2018-2019 NHL Gear Sitings

[TheGoalNet]

7 hours ago, stackem30 said:

It could mean that, though I'm not sure a long turnaround time is indicative of an increased demand. It's quite possible that they just don't have enough people to make a decent turnaround on a normal level of orders, or even a decreased level of orders. I cannot speak to either.

It's quite possible we're being a bit overdramatic... Vaughn's still a huge name with a big following, and they make great gear. But an exodus of pro clients away from the brand is concerning, and has bad implications for the general public. You think they didn't take a hit in when Price left? Kids notice, and they care — Mike Vaughn is salty for a reason. And if the wait times continue to be long, the prices continue to be high, the innovations/improvements continue to be underwhelming, and more stores decide they don't want to deal with them... well, you could have a real problem on your hands.

Like I said, where there's smoke, there's fire. I doubt the sky's falling for Vaughn, but I doubt the horizon looks brilliant, either. Hopefully I'm wrong. I want to see more brands, not less.

I have heard from a couple smaller goalies at pro levels and from some other people within the industry that seal and durability are why people leave Vaughn. 

They don’t want to deal with 5 sets of gear a season, pads that get soft, or gaps in thigh rise seal.

That’s not to say Vaughn is a bad product, it’s clearly worked well for Murray or Quick when it counts... 

but the trend is stiffer gear 

[estogoalie]

3 hours ago, TheGoalNet said:

Dipietro

There really needs to be a "*Not Rick" disclaimer/warning somewhere, I just nearly spit my coffee all over my screen

[raucebyalien]

5 hours ago, TheGoalNet said:

but the trend is stiffer gear 

From what I can remember this is why Price left Vaughn in the first place - he kept asking for stiffer pads (or at least stiffer versions of Velo's) and Vaughn couldn't do it to his liking so he moved to P4's and eventually e-flex. 

From my perspective, Vaughn's biggest need is to get a hold of a marketing guy asap and refresh the brand and lines so they make sense and are simplified: There's way too many model variants these days with velocity, ventus, ventus slr, pro v elite, XF pro, pro carbon etc etc and on top of that they were also using model numbers until not too long ago which added to confusion. I also have no idea whats going on with their glove patterns these days and which line has which break! Realistically, all they need to do is similar to the Brians model;

-OG Velocity line: flex, leather straps, retro styling, just pads and gloves, market them with Quick.

-contemporary Velocity line: carbon, modern strapping, modern graphics, c/a and pants, market with Jones or Rask.

-Ventus line: pure butterfly line w/ c/a and pants, market with Murray

When I ordered my own custom set in 2015 I considered going with Vaughn as I'd used a lot of their stuff in the past and was always happy with the quality, but the massive wait time (I think my retailer estimated it'd be approx 15 weeks) as well a few things kicking around on the GSBB at the time about orders coming in wrong and it taking a while to rectify ultimately pushed me towards Brians instead. Even back then the Brians gnetik2 stuff seemed light years ahead of the V5 in terms of innovation and forward thinking.

Problem for Vaughn is that they're a pretty conservative company, and pro's appear to be getting less conservative and willing to try things year on year. 

[ruckus007]

45 minutes ago, raucebyalien said:

-OG Velocity line: flex, leather straps, retro styling, just pads and gloves, market them with Quick.

-contemporary Velocity line: carbon, modern strapping, modern graphics, c/a and pants, market with Jones or Rask.

-Ventus line: pure butterfly line w/ c/a and pants, market with Murray

Legacy

Velocity

Ventus

Done.

[stackem30]

Good points by  @raucebyalien and @ruckus007. 

[ruckus007]

I AM also wondering what's going on with Vaughn. I've looked at their stuff. It's a lot of warmed over items, sure, but CCM is NOTORIOUS for that with the Premier line, until of late. 

Bauer's Bauer, and I've never liked them much cuz I find their stuff too convoluted most of the time, and design/durability flaws are EVERYWHERE. 

The thing with Vaughn though, is they have not offered anything game changing outside of the Scrivens strap but big whoop. It's a well built set of gear but anyone can do it, you know? There's nothing that really provides any individuality. 

Maybe that's what they want, to be that old school classic style gear provider. But it sure as hell ain't winning them any battles.

Feel free to fill in, but so far, I've seen a lot of big names go:

Ward, Lehner, Price, just to name a few....Maybe Howard now too...

HOWEVER,

Some of their biggest stars and young guys are still in there:

Quick, Jones, Rask, Schneider, Allen, Murray，Mrazek, Korpisalo, Khudobin, Stalock, Wedgewood, Kinkaid, Niemi, Greiss, Brossoit, Miller, Keumper.

So it's still a lot of goalies, minus third strings. This also doesn't include pants, jocks, pants or collars, which a shit ton of NHL guys are still using (Lundy, Price, Andersen, just to name a couple) Maybe it's not as bad as we all think?

[Vogilny#25]

But Vaughn is still top with the chestprotectors!

[seagoal]

Well Vaughn retweeted this from the Blues, so it's a start, I think.

This video made me crave hockey, get excited about the new season,  and further drool over Allen's style in gear

https://twitter.com/StLouisBlues/status/1037714713780469760?s=20

[cwarnar]

I think Vaughn is current version, if its not broke.  Of all the big boys, they've stayed true to what works for them... and looking at Quick's V2 leg channel, the constant rehash of 5500 gloves... it works at the pro level for them.

Look at all of us Beer Leaguers... How many have ordered a custom set from Vaughn???  The wait times are stupid and the gear is very traditional.  Only recently did they offer the magnetic straps and the RRC strap.  Vaughn caters to the pros and it works...  

Gimmicks like carbon fibre isn't winning them customers outside the pro market.  I will agree that they do make a great chest unit... if you find a beefed up pro version

[coopaloop1234]

7 minutes ago, cwarnar said:

I think Vaughn is current version, if its not broke.  Of all the big boys, they've stayed true to what works for them... and looking at Quick's V2 leg channel, the constant rehash of 5500 gloves... it works at the pro level for them.

Catering to the pros like they do will bite them in the ass in long run.

While exposure at the pro level is a huge marketing tool, these are guys that are very hesitant to make large changes in their gear. Quick's reliance on the V2 channel is a good case for this.

What's going to happen is that as new generations of goalies grow up, they're going to be using the latest and greatest and are far less hesitant to make sweeping changes to their gear. Do you think that little Timmy is really going to care for an "old-school" feel when the other players in the game are advertising massive improvements in sliding/seal/durability/rebounds, etc?

Nah man. These kids are going to grow up using the CCM/Bauer/Brians/Warrior gear and stick with it as they go through the system and make the show.

We're starting to see that now. We're seeing new goalies enter the league that have mostly viewed Vaughn pads as an old school styled pad and this will only compound itself over time.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Vaughn pads/gloves be a rarity in the NHL in about 5 years.

[estogoalie]

21 hours ago, bunnyman666 said:

Increase in prices can be justified if a reasonable amount of innovation is going on

When everyone else was making thigh-rises with +1" and +2", the guys at Vaughn were like "Ok boys, let's rock the boat..." and gave my V4's a 1.5" rise 

[cwarnar]

Gentik IV's with Heritage Graphic for Nilsson

[cwarnar]

1 hour ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Catering to the pros like they do will bite them in the ass in long run.

While exposure at the pro level is a huge marketing tool, these are guys that are very hesitant to make large changes in their gear. Quick's reliance on the V2 channel is a good case for this.

What's going to happen is that as new generations of goalies grow up, they're going to be using the latest and greatest and are far less hesitant to make sweeping changes to their gear. Do you think that little Timmy is really going to care for an "old-school" feel when the other players in the game are advertising massive improvements in sliding/seal/durability/rebounds, etc?

Nah man. These kids are going to grow up using the CCM/Bauer/Brians/Warrior gear and stick with it as they go through the system and make the show.

We're starting to see that now. We're seeing new goalies enter the league that have mostly viewed Vaughn pads as an old school styled pad and this will only compound itself over time.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Vaughn pads/gloves be a rarity in the NHL in about 5 years.

I agree... I see more CCM than Vaughn at the junior level... With Vaughn, CCM and Bauer having exclusive rights it's a really niche market.

Warrior is the complete opposite! 

[Moose75]

31 minutes ago, cwarnar said:

Gentik IV's with Heritage Graphic for Nilsson

I wonder if management didn't want him to wear a colored set after last season. I've seen stories about other teams doing that. Supposedly Tampa Bay allows mostly white only, and LA told Scrivens to ditch his black set up.

[coopaloop1234]

7 minutes ago, Moose75 said:

I wonder if management didn't want him to wear a colored set after last season. I've seen stories about other teams doing that. Supposedly Tampa Bay allows mostly white only, and LA told Scrivens to ditch his black set up.

Doubt it.

I mean, Markstom and Dipietro are still in white based gear and Demko has zero white. I don't think the Canucks are as totalitarian about pad schemes in the same fashion as LA.

[southpawtendy48]

15 minutes ago, Moose75 said:

I wonder if management didn't want him to wear a colored set after last season. I've seen stories about other teams doing that. Supposedly Tampa Bay allows mostly white only, and LA told Scrivens to ditch his black set up.

If I was a goalie in the NHL and they told me that, I’d say f*ck it, I wear what I want 

[coopaloop1234]

9 minutes ago, southpawtendy48 said:

If I was a goalie in the NHL and they told me that, I’d say f*ck it, I wear what I want 

Have fun not having a job.

[stackem30]

I was about to say that haha. Doesn't matter if you're a star athlete, it's still a job, and you still have a boss who tells you what the rules are.

[coopaloop1234]

4 minutes ago, stackem30 said:

I was about to say that haha. Doesn't matter if you're a star athlete, it's still a job, and you still have a boss who tells you what the rules are.

Even the prestigious goalies (Price/Lundqvuist) would be hard pressed to push that limit.

Owners get final say.

[stackem30]

1 minute ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Even the prestigious goalies (Price/Lundqvuist) would be hard pressed to push that limit.

Owners get final say.

There are very few athletes in pro sports that have that type of pull with owners, if any. Lebron and Brady come to mind... but I'm not even sure they'd openly disobey a direct order from an owner. Them's the breaks.

[TitanG]

3 hours ago, cwarnar said:

Gentik IV's with Heritage Graphic for Nilsson

Nilsson has great style, only wish his numbers were as consistent.

Also, I wonder if the change would have anything to do with them changing goalie coaching to Clarke who was previously in Columbus? Doubt it though, probably just Nilsson's choice.

[southpawtendy48]

2 hours ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Have fun not having a job.

2 hours ago, stackem30 said:

I was about to say that haha. Doesn't matter if you're a star athlete, it's still a job, and you still have a boss who tells you what the rules are.

Obviously I’d change the look of my gear if it meant having a job in the nhl. I’d like for people to know I’m joking but then I forget to realize it’s hard to tell whether you’re joking or not over the internet, lol

[southpawtendy48]

Dylan Ferguson’s VE8s 

[dualshowman]

5 hours ago, cwarnar said:

Gentik IV's with Heritage Graphic for Nilsson

Sean Burke would approve.

[RichMan]

1 hour ago, southpawtendy48 said:

Dylan Ferguson’s VE8s 

Notice his skates are rockered. That's gotta feel weird with goalie skates.