. He makes it seem like Jose went into Itech, fell off the map, and then magically got an NHL contract all because he switched back to Vaughn.

Another part in the article he says " We haven’t been afraid to evolve and change things". This is the biggest crock of crap in the entire article, I don't even need to get into as some of you have already touched upon this.

"My main, big competitors make even their high-end pro stuff offshore. And it’s really only equivalent to our next step down, which we import...". Sorry Mike, complete and utter bullshit. I wonder what he'd say about Brian's pro-grade gear?

Oh and this kinna kills me "Even though they’ve tried to copy our stuff exactly, he still hasn’t played as well...". Them copy your stuff? That's rich considering I have several Vaughn Velocity 8 gloves on my wall that are direct copies of the 590.

I'll give you all some facts - I try very hard to push Vaughn gear in the store I work at. At first it was because I like it but now it's because all my goalie customers who range in youth to senior are leaving with CCM and Warrior and I have Velocity 8 gear piling up. I can't give away their gear. Yes, I am a salesman but I don't lie to my customers to make the sale. There is no "Wow" factor with Vaughn's gear at this present time. I'm sorry but your magnets are not enough to convince a customer to buy. Vaughn lost huge momentum when the E-Flex family originally launched. It is my understanding from certain sources that they lost 40% of their sales that year. And I must admit I believe those figures. Mike can point the finger and play the blame game all he wants but bottom line is that it's a business like everything else and if he wants to be on top of the goalie world again, he's gotta  do whatever it takes to get there. If that means getting your hands on a Ritual G4 and cutting it open to see how they make it so light, so be it.

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5 hours ago, motowngoalie said:

From the NY Hockey article quoted above: 

The obvious current example, he said, is Montreal’s Carey Price.

"To this day, he’s never played as well, statistically or number-wise," said Vaughn. "Even though they’ve tried to copy our stuff exactly, he still hasn’t played as well. It’s two things — I think the equipment makes a little bit of difference, but the player changes." 

Wow, this guys totally delusional. Is if Carey Price's numbers have been affected since he switched from Vaughn to CCM! As I recall, he's won a Vezina since he made the switch, so there's that....

http://www.nyhockeyjournal.com/nyhockeyjournal/july_2018/MobilePagedArticle.action?articleId=1409237#articleId1409237

This is ridiculous.  Price has won a Vezina, World Cup, and an Olympic gold medal since leaving.

4 hours ago, stackem30 said:

From my own work experience/reading the Business section, the majority of CEOs should be kept as farrr away from the press as possible. For all the prowess/intellect/ability they may possess, many of them do not know how to come off as likable, or are unaware of how their remarks or persona affect perception of their company (or worse, don't care). That stuff about a dip in Price's performance correlating with him leaving Vaughn is not only stupid, it looks incredibly petty. 

I like Vaughn precisely because they're a more traditional company... but then Venn diagram of "things I like" and "only appeals to a niche audience" gets closer to becoming a perfect circle every day. And your average goalie is likely to care about at least one of the following two things:

  1. That the gear they're spending considerable money on has enough innovative bells and whistles to ensure that it's not going to be outdated in a year or two
  2. That the pros wear it.

Vaughn hasn't proven to consumers that they're as innovative or groundbreaking as Bauer or Brian's, and they certainly don't have nearly as many living, breathing, butterflying billboards in the NHL like CCM has (or the money to pour into promotion). Unless they are comfortable becoming a niche brand for older, more traditional goalies, they'll need to start turning these things around and appealing to a younger base.

Papa John's!

I think Vaughn is going to fade off into the sunset and become a niche brand like Brown within the next 10-15 years.
The Velocity pad is their best selling line ever, and it wasn't even designed by Mike.  The pad platform is now on its 7th or 10th iteration (depending on if you count special editions) of rolling, Apple-product like changes.

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On 7/31/2018 at 6:36 PM, Chenner29 said:

The Velocity pad is their best selling line ever, and it wasn't even designed by Mike.  

Who designed it?

What do you all think is the guiding philosophy behind their business model of subtle, incremental changes and sticking to their traditional roots?

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1 minute ago, seagoal said:

Who designed it?

What do you all think is the guiding philosophy behind their business model of subtle, incremental changes and sticking to their traditional roots?

Pete Smith, now with Warrior.  They're doing a damn fine job of getting gear out in the marketplace without NHL endorsement

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I know it’s come up in a couple other threads on here... someone else will definitely be able to speak on the costs involved for the CHL more intelligently than me, but I want to say it’s like 10K or so per year..?

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2 hours ago, CG35 said:

Your only gear options in the Dub are CCM, Vaughn & Bauer... no one else pays the licensing fees.

Our tendy’s were in Bauer & CCM last season.

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I don't think it's an issue of paying. I don't they are allowed to pay. I think the CHL only has 2-3 authorized companies and does not want more. 

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14 hours ago, stackem30 said:

I don't have any empirical evidence to back this up, but there seems to be a slow exodus away from Vaughn among pro goalies. CCM and Bauer just continue to dominate, and Brian's is holding onto their own spot pretty well as far as I can tell. Anyone have any insight as to how accurate my observation is, or why it might be happening?

I don’t know if this is true, haven’t had this talk with anyone leaving the brand...

but for the sake of water cooler talk, here’s what I’ve heard:

most pros top concerns are how consistent the pads are set to set, how long they last before they need replacing, and how much the pads change during the use period. 

It terms of functionality, their top concern is seal. 

As Vaughn was late or reluctant to adapt the solid core pads, other companies gained ground in these key areas 

I’ve also know Vaughn now pays gear contracts to players and it reaches as deep as the CHL. At the NHL level, aside from the outlier endorsement deals of Price & Hanks, it’s my understanding Vaughn is as generous as anyone with the gear contracts or gift perks handed out. 

Vaughn makes a quality product, end of story. None of our games are going to go to shit if we switch to Vaughn... but some of the things in that article are just a bit much. 

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Honestly, if Vaughn came out with a line similar but better than the Supreme line, we'd all be pitching tents for Vaughn gear.

I don't know how they haven't pushed out a line of full customization strap less Supreme style pads. Easy win. Maybe make the parts interchangeable (straps, leg channels, etc) so customers can both keep the pads looking fresh and take the customization work off their backs somewhat.

Pete Smith was close with the customer changeable gloves and all. But maybe figure out a way to apply that to the pads. The pad part is basically a foam block. Work out a way to make the leg channel, knee blocks and straps to be interchanged somehow.

If they were totally nuts - changeable pad faces.

Innovate or die!

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1 hour ago, MTH said:

But maybe figure out a way to apply that to the pads. The pad part is basically a foam block. Work out a way to make the leg channel, knee blocks and straps to be interchanged somehow.

It wouldn't be hard... many pads already have similar features. The bits and bobs on the back are just laced in. I'd just like to see a way to take it a step further. 

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15 hours ago, IPv6Freely said:

There is literally nothing at all even remotely appealing about Vaughn anything. 

Wow, broad statement...

I think your setup looks like shit too.

That's basically what you just said to every guy with ANYthing Vaughn.

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18 minutes ago, Naz said:

Wow, broad statement...

I think your setup looks like shit too.

That's basically what you just said to every guy with ANYthing Vaughn.

I couldn't care less if you think my setup looks like shit. It doesn't change the fact that I have absolutely zero interest in anything Vaughn makes. 

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20 minutes ago, IPv6Freely said:

I couldn't care less if you think my setup looks like shit. It doesn't change the fact that I have absolutely zero interest in anything Vaughn makes. 

LOL, I don't actually think that.  Was just a reaction to your phrasing, as it appears as a statement of fact, rather than opinion.

But, out of curiousity, have you always hated everything Vaughn?  Is it something about the company itself?  Have they ever produced any piece of equipment you would consider?  Do you just not like how their gear looks?  Not being a jerk, I am just genuinely interested.  I am similar somewhat in that I can't bring myself to use anything Warrior yet... and I do say "yet" as that may change.  I still see them as a lacrosse company, plus I can't get past how they plastered things with the "douchebag font" and D-bag graphics several years ago.  BUT, I do like their sticks, just haven't bought any yet.

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1 minute ago, Naz said:

LOL, I don't actually think that.  Was just a reaction to your phrasing, as it appears as a statement of fact, rather than opinion.

But, out of curiousity, have you always hated everything Vaughn?  Is it something about the company itself?  Have they ever produced any piece of equipment you would consider?  Do you just not like how their gear looks?  Not being a jerk, I am just genuinely interested.  I am similar somewhat in that I can't bring myself to use anything Warrior yet... and I do say "yet" as that may change.  I still see them as a lacrosse company, plus I can't get past how they plastered things with the "douchebag font" and D-bag graphics several years ago.  BUT, I do like their sticks, just haven't bought any yet.

I've just never seen anything they make that I like more than something else. The pads aren't innovative enough (and have terrible stock graphics), I don't like their glove breaks, their masks are ugly, their chest protectors I find too bulky, the knee pads don't wow me, the skates looked like junk, etc. The pants looked fine enough but I find CCM more comfortable. 

Or put it this way: I have never seen anything in a Vaughn product that made me want to buy it. 

I totally hear you on Warrior. When they broke into hockey... eek. All the tribal graphics and crap. Yuck. On the player side they quickly won people over with their sticks and gloves (the current Alpha is the most comfortable glove I've ever worn). On the goalie side I never liked their pads because they always looked like candy or something. Like weird puffy shiny looking things. The newer stuff definitely looks better though. Sticks on the other hand... I think Warrior makes the best goalie sticks for both foam core and composite. At least, haven't found anything better. 

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