CCM Axis: First Thoughts & Living Review

[Chenner29]

On 8/24/2020 at 7:00 AM, BadAngle41 said:

After a Saturday morning skate... had very similar experience to @Chenner29 in that the loosening the strapping seems to bring these pads to life. To my previous note, I think when I went from EF1 to 2X the strapping system made me embrace a fit that was more loose than I had worn previously. But when going from my EF1 to Axis I was still trying to attach them the same way but they just need to be loosened up.

 

Additionally, I swapped out to a set of Hybrid ProLaces for a bit more slack. Felt really good. So a pair of Hybrid ProLaces that match the pads are now on order. Went with 1.5" toe tie length based on current set (bit of skate lace stretch from being well worn.)

3 hours ago, dstew29 said:

I've been using the hybrid TGN prolaces (DIY skate lace attachment) and was previously at like 3/4" slack on the skate lace. I'd been researching on here and saw a few pro setups (Price, Saros) where they were using at least 2" of skate lace slack at the attachment. Huge improvement for me last night so kudos to figuring that out as well! The pads just moved so fluid in crouch and bfly with a tighter seal too. 

FWIW, I just put in 2” ProLace Hybrids with an extra knot at the end. I’ll be skating tonight and tomorrow and will report back in. 
 

This sort of echoes my experience with Reebok Premiers - they had to be worn loose top to bottom to perform. I think I have been trying to wear my 20.1 like an Eflex. 

[TheGoalNet]

1 hour ago, Chenner29 said:

FWIW, I just put in 2” ProLace Hybrids with an extra knot at the end. I’ll be skating tonight and tomorrow and will report back in. 
 

This sort of echoes my experience with Reebok Premiers - they had to be worn loose top to bottom to perform. I think I have been trying to wear my 20.1 like an Eflex. 

There is a new ProLaces coming out that is a Trav4 spec. From what I understand, he has the same feeling. Instead of a longer hybrid, he went with longer bungee. It's kind of interesting that multiple people are going in a similar direction.

[benner33]

3 hours ago, TheGoalNet said:

There is a new ProLaces coming out that is a Trav4 spec. From what I understand, he has the same feeling. Instead of a longer hybrid, he went with longer bungee. It's kind of interesting that multiple people are going in a similar direction.

I would love that!

[BadAngle41]

18 hours ago, Chenner29 said:

FWIW, I just put in 2” ProLace Hybrids with an extra knot at the end. I’ll be skating tonight and tomorrow and will report back in. 
 

This sort of echoes my experience with Reebok Premiers - they had to be worn loose top to bottom to perform. I think I have been trying to wear my 20.1 like an Eflex. 

 

16 hours ago, TheGoalNet said:

There is a new ProLaces coming out that is a Trav4 spec. From what I understand, he has the same feeling. Instead of a longer hybrid, he went with longer bungee. It's kind of interesting that multiple people are going in a similar direction.

With the Axis now being a flat landing surface (vs. it's Premier predecessor)... having a somewhat loose connection at the ties is a must IMO. Otherwise your pad starts pulling up too quickly and leaves a gap along the ice.. especially with a centered toe bridge. So I can understand how the longer bungee could be of benefit over longer hybrid , but for me it would really be a matter of finding that sweet spot of tension on the bungee so it's not pulling up on my toe.

The current ProLaces hybrid offering gives me the slack I want out of the skate lace... and tension I need to snap the pad back when getting up. My concern with more bungee would be is it enough slack to not be pulling on my toes... while having enough tension to snap back. I'll be anxious to hear more about them.

Stock have a bungee with strong tension (roughly what ProLaces uses) but a HAL type attachment to the velcro and no slack. 

[BadAngle41]

One thing I'd like to point out is something @dstew29 mentioned in sizing. I've worn a 33" for quite some time and continued that with Axis. However, my Koho/CCM experience has largely been with softer pads. With Axis being as stiff as it is (I do have precurved single break internal, no break external) if you're between sizes per CCM's chart, I'd recommend either going down a size at retail or going custom and including a boot strap with your familiar sizing.

My FTK measure is 19.5" (so lower end of 33") and I can see where if I hadn't included a boot strap I'd potentially being hitting lower on the landing when going into butterfly.  Of course if you're able to get into a shop and try them on first, by all means do so. I placed my order w/o having ever seen them in person.

[Puckstopper]

Sounds like it's a good thing I dropped from 35" in EF4 to 34" in Axis.  

[BadAngle41]

1 hour ago, Puckstopper said:

Sounds like it's a good thing I dropped from 35" in EF4 to 34" in Axis.  

Yeah... if you're at that FTK of 21.5" mark you'll be better served with 34" (especially if you didn't get a boot strap.) Out of curiosity did you get a chance to try on in person etc. prior to ordering? Or in the same boat as me where it was decisions based on previous CCM gear?

[Puckstopper]

I just ordered based on how my EF4's fit.  Neither a 34" or 35" pad was a perfect fit in those.  I didn't want to end up with pads that were too short so I went 35+2 and was fairly content with them.  Given that Axis was a stiffer pad and the fact that I could have worn a 34" Eflex I decided to hedge my bets and move to 34+2.5" in the Axis.    Having gotten a couple sessions in with the demo 34" Axis set from the store I work at I definitely made the right choice.   Now I just need my set to show up!

[Puckstopper]

By the way, great set of pads @BadAngle41!  Using the black thread to outline the zones but keeping them all white is a really unique and cool idea.

[dstew29]

On 8/26/2020 at 9:02 AM, BadAngle41 said:

One thing I'd like to point out is something @dstew29 mentioned in sizing. I've worn a 33" for quite some time and continued that with Axis. However, my Koho/CCM experience has largely been with softer pads. With Axis being as stiff as it is (I do have precurved single break internal, no break external) if you're between sizes per CCM's chart, I'd recommend either going down a size at retail or going custom and including a boot strap with your familiar sizing.

My FTK measure is 19.5" (so lower end of 33") and I can see where if I hadn't included a boot strap I'd potentially being hitting lower on the landing when going into butterfly.  Of course if you're able to get into a shop and try them on first, by all means do so. I placed my order w/o having ever seen them in person.

I do still think 32" is where I'd want to be if I go the Axis route, however my 33" base EF3s actually felt great the other night with the added toe slack and loosening of my low calf velcro. They sat down just enough to remove the bit of extra length. Pad seemed to snap flush to the ice in the bfly all night and rebounded back in place nicely when getting up. One of those things that is so hard to dial in from charts, but I agree - if stiffer pad and between sizes, probably works to go down and get a 2-2.5" thigh rise. You can always send to Factory MAD or someone similar to trim the thigh back if needed.

 

@BadAngle41 Question on the single break internal & no break external. I was thinking of going single internal and single external, can you explain the functional difference between you setup and w/ external break? Some of these options are hard to grasp if you haven't ordered custom before (at least for me)...

[BadAngle41]

1 hour ago, dstew29 said:

I do still think 32" is where I'd want to be if I go the Axis route, however my 33" base EF3s actually felt great the other night with the added toe slack and loosening of my low calf velcro. They sat down just enough to remove the bit of extra length. Pad seemed to snap flush to the ice in the bfly all night and rebounded back in place nicely when getting up. One of those things that is so hard to dial in from charts, but I agree - if stiffer pad and between sizes, probably works to go down and get a 2-2.5" thigh rise. You can always send to Factory MAD or someone similar to trim the thigh back if needed.

 

@BadAngle41 Question on the single break internal & no break external. I was thinking of going single internal and single external, can you explain the functional difference between you setup and w/ external break? Some of these options are hard to grasp if you haven't ordered custom before (at least for me)...

Unless you have a VERY narrow butterfly I'd stay away from +2 or more. As @mr_shifty1982 mentioned in a post in the CCM Axis Deep Dive thread by @TheGoalNet the thigh rise on Axis is actually measured 1.5" taller than the rise on the same sized P2. Add the stiffness factor (compared to your EF3s)... and you'd probably run into some interference issues. True you can have them modified... but keep in mind these are bindingless so not as easy to rip open, remove, and sew back up.

When it comes to the breaks... just think of it as the more breaks the softer the pad will play as it's allowed to flex more. Single internal and no external like I have will be slightly stiffer than a single internal and single external and so on. The break options listed below are taken from from page 5 of CCM's 2020 Goalie Customizer book in which they run through the options available.

Please keep in mind this is relative to CCM pads... as in Stiff for CCM may be a step down in stiffness from say Bauer's spectrum.

[BadAngle41]

3 hours ago, Puckstopper said:

By the way, great set of pads @BadAngle41!  Using the black thread to outline the zones but keeping them all white is a really unique and cool idea.

Thanks!! Like I said, I certainly didn't maximize the color zones available in terms of contrast etc... but tried to add details like that to provide a subtle pop. Always feels good to have someone see those little things and appreciate them as well.

Interestingly I had a guy who I hadn't played with since I got rid of my digitally printed leather 2X Pros... and he mentioned how the white actually messed with him some. I never subscribed to the whole concept... you ether stop the puck or you don't... but to hear a shooter say he had to do a double take is nice to hear. Gonna post on the graphics etc later today if I can get out from under some work.

[coopaloop1234]

1 hour ago, BadAngle41 said:

Interestingly I had a guy who I hadn't played with since I got rid of my digitally printed leather 2X Pros... and he mentioned how the white actually messed with him some. I never subscribed to the whole concept... you ether stop the puck or you don't... but to hear a shooter say he had to do a double take is nice to hear. Gonna post on the graphics etc later today if I can get out from under some work.

White pads definitely do affect shooters. I always like telling the story of a few of my teammates asking me if I intentionally got smaller (width) pads when I got my blue set.

At the end of the day, it doesn't (or shouldn't) affect your ability to stop pucks, but it does get in the shooter's heads a bit.

Though, I'd much prefer to be stylin' when making saves.

[ULTIMA]

While functionally it looks like a great product, I predict this line to be a bust for CCM. While I think the graphic looks decent, I can see why others would think it looks like dog meat and unfortunately, gear that looks lousy has a harder time selling. I'm already having trouble moving these in my store.

[TheGoalNet]

8 hours ago, ULTIMA said:

While functionally it looks like a great product, I predict this line to be a bust for CCM. While I think the graphic looks decent, I can see why others would think it looks like dog meat and unfortunately, gear that looks lousy has a harder time selling. I'm already having trouble moving these in my store.

What looks lousy?

That is interesting, I have talked to 3 different retail stores. They all say the Axis is doing okay and the 2nd price point is doing very well.

[Puckstopper]

3 minutes ago, TheGoalNet said:

 

That is interesting, I have talked to 3 different retail stores. They all say the Axis is doing okay and the 2nd price point is doing very well.

I agree. There has been lots of interest in Axis in the store I work at.   Not as many sales as we'd have had if we didn't have plenty of older stock priced pretty aggressively, but of the new lines Axis is garnering more attention than Brians, Vaughn or Warrior.  I can't compare Bauer as we didn't have anything beyond the bottom of the range in store the last time I worked. 

[ULTIMA]

5 hours ago, TheGoalNet said:

What looks lousy?

That is interesting, I have talked to 3 different retail stores. They all say the Axis is doing okay and the 2nd price point is doing very well.

Specifically, the "faded" color zones.

I'd also say it's doing okay (at best). But there's been repetitive comments about the graphic looking weird. People try on other things and roll with that over the Axis. Can't confirm if it's a fit/feel issue or a dislike for the look.

[Puckstopper]

38 minutes ago, ULTIMA said:

Specifically, the "faded" color zones.
 

I'll give you that one.  When placing my order the hardest decision for me to make was whether or not to live with the faded white areas to pick up the yellow upper accent and sport gold "drop shadow" accent below the M graphic or whether to go tone-on-tone.  At the end of the day I couldn't get enough yellow without the faded areas, but honestly I would have been much happier if I could have picked a color other than white for the gradient.  I'd have gone navy fading to grey up top and at the bottom and with yellow for the slashes if given the chance.

 

 

[Chenner29]

22 hours ago, Puckstopper said:

I'll give you that one.  When placing my order the hardest decision for me to make was whether or not to live with the faded white areas to pick up the yellow upper accent and sport gold "drop shadow" accent below the M graphic or whether to go tone-on-tone.  At the end of the day I couldn't get enough yellow without the faded areas, but honestly I would have been much happier if I could have picked a color other than white for the gradient.  I'd have gone navy fading to grey up top and at the bottom and with yellow for the slashes if given the chance.

Is that tinge of orange near the navy in the center of the pad intentional or a graphical/rendering error?  It actually looks really good as a whole IMO

[Puckstopper]

It was deliberate.  I'm hoping that it will create a shadow effect under the M.  If not, oh well, I didn't pay full price.

[Puckstopper]

Overall I'm pretty happy with the way the drop shadow look turned out, and the Graphite Grey is fantastic!.  Both are better in person. 

[BadAngle41]

5 hours ago, Puckstopper said:

Overall I'm pretty happy with the way the drop shadow look turned out, and the Graphite Grey is fantastic!.  Both are better in person. 

The UV hex print is MUCH more noticeable on darker colors. The Graphite looks awesome. Great use of the color zones. Did you get matching mitts as well?