Inspirations on gear

[CCSH]

Anybody else have small inspirations like quotes etc on their gear?

Personally, I have a smiley face on my glove (after Mitch Marner), and on my lacrosse helmet, I have "step" and "ball" on the sides of my helmet, as well as "Proverbs 13:4" across my throat guard if you didn't already think I was extra.

I like seeing reminders like this before a practice or game to remind me of the essentials as well as remember that it's just a game and the goal is to have fun, because I  don't have the best relationships with certain referees...

I'd like to hear if I'm just super extra or if anyone else does this too

[BadAngle41]

When it was a competive environment they were things like “Win or Learn” or “Make it Happen”. Now it’s more about reminders to keep perspective, like “Have Fun” on my blocker and the kids’s initials on my glove. 

Theyre just written in gold sharpie so sometimes instead of rewriting the same ones I’ll change them up. Whatever helps put me in a clear and relaxed state of mind. 

Since I can remember I’ve always skated dot to dot after a goal for or against. Just lets me reset. Placebo effect or not, if you believe it, it works. 

[bunnyman666]

Once I put “GFYTV” on my helmet, but my target was not smart enough to see that I was telling him to go Fuck himself; so I wore a sweater that said “Screw U” on it and pointed to it with my glove when the wanker would wind up! Needless to say he finally got what I had to say!!!!

[Punisher Goalie]

8 hours ago, bunnyman666 said:

Once I put “GFYTV” on my helmet, but my target was not smart enough to see that I was telling him to go Fuck himself; so I wore a sweater that said “Screw U” on it and pointed to it with my glove when the wanker would wind up! Needless to say he finally got what I had to say!!!!

Very inspiring. 

[bunnyman666]

1 hour ago, Punisher Goalie said:

Very inspiring. 

I was trying to inspire that wanker to go f*** himself!!!! Instead, he whiffed shots and would swear like a sailor and cry like a baby! 

[coopaloop1234]

1 hour ago, bunnyman666 said:

I was trying to inspire that wanker to go f*** himself!!!! Instead, he whiffed shots and would swear like a sailor and cry like a baby! 

Sounds like bunnyman after a few drinky-poos.

[stackem30]

I write "Thanks, D&T" under the top part of blockers. I've been doing it since I started playing in net. D&T are my parents' initials, and they were so wonderfully supportive of my random whim to play goalie when I was a kid. I'll indulge in a sentimental (but cool) story:

My father took me to a Devils-Sabres game in December of 1996, and we had some amazing seats he'd purchased from a business client, a few rows behind the visitor's net for two periods. It was Brodeur vs. Hasek, and it was the only 0-0 tie in Devils history... both guys played out of their minds, each making 37 saves, each more spectacular than the last. I later learned that they cut the puck in half and each took a half home. Anyway, after a whole game of those two diving and flailing and flopping right in front of me, I was thoroughly convinced that playing goalie must be the funnest, coolest thing on the planet.

I began some "learn to play hockey" clinic ~1997. I wanted to jump in the nets right away so badly, but my folks (rightfully so) wanted to see if my interest in learning to skate and play hockey was a fleeting whim before they were ready to talk about me playing goalie. Plus, I was kinda shy about asking them. But I did have street hockey goalie pads, and they saw how obsessed I was, running home after school every day to put on my pads and force my friends to shoot on me in our driveway. For my 10th birthday, my folks gave me a Heaton Helite IV stick, and told me that they'd talked to my clinic coaches, and that they'd given me the thumbs up to play in goal. I just wore my street hockey gear over my player stuff (I think I added a street hockey belly pad...), but you couldn't have told me that I didn't look like a cool, real goalie. I was so excited.

One week later, my dad's car was stolen out of our driveway, with my hockey bag inside (funny, auto-theft wasn't exactly a concern in my hometown). The car was recovered, but all the gear was gone. I was heartbroken, but my dad sat me down and told me that insurance would take care of everything. He said, "Okay, this was unexpected, but now you have a choice to make... do you want to be a shooter, or are you serious about being a goalie?" I probably said "GOALIE" before the word 'or' was out of his mouth. He said okay, and he talked to me a bit about how it would mean more pressure, getting blamed for goals, how it was more of a solitary position, etc. I told him I was not only okay with that, but that I thought that was the fun part (I had a good 'attitude model' in Brodeur, after all).

He took me to our local hockey shop (it later became Sports Section, run by the Devils ex-equipment manager Dave Nichols, for any Jersey folk reading this), and I got suited up in my first set of gear: black Bauer skates, some used blue-and-white Cooper pads, black Bauer Reactor gloves, and a "real" goalie helmet from Itech. And of course, another Heaton stick.

I'm really not trying to sound like Tiny Tim here or anything, but I've always had some weird guilt about receiving gifts (it's not admirable, really, it's truly weird...). Anyway, I remember crying the whole way home, I was just so touched and overwhelmed that my parents were making my dream come true. I'd seen that shot of Roy's blocker in that great VHS, "NHL Masked Men", where he had "Be a winner!" written on the underside of his blocker, so when we got home I grabbed a silver paint-pen, and wrote "Thanks D&T" on the underside of my blocker (writing Thanks Mom and Dad must have been too embarrassing).

Anyway, it's something I kept doing in middle school and high school. At that point, it was just a reminder to work hard... if I was tired, or playing lazy at the end of a practice, I'd try to look at the little message, and remind myself how privileged I was to be out there, and to not take it for granted. It's been many years since my parents paid for my gear or for me to play hockey, but I still write a "Thanks D&T" on each blocker, just to remind myself how fortunate I am to be healthy and playing the position I love... all thanks to my parents.

[Naz]

44 minutes ago, stackem30 said:

I write "Thanks, D&T" under the top part of blockers. I've been doing it since I started playing in net. D&T are my parents' initials, and they were so wonderfully supportive of my random whim to play goalie when I was a kid. I'll indulge in a sentimental (but cool) story:

My father took me to a Devils-Sabres game in December of 1996, and we had some amazing seats he'd purchased from a business client, a few rows behind the visitor's net for two periods. It was Brodeur vs. Hasek, and it was the only 0-0 tie in Devils history... both guys played out of their minds, each making 37 saves, each more spectacular than the last. I later learned that they cut the puck in half and each took a half home. Anyway, after a whole game of those two diving and flailing and flopping right in front of me, I was thoroughly convinced that playing goalie must be the funnest, coolest thing on the planet.

I began some "learn to play hockey" clinic ~1997. I wanted to jump in the nets right away so badly, but my folks (rightfully so) wanted to see if my interest in learning to skate and play hockey was a fleeting whim before they were ready to talk about me playing goalie. Plus, I was kinda shy about asking them. But I did have street hockey goalie pads, and they saw how obsessed I was, running home after school every day to put on my pads and force my friends to shoot on me in our driveway. For my 10th birthday, my folks gave me a Heaton Helite IV stick, and told me that they'd talked to my clinic coaches, and that they'd given me the thumbs up to play in goal. I just wore my street hockey gear over my player stuff (I think I added a street hockey belly pad...), but you couldn't have told me that I didn't look like a cool, real goalie. I was so excited.

One week later, my dad's car was stolen out of our driveway, with my hockey bag inside (funny, auto-theft wasn't exactly a concern in my hometown). The car was recovered, but all the gear was gone. I was heartbroken, but my dad sat me down and told me that insurance would take care of everything. He said, "Okay, this was unexpected, but now you have a choice to make... do you want to be a shooter, or are you serious about being a goalie?" I probably said "GOALIE" before the word 'or' was out of his mouth. He said okay, and he talked to me a bit about how it would mean more pressure, getting blamed for goals, how it was more of a solitary position, etc. I told him I was not only okay with that, but that I thought that was the fun part (I had a good 'attitude model' in Brodeur, after all).

He took me to our local hockey shop (it later became Sports Section, run by the Devils ex-equipment manager Dave Nichols, for any Jersey folk reading this), and I got suited up in my first set of gear: black Bauer skates, some used blue-and-white Cooper pads, black Bauer Reactor gloves, and a "real" goalie helmet from Itech. And of course, another Heaton stick.

I'm really not trying to sound like Tiny Tim here or anything, but I've always had some weird guilt about receiving gifts (it's not admirable, really, it's truly weird...). Anyway, I remember crying the whole way home, I was just so touched and overwhelmed that my parents were making my dream come true. I'd seen that shot of Roy's blocker in that great VHS, "NHL Masked Men", where he had "Be a winner!" written on the underside of his blocker, so when we got home I grabbed a silver paint-pen, and wrote "Thanks D&T" on the underside of my blocker (writing Thanks Mom and Dad must have been too embarrassing).

Anyway, it's something I kept doing in middle school and high school. At that point, it was just a reminder to work hard... if I was tired, or playing lazy at the end of a practice, I'd try to look at the little message, and remind myself how privileged I was to be out there, and to not take it for granted. It's been many years since my parents paid for my gear or for me to play hockey, but I still write a "Thanks D&T" on each blocker, just to remind myself how fortunate I am to be healthy and playing the position I love... all thanks to my parents.

LOVE that story, and LOVE that you keep writing the "Thanks D&T".  It's only 9:06am here on the west coast, but I know already that that is the best thing I will read all day.

[stackem30]

2 hours ago, Naz said:

LOVE that story, and LOVE that you keep writing the "Thanks D&T".  It's only 9:06am here on the west coast, but I know already that that is the best thing I will read all day.

Thanks man, I really appreciate that. I'm sure many of us have equally cool stories about our parents supporting our love of the position. Hockey really does tend to require a bit more sacrifice from parents (financial and time-wise) compared to other sports, arguably moreso when you're a goalie. Between the cost of gear, the early morning car rides to the rink, having your parents tie your skates, and all the car rides home after a tough game, I think a lot of kids start to appreciate what their family does to make it all happen.

[mr_shifty1982]

48 minutes ago, stackem30 said:

Thanks man, I really appreciate that. I'm sure many of us have equally cool stories about our parents supporting our love of the position. Hockey really does tend to require a bit more sacrifice from parents (financial and time-wise) compared to other sports, arguably moreso when you're a goalie. Between the cost of gear, the early morning car rides to the rink, having your parents tie your skates, and all the car rides home after a tough game, I think a lot of kids start to appreciate what their family does to make it all happen.

It's a wonderful story, but my parents laughed at me when I was 12-13 and wanted to take up hockey.  Well, the thing is that I'm from Israel.  I played soccer all my life and some basketball.  But I fell in love with the game the first time I saw it.  My parents supported me in every other way, sports too...but hockey? Come on.  A kid born in Israel was not going to start playing hockey, plus we came to a new country, things were different...you know....so I just took it up myself at the age of 27-28.....around 17 years after I landed in Canada haha.

[Chenner29]

7 hours ago, stackem30 said:

I write "Thanks, D&T" under the top part of blockers. I've been doing it since I started playing in net. D&T are my parents' initials, and they were so wonderfully supportive of my random whim to play goalie when I was a kid. I'll indulge in a sentimental (but cool) story:

My father took me to a Devils-Sabres game in December of 1996, and we had some amazing seats he'd purchased from a business client, a few rows behind the visitor's net for two periods. It was Brodeur vs. Hasek, and it was the only 0-0 tie in Devils history... both guys played out of their minds, each making 37 saves, each more spectacular than the last. I later learned that they cut the puck in half and each took a half home. Anyway, after a whole game of those two diving and flailing and flopping right in front of me, I was thoroughly convinced that playing goalie must be the funnest, coolest thing on the planet. 

I began some "learn to play hockey" clinic ~1997. I wanted to jump in the nets right away so badly, but my folks (rightfully so) wanted to see if my interest in learning to skate and play hockey was a fleeting whim before they were ready to talk about me playing goalie. Plus, I was kinda shy about asking them. But I did have street hockey goalie pads, and they saw how obsessed I was, running home after school every day to put on my pads and force my friends to shoot on me in our driveway. For my 10th birthday, my folks gave me a Heaton Helite IV stick, and told me that they'd talked to my clinic coaches, and that they'd given me the thumbs up to play in goal. I just wore my street hockey gear over my player stuff (I think I added a street hockey belly pad...), but you couldn't have told me that I didn't look like a cool, real goalie. I was so excited. 

One week later, my dad's car was stolen out of our driveway, with my hockey bag inside (funny, auto-theft wasn't exactly a concern in my hometown). The car was recovered, but all the gear was gone. I was heartbroken, but my dad sat me down and told me that insurance would take care of everything. He said, "Okay, this was unexpected, but now you have a choice to make... do you want to be a shooter, or are you serious about being a goalie?" I probably said "GOALIE" before the word 'or' was out of his mouth. He said okay, and he talked to me a bit about how it would mean more pressure, getting blamed for goals, how it was more of a solitary position, etc. I told him I was not only okay with that, but that I thought that was the fun part (I had a good 'attitude model' in Brodeur, after all). 

He took me to our local hockey shop (it later became Sports Section, run by the Devils ex-equipment manager Dave Nichols, for any Jersey folk reading this), and I got suited up in my first set of gear: black Bauer skates, some used blue-and-white Cooper pads, black Bauer Reactor gloves, and a "real" goalie helmet from Itech. And of course, another Heaton stick. 

I'm really not trying to sound like Tiny Tim here or anything, but I've always had some weird guilt about receiving gifts (it's not admirable, really, it's truly weird...). Anyway, I remember crying the whole way home, I was just so touched and overwhelmed that my parents were making my dream come true. I'd seen that shot of Roy's blocker in that great VHS, "NHL Masked Men", where he had "Be a winner!" written on the underside of his blocker, so when we got home I grabbed a silver paint-pen, and wrote "Thanks D&T" on the underside of my blocker (writing Thanks Mom and Dad must have been too embarrassing). 

Anyway, it's something I kept doing in middle school and high school. At that point, it was just a reminder to work hard... if I was tired, or playing lazy at the end of a practice, I'd try to look at the little message, and remind myself how privileged I was to be out there, and to not take it for granted. It's been many years since my parents paid for my gear or for me to play hockey, but I still write a "Thanks D&T" on each blocker, just to remind myself how fortunate I am to be healthy and playing the position I love... all thanks to my parents.

Nice story, I thought D&T stood for death and taxes for a minute.

I think Roy had "Be a warrior" on the back of his blocker.  The story I heard was his agent wrote it after he got traded to Colorado.

I'm thinking of getting "Don't be bad" embroidered on the back of my next blocker.  As if I have a choice in the matter!

[bunnyman666]

3 hours ago, Chenner29 said:

Nice story, I thought D&T stood for death and taxes for a minute.

I think Roy had "Be a warrior" on the back of his blocker.  The story I heard was his agent wrote it after he got traded to Colorado.

I'm thinking of getting "Don't be bad" embroidered on the back of my next blocker.  As if I have a choice in the matter!

Mine would be “try not to suck !!!”

[Mike24]

That’s mine.  

[stackem30]

16 hours ago, Chenner29 said:

Nice story, I thought D&T stood for death and taxes for a minute.

I think Roy had "Be a warrior" on the back of his blocker.  The story I heard was his agent wrote it after he got traded to Colorado.

I'm thinking of getting "Don't be bad" embroidered on the back of my next blocker.  As if I have a choice in the matter!

You're righttt, it was 'Be a warrior!'

I'm not thankful for death and taxes, but they'll be there anyway

[TheGoalNet]

1 pair of my golf shoes, I did NikeID. I put "have" and "fun" on the inside of the tongues.