Youth Recommendations

[glvsav37]

My little guy (8) has been playing about a year now. We cobbled together some gear for him. 

Reebok L7 21-inch pads, TotalHockey glove and blocker, all new but not overly expensive. 

He is playing mite minor travel this season and I want to look at maybe getting him a new set up mainly because IDK if the pads are the right size and/or not rotating as much as i would like. His blocker is fine, but his glove isn't opening and closing well, maybe we didn't break it in properly or not, he doesn't have the hand strength to open it, I don't know.

My local place only carries CCM (YFlex) and Vaughn (VE8) in the youth sizes. Would prefer the Vaughns over the CCM but not 100% sold on either. 

Any recommendations? experience? A easy break glove would be most helpful as that is his weakest issue right now.

[Max27]

you could check goalie monkeys youth sets, they have a 23 inch ccm pad, as you said the 21 is too small

CCM does a great job of making everything very game ready so your son should have an easier experience with having his glove snap shut, or any other issues with breaking his gear in , also the CCM Premier youth setups glove has a 2 piece cuff which will make the glove more flexible and if he has issues closing it still, a good idea is to use Tomy Ames from GoalieCreaseNetwork on Youtubes glove break in method.

Another thing that could be possible with his glove, which you said he has an issue closing, is he may be using a break that isnt meant for the way hes closing his hand. The 3 glove breaks, 590, 580, and 600, all shift your fingers in different positions when you close the glove, and depending on how your kid closes his hand when he closes his glove, he could likely be closing the glove in a way that isnt meant for the closure/ the way the glove shifts your fingers.

Let me know if you need anything else! 

[Korppi32]

• I think he can´t open and close the glove because it is stiff and he is still a weak, probably nothing to do with a thumb angle. And that´s all brands, but I think Warrior makes the best quality yth gear. Same with leg pads, Warrior yth plays like jr and sr models. Bauer Prodigy and CCM yth gear is fine for a young  goalie but those reminds street hockey gear. 

[glvsav37]

20 minutes ago, Korppi32 said:

• I think he can´t open and close the glove because it is stiff and he is still a weak, probably nothing to do with a thumb angle. And that´s all brands, but I think Warrior makes the best quality yth gear. Same with leg pads, Warrior yth plays like jr and sr models. Bauer Prodigy and CCM yth gear is fine for a young  goalie but those reminds street hockey gear. 

I was looking at warrior. I know a lot of people love them. I've tried but they didn't feel comfortable to me, but IDK how they will fit him. I just know a lot of people swear by their warrior gear, maybe more then others. 

I feel the same way about the CCM stuff. I use CCM, but their youth line just feels really cheap and very novice.

[Korppi32]

CCM and Bauer yth pads are light and ok choise if somebody is taking first steps to be a goalie. But Warrior is more like a modern goalie pad, maybe little stiffer but also lot of thinner model. Warrior catcher is also lot of sturdier than ccm or Bauer. If I remember right G4 yth and jr catchers are bigger than G3. So if you find a G3 jr glove it should be fine, it may be little stiff first but it stay open out of shell. One negative thing is that there isn´t any velcro straps for tightening

[glvsav37]

2 hours ago, Korppi32 said:

CCM and Bauer yth pads are light and ok choise if somebody is taking first steps to be a goalie. But Warrior is more like a modern goalie pad, maybe little stiffer but also lot of thinner model. Warrior catcher is also lot of sturdier than ccm or Bauer. If I remember right G4 yth and jr catchers are bigger than G3. So if you find a G3 jr glove it should be fine, it may be little stiff first but it stay open out of shell. One negative thing is that there isn´t any velcro straps for tightening

Ive been looking (online, not in my hand) at the Warrior Ritual G3 set up for him, just concerned about no-break in the pads. I tried pads with no break recently and hated it, so IDK how he will react. 

Looking at Brian's NetZero set as well. I've always loved Brian's from afar, but was out of my league price wise.

[MTH]

Does your program have a goalie coach? If so, ask him/her to see if some of the older goalies have gear. Most replace yearly. Maybe the goalie who played Mite Minor last year has their old glove or whatever to give. What we do at my rink.

[ZeroGravitas]

In my experience working retail, kids seem to have to easiest time with the Brian's Netzero catcher and, to a lesser extent, the Warrior catchers. CCM seems to be too stiff for most of the kids to close completely.

Parents love the Warrior leg pads because of how easy they are to put on, especially compared to some of the other brands which have regular skate lace toe ties.

The CCM YouthFlex is a bit different in that it seems to have a Monster Hockey HAL-like toe system.

Monkey's got Warrior G3s with the double break if that's what you're looking for.

[motowngoalie]

@glvsav37 if you're looking to sell, I might be interested in your TG glove/blocker set. I have a 5 y/o just starting out, but I don't know if I want to spend the $$ on a new set.