Streamlined/New Spec CCM C/A

[Chenner29]

Hey folks,

I had the opportunity to pick up one of these from Sideline Swap and pulled the trigger. 
This was marked as a Varlamov pro return, Fit 3 with -1" on the arms.

Obviously, with rinks shut down, I have not been able to get it on the ice yet.

I don't think it's worth a full scale review, as AFAIK these are NHL issue only.  They won't be widely available, and it doesn't look like any facsimile is going to be making it to the retail level.  However, I will dedicate some space to my thoughts on it and open up discussion for anyone who wants to find out more.  I'd be happy to answer questions, take measurements, or whatever else you may have.

Enjoy the pictures in the meantime.

[Chenner29]

First impressions:
This is a very solidly built unit with plastic throughout.  It feels like a bit of an amalgamation between the original Reebok P1, along with the CCM Premier and Eflex lines.

The body is more or less an updated P1, but there are key pieces where it has been reinforced.  I want to look at the arms first.   Luckily (?) the forearm pieces wore through a bit and allows us a peek inside.  It looks like there is a 1/4" layer of LD foam, followed by a plastic sheet, then backed by a piece of 3/8" HD foam. The forearm and bicep pads feel like a shin pad, which was kind of the protection level I wanted to try out after seeing the CURV reinforced Bauer 1X and the Warrior robo-arm units.

The arms have multiple components that go in to them.  There is a soft foam padded sleeve, covered by the plastic/HD composition forearm and bicep pads, and then the arm floaters.  Here is a side profile of the floaters, they are pretty girthy and I have issue fitting into a 58g jersey (5'11, 190lb, so I'm not huge).  Note that the arms wrap in three directions: front, outside, and inside. 

Traditional styled elbow cups are gone with this unit, and instead we have a pretty neat "player style" elbow system.  They have their own individual adjustment, so you can go as tight or as loose as you need here.  Also note the integrated under-forearm protection.

The elbows velcro in to the back of the arms, so you arms don't "float" as freely inside the sleeves as they would on a traditional unit.  Tons of adjustment available here.

The shoulder floaters also utilize generous amounts of plastic.  They don't flex.  It's hard to illustrate with a picture, but I am applying a fair bit of pressure on the shoulder floater here and it doesn't budge.  Compare that to say, my Kenesky unit which can be folded pretty easily.

[ZeroGravitas]

What's changed from P1? The shoulder floaters are different. The belly blocks are different. There's D3O in the sternum. The harness as changed too.

[Chenner29]

3 hours ago, ZeroGravitas said:

What's changed from P1? The shoulder floaters are different. The belly blocks are different. There's D3O in the sternum. The harness as changed too.

A lot more plastic.  It's in the shoulder and arm floaters, as well as the bicep and forearm pads.

[BadAngle41]

@Chenner29... could you take some measurements of the floaters... overall width... length... and speak to how functional the diagonal breaks at the top are?

[Xdave90x]

Man I'd love to try one ! The guy who sharpen my skates often have some pro return gear from some AHL guys and damn it's always tempting to buy a chest and arm 

[creasecollector]

This is a great looking C/A. Jealous.

[Chenner29]

13 hours ago, BadAngle41 said:

@Chenner29... could you take some measurements of the floaters... overall width... length... and speak to how functional the diagonal breaks at the top are?

Shoulder floaters, widest point: 5.25" (not counting binding) 6.25" (including binding)

Elbow floaters, front: 6.5"

Elbow floaters, depth: 6.5"

Base of collar to bottom: 22"

Body width: 12"

Diagonal breaks on top of the shoulder floaters are probably to keep the shoulders from being too square or "pointy" -
see the comparison pics between Giguere and Price - I know a pre and post spec Price pic comparison would be better as he's been in both generations of C/A - but I think this illustrates my point a bit better.  You can see how the shoulders round out a bit more at the farthest point.

[rlwillis33]

If i'm not mistaken @TheGoalNet has a comparison video on his youtube channel of this C/A compared to the retail C/A's. He goes over the materials used and measurements of floaters etc...

[mr_shifty1982]

The body of this looks like the beefed up version which The Goalie Crease was selling which I rock. Major difference between off the self as I was getting bruises in the belly area and chest. No bruise to date with this. 

[Chenner29]

Updated post 2 with some more in depth pictures.

[creasecollector]

That elbow area looks great. Nicely done CCM. I really like the look of this unit. If a Senior Small ever becomes available....

[TheGoalNet]

On 4/8/2020 at 8:28 AM, rlwillis33 said:

If i'm not mistaken @TheGoalNet has a comparison video on his youtube channel of this C/A compared to the retail C/A's. He goes over the materials used and measurements of floaters etc...

[saitagoalie]

Sweet looking c/a. I wish retail units were like this.

[Taco]

3 hours ago, saitagoalie said:

Sweet looking c/a. I wish retail units were like this.

Try the new Optik 2. Arms look very similar and are pretty thick (elbow cup is not a full player pad, though). Shoulders etc are more contoured than some other units. Makes my Ventus, which has been a wonderful unit for past 4 or 5 years and no stinger, feel like a toy in comparison. 

[saitagoalie]

On 4/30/2020 at 4:17 PM, Taco said:

Try the new Optik 2. Arms look very similar and are pretty thick (elbow cup is not a full player pad, though). Shoulders etc are more contoured than some other units. Makes my Ventus, which has been a wonderful unit for past 4 or 5 years and no stinger, feel like a toy in comparison. 

I don't really need a new c/a, I have a custom Brown already :) I just wish stock c/a's in general were made with plain regular nylon, no gimmicks. And the player elbow cups look so comfy.

[Chenner29]

Want to cap this post off after some extensive use of this chest pad. 

I've been skating twice a week since...late April? (recently it's been two pickups, but also working as a target at clinics/training sessions) with AA/AAA kids up to current and former Junior, D1, and pro guys - to give you an idea of the shot quality I have been facing.

I have felt nothing but dull thuds in this unit.  Arm mobility was initially restrictive at first, but I was able to loosen it up by fiddling with the straps behind the elbow floaters. 

It is the best. 

It is the new unicorn.

[TWI]

On 7/31/2020 at 12:53 PM, Chenner29 said:

Want to cap this post off after some extensive use of this chest pad. 

I've been skating twice a week since...late April? (recently it's been two pickups, but also working as a target at clinics/training sessions) with AA/AAA kids up to current and former Junior, D1, and pro guys - to give you an idea of the shot quality I have been facing.

I have felt nothing but dull thuds in this unit.  Arm mobility was initially restrictive at first, but I was able to loosen it up by fiddling with the straps behind the elbow floaters. 

It is the best. 

It is the new unicorn.

I was able to acquire a brand new one of these and the arm flexibility has been the only drawback during the two ice sessions I have in it. To clarify the straps you adjusted, these were the ones attached to the arm and not a part of the independent, removable layer-style elbow pad, correct?

The only other slight negative worth mentioning is that that the cut on the body under the arm is very high and rigid. It was a little uncomfortable the day after as the body piece was pressing into my torso right under my armpits. Did you have any issue in this area? 

[Chenner29]

1 hour ago, TWI said:

I was able to acquire a brand new one of these and the arm flexibility has been the only drawback during the two ice sessions I have in it. To clarify the straps you adjusted, these were the ones attached to the arm and not a part of the independent, removable layer-style elbow pad, correct?

 

The only other slight negative worth mentioning is that that the cut on the body under the arm is very high and rigid. It was a little uncomfortable the day after as the body piece was pressing into my torso right under my armpits. Did you have any issue in this area? 

Congrats...mine was purchased used so it was pretty broken in already.

RE: Straps/Arms - they were tightened down as much as they could be when I got it.  I've loosened them a bit and like where they're at now.  I have the elbow pads pretty snug to get a little more feedback when I move.
I ran some skate lace through the arm portions, tied the arms flexed, and left it in my bathroom for 2 weeks.  It seemed like this helped a lot as I can touch the top of my head with no restriction.

RE: body under the arm - do you mean the upper rib protection?  I wear this unit tucked, tied down to the pants, and with the fight strap clipped to the back of my pants.  I also added suspender retainers to the shoulder floaters and unstitched the half-circle shaped flap at the bottom of the torso.  It doesn't push into my ribs any more.

[TWI]

On 10/3/2020 at 7:33 PM, Chenner29 said:

Congrats...mine was purchased used so it was pretty broken in already.

RE: Straps/Arms - they were tightened down as much as they could be when I got it.  I've loosened them a bit and like where they're at now.  I have the elbow pads pretty snug to get a little more feedback when I move.
I ran some skate lace through the arm portions, tied the arms flexed, and left it in my bathroom for 2 weeks.  It seemed like this helped a lot as I can touch the top of my head with no restriction.

RE: body under the arm - do you mean the upper rib protection?  I wear this unit tucked, tied down to the pants, and with the fight strap clipped to the back of my pants.  I also added suspender retainers to the shoulder floaters and unstitched the half-circle shaped flap at the bottom of the torso.  It doesn't push into my ribs any more.

Sounds like a case of great minds think alike I dare say...currently the unit is tied up like a prisoner to assist in the arm mobility and I was only halfway through my skate before I had decided the half-circle flap needed to go...

I do mean the upper rib protection, that is a much better descriptor. I neither clipped, tied, or tucked so we differ there. Perhaps I'll try one or all of those. With the half-circle attached a tuck would have been difficult without it folding so tomorrow's project will be removing that. I do have a bungee style suspender setup that went over the floaters but is not attached to them at all. I'm currently in a Warrior Pro G2 and don't tuck or tie anything there so I was initially trying out the same variables to get an accurate comparison. 

The arms on mine are just marked REG. I think a -1 would be preferable. The body is a Fit 3. I can't even imagine touching the top of my head in it right now! So stiff. But hey the guy it was for just lifted something much bigger over his head so I'm sure it'll get there... I'm half considering wearing it for a nice steam shower to maybe break it in a little, or at least trick me into thinking it's softened up.

Am I absolutely crazy to consider playing with the velcro loops attaching the arms undone? I feel that would assist upper arm mobility, but if I'm also loosening the outer arm (I agree again with you that I want the inner elbow piece snug) I feel the arms may not stay right where I want them. I think some house wearing might be in the future. I love the thing but for my league games haven't made the switch as I'm not super comfortable in it yet.

Getting a jersey over it was an adventure at first. I'm glad I didn't have one of my Reebok 58G as I sincerely doubt the arm/shoulder area would be wide enough for this thing. 

[Chenner29]

On 10/3/2020 at 11:11 PM, TWI said:

Sounds like a case of great minds think alike I dare say...currently the unit is tied up like a prisoner to assist in the arm mobility and I was only halfway through my skate before I had decided the half-circle flap needed to go...

I do mean the upper rib protection, that is a much better descriptor. I neither clipped, tied, or tucked so we differ there. Perhaps I'll try one or all of those. With the half-circle attached a tuck would have been difficult without it folding so tomorrow's project will be removing that. I do have a bungee style suspender setup that went over the floaters but is not attached to them at all. I'm currently in a Warrior Pro G2 and don't tuck or tie anything there so I was initially trying out the same variables to get an accurate comparison. 

The arms on mine are just marked REG. I think a -1 would be preferable. The body is a Fit 3. I can't even imagine touching the top of my head in it right now! So stiff. But hey the guy it was for just lifted something much bigger over his head so I'm sure it'll get there... I'm half considering wearing it for a nice steam shower to maybe break it in a little, or at least trick me into thinking it's softened up.

Am I absolutely crazy to consider playing with the velcro loops attaching the arms undone? I feel that would assist upper arm mobility, but if I'm also loosening the outer arm (I agree again with you that I want the inner elbow piece snug) I feel the arms may not stay right where I want them. I think some house wearing might be in the future. I love the thing but for my league games haven't made the switch as I'm not super comfortable in it yet.

Getting a jersey over it was an adventure at first. I'm glad I didn't have one of my Reebok 58G as I sincerely doubt the arm/shoulder area would be wide enough for this thing. 

I found the the half circle made the unit ride up and pushed down on my jock. It would always end up folding inside my pants, so I got rid of it. I haven’t had an issue with the rib protectors riding up since then. 

I would hang the unit on my towel rack in the bathroom and let the shower run for a few minutes before popping in. If you own a Rocket Dryer, you can tie the arms up after a skate and pop it in there for some extra “reps.”  I think it is important to get a little bit of water and heat in there to simulate sweat to help loosen up the nylon, glue, and foam. 
 

My concern with wearing the arms loose would mostly be related to the arm units twisting or rotating around the arm. Kind of like wearing pads without any type of toe attachment, IMO you need something to help the padding center itself. 

If the arms are too long, you can fold the elastic at the top to take off 1” off and run a stitch through.  Make sure you use waxed thread or dental floss and run a tight stitch - if your spacing is too far out, the stitching is gonna pull out of the elastic. 

I’ve been wearing this unit mainly with a blank Adidas 58g and a blank CCM pro return 58g without any issues.  There’s a slight bit of bagginess in the jersey but I prefer this kind of fit over a huge jersey anyway. 

[Chenner29]

On 5/2/2020 at 9:05 PM, saitagoalie said:

I don't really need a new c/a, I have a custom Brown already I just wish stock c/a's in general were made with plain regular nylon, no gimmicks. And the player elbow cups look so comfy.

While I'm in here, the Axis c/a is a 99% copy of these arms, except the protection level is not nearly as heavy duty.

Biggest change I noticed was how the velcro attaches at the wrist. You still get the player style elbow pad and the wrap around arm protection.

PSA, whoever put the arms on the Axis chesties has been doing it wrong.

If you got yours like this (with the attachment point to the body in yellow), you need to flip the arms, otherwise the blue portion is going to dig into your armpits. 

I caught this and fixed all the units at my local GoalieMonkey.

[RichMan]

16 hours ago, TWI said:

I was able to acquire a brand new one of these and the arm flexibility has been the only drawback during the two ice sessions I have in it. To clarify the straps you adjusted, these were the ones attached to the arm and not a part of the independent, removable layer-style elbow pad, correct?

How did you manage to score a new one?

[TWI]

On 10/4/2020 at 10:45 AM, RichMan said:

How did you manage to score a new one?

I used to work in hockey for 10ish years and formed many friendships and still enjoy doing odd jobs here and there. Recently a local team had pretty much all of its staff encapsulated in another country and needed some housekeeping items done back here at home. I was happy to accept a new in the bag C/A instead of currency. 

I was told the original owner to be "couldn't wear CCM anymore". I don't know how true the "couldn't" part is but he had switched away from it, as far as outward pieces are concerned, during the season. 

On 10/3/2020 at 11:44 PM, Chenner29 said:

I found the the half circle made the unit ride up and pushed down on my jock. It would always end up folding inside my pants, so I got rid of it. I haven’t had an issue with the rib protectors riding up since then. 

I would hang the unit on my towel rack in the bathroom and let the shower run for a few minutes before popping in. If you own a Rocket Dryer, you can tie the arms up after a skate and pop it in there for some extra “reps.”  I think it is important to get a little bit of water and heat in there to simulate sweat to help loosen up the nylon, glue, and foam. 

My concern with wearing the arms loose would mostly be related to the arm units twisting or rotating around the arm. Kind of like wearing pads without any type of toe attachment, IMO you need something to help the padding center itself. 

If the arms are too long, you can fold the elastic at the top to take off 1” off and run a stitch through.  Make sure you use waxed thread or dental floss and run a tight stitch - if your spacing is too far out, the stitching is gonna pull out of the elastic. 

I’ve been wearing this unit mainly with a blank Adidas 58g and a blank CCM pro return 58g without any issues.  There’s a slight bit of bagginess in the jersey but I prefer this kind of fit over a huge jersey anyway. 

Same exact issue I had with the jock. I'm encouraged this relatively simple fix mitigated the rib issue I feel. 

I think I'll try another skate or two before I do any stitching, see how the steam shower treatment works. I do have the rocket dryer so maybe I'll toss it in there too. Already pulled out the speedy stitcher in anticipation of it's use.