TheGoalNet Posted March 29, 2017 Share Posted March 29, 2017 The Start of Something New: GoaliePro Gear The majority of the readers for TheGoalNet.com have some form of social consciousness when it comes to purchasing equipment. Many of us prefer gear made in North America, if not from small businesses. However, we are in our own little bubble and often overlook some of hockey’s biggest markets and their contributions to our sport and its equipment. Jukka Ropponen is one of the pioneers in the finnish goaltending style. It’s a technique that was popularized by Miikka Kiprusoff, Nicklas Backstrom, Pekka Rinne, and Tuukka Rask. This style has become so dominate that Hockey Canada has begun to integrate some of its teachings to better enhance the future of Canada’s young goalies. The impact of Finish goaltending was even featured in 2014 New York Times article. GoaliePro, Jukka’ company, does much more than year round goalie training and schools, it imports and distributes some of Canada’s best goaltending products to Finland. This includes equipment from Brian’s and McKenney and nutritional supplement Biosteel. With the rising cost of hockey equipment, consumer’s natural tendency to try and save a buck, and major fluctuations in the Canadian Dollar, Jukka challenged himself to find a lower cost compliment to his Canadian made gear. This goal was a formidable one as he felt it had to be done without involving low cost labor from Asia. For those of you not aware, producing products in the EU is the same or more expensive than building gear in North America. They are faced with the same issues of high labor costs that we do. According to the Social Progress Index, Finland has the highest standard of living in entire world. For comparison, USA is 19 on the list and Canada is number 2, behind Finland. After vetting 15 potential manufacturing partners, GoaliePro accomplished their goal and sourced production from the hockey mad Czech Republic. The process included 15 factory visits, 10 sets of test samples, and 5 company presentations before selecting their partner. According to Jukka, “Quality, pricing and customization capabilities were key”. The long term goal of GoaliePro branded equipment is to “constantly improve the designs” that are being created by Jukka and his son Tony. Although he would not share specifics with me, he was clear that the brand has bigger design ideas than being another me too product. The current offering consists of 2 sr sized lines, Butterfly and Hybrid, and Int / Jr versions of the Hybrid. They are very open to custom requests and feel that “Almost anything is possible”. They would even go so far as to request custom tooling “as long as customer is will[ing] to pay the costs of new plastic molds etc [for the] creation of new parts”. The products are currently available through many reps, including Finn Goalie, in North America. Many of the bigger resale partners give you the opportunity to see and demo gear before making a purchase. In my correspondence with Jukka, I think the most interesting question ended up being about marketing. The “resellers to accept a new brand” has been the largest challenge that GoaliePro has faced to date. With a startup gear company, I would have bet the farm that there were a quality issue or two along the way and it’s fantastic they were able to avoid that pitfall. However, when it comes to the marketing, they’ve had one going for them since the start, European pros have been in their gear since day 1 and “that helped to build credibility”. After reading this article, I anticipate many of you are probably wondering why choose GoaliePro vs some of the other smaller OEMs out there? Jukka feels that GoaliePro’s equipment has some unqiue advantages being that it is “European designed” and is “combined with GoaliePro's knowledge of the game and design capabilities”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoalNet Posted April 5, 2017 Author Share Posted April 5, 2017 On 3/29/2017 at 11:19 AM, TheGoalNet said: I will be interviewing Goalie Pro (the equipment brand arm) next week. This is Jukka's new equipment company. Please suggest any questions or topics you wanted covered below and I will work them in. On 3/29/2017 at 11:19 AM, TheGoalNet said: I will be interviewing Goalie Pro (the equipment brand arm) next week. This is Jukka's new equipment company. Please suggest any questions or topics you wanted covered below and I will work them in. I know there's an active thread on the topic, but let me know if there's anything you'd like me to ask Jukka for the article a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoalNet Posted May 19, 2017 Author Share Posted May 19, 2017 @Jukka Ropponen - Thanks for the interview, we are live!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonPost Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 They look like solid pads with the flat faced one being the most intriguing. Having said that I would hire a graphic designed ASAP. Most of it looks boring and the red one with the logos looks like someone just slapped on a patch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoalNet Posted May 21, 2017 Author Share Posted May 21, 2017 1 hour ago, DonPost said: They look like solid pads with the flat faced one being the most intriguing. Having said that I would hire a graphic designed ASAP. Most of it looks boring and the red one with the logos looks like someone just slapped on a patch. It's all about custom theyll do any graphic you want Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaveByRichter35 Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 On 3/29/2017 at 0:19 PM, TheGoalNet said: Is that an extra row of belly padding on top of the main pad or is that a movable flap that is tied to the main pad with nothing under it? I love the design of this c/a, it looks very streamlined. Although I would prefer it without the bigger bicep pad that sticks out the most and the armpit cheater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoalNet Posted May 22, 2017 Author Share Posted May 22, 2017 14 hours ago, SaveByRichter35 said: Is that an extra row of belly padding on top of the main pad or is that a movable flap that is tied to the main pad with nothing under it? I love the design of this c/a, it looks very streamlined. Although I would prefer it without the bigger bicep pad that sticks out the most and the armpit cheater. I believe it's removable we didn't get into many details on the C&A, but depending on the price point, this could be like 2nd coming of Passua. Based on the photos, the unit looks great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaveByRichter35 Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 7 hours ago, TheGoalNet said: I believe it's removable we didn't get into many details on the C&A, but depending on the price point, this could be like 2nd coming of Passua. Based on the photos, the unit looks great Ok so if its removable then I assume it is a 2nd layer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoalNet Posted May 22, 2017 Author Share Posted May 22, 2017 @Jukka Ropponen - any feedback on the C&A? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jukka Ropponen Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 That extra piece is removable, but so far everyone has kept it there as far as we know. The main thing we did with C/A is that we added real pro level support for the belly are and arms. Those are actually extra layers that you can easily see when handling our C/A. This extra layer is soft one that comes against your body and arms. Jukka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jukka Ropponen Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 On 5/21/2017 at 3:56 AM, DonPost said: They look like solid pads with the flat faced one being the most intriguing. Having said that I would hire a graphic designed ASAP. Most of it looks boring and the red one with the logos looks like someone just slapped on a patch. We will keep our designs basic, clean and simple. There is already so many brands with all kinds of tribal etc wild designs. Our focus will be on solid gear and development. On customization we will do things like team logo's, advertising etc, but not extreme graphics like Brian's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGoalNet Posted May 22, 2017 Author Share Posted May 22, 2017 1 hour ago, Jukka Ropponen said: That extra piece is removable, but so far everyone has kept it there as far as we know. The main thing we did with C/A is that we added real pro level support for the belly are and arms. Those are actually extra layers that you can easily see when handling our C/A. This extra layer is soft one that comes against your body and arms. Jukka Any idea what pricing in CAD or USD for the C&A? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaveByRichter35 Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 2 hours ago, Jukka Ropponen said: That extra piece is removable, but so far everyone has kept it there as far as we know... Jukka Oh I would definitely keep it. I was just curious if that was an extra layer on top of a base layer or if it was the actual base layer strung in like that to offer a flex point for when down in the crouch. Would also be a good spot to route suspenders for those of us who don't tuck but like to have the suspenders over the c/a. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jukka Ropponen Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 12 hours ago, TheGoalNet said: Any idea what pricing in CAD or USD for the C&A? Right now Pro C/A sells for 455 USD (+ tax) at Europe Jukka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadsM Posted May 24, 2017 Share Posted May 24, 2017 Hi @Jukka Ropponen Thank you very much for taking your time to answer questions. What is the base pricing of your pads, and what are the estimated prices if you want a complete custom layout on the pads, with design embeded in the pads, and not just as stickers, if you got any base prices I would love to hear what those are. Sorry for bad formatting as i tried to format the last post and that ended up being posted 2-3 times instead of making a new section. Have a nice weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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