Tendyfest 2023 Write-Up

[keeperton]

Tendyfest 2023

Write up/story of my whole of the event, skip down to the gear section for gear discussion as the rest of it is basically a blog.

We drove up the day before, clocking in an 8h30m drive total covering over 300 miles. My father and I left from the Portland metro area at 11am on a line up I-5 set for Langley, British Columbia. When packing and confirming my bag I checked no less than five times that I had my passport, just in case I somehow lied to myself the first four times. Despite the fact I had to pack my entire goalie bag, my father had managed to somehow pack more than I did bringing a large suitcase, his own double pack of pillows, a cooler, and two bags of snacks. 

We made great time up through the Seattle area, pausing in Kent to get food at Dick's Drive-In after I had to do minimal convincing, "they're good burgers and I know there's a bathroom you can use!" Just outside of Seattle a van merged into the HOV lane ignoring my presence, making me swerve into the shoulder to avoid them. My father assured me he could have touched their car if his window was down, the car coming within inches of the window. Had they decided to do that one mile sooner there would have been no recourse due to construction, our weekend, and maybe my car, would have been toast. Outside of this portion of the drive and the surprising amount of traffic north of Everett things went smoothly.

As we approached the border we checked on the border crossing wait times, shocked by how short they all were posted to be. Crossing took less than 5 minutes! We made our way to get dinner in Surrey, I wanted Uncle Fatih's. What I didn't know was that Surrey does not employ a civil engineer to synchronize their stoplights at all, hitting every red on the way out and taking 35 minutes to go 15 miles from the restaurant to our hotel.

We checked in at the Langley Best Western situated off the Langley Bypass highway only 3 minutes from where Tendyfest was being held. Checked in, got our room, unpacked, and ate now suboptimally tepid pizza that I would still claim to be worth it. We drank Dad's root beers kept in the cooler that took up space in the footwell of my car, they were much better than I had remembered the brand being. This would be the earlier I woke up and went to sleep in a month, albeit there was still sunlight out at 10pm in Langley.

We woke up the next morning with me wanting to get there very early. The hotel I chose has continental breakfast, a thing I had not experienced in the years since traveling for hockey tournaments around Washington and B.C. in my youth and I missed them so: two different waffle irons, a yogurt fridge, pastries/Danishes, three kinds of cereal, eggs, sausages, hashbrowns, a juice dispenser with apple, orange, and POG, coffee...I was impressed and excited. I did up a waffle to "carb load" before Tendyfest.

We arrived at the rink at around 1145am, the event starting at 1pm. I asked Cam if I could help in any way in passing and got told to look pretty, thus I helped start the physical formation the line by being at the very front of it. Admittedly, I was actually third or fourth since there were a few kids they, but I assured them we would not being trying on the same gear since they were junior sizes. I saw Nick the Goalie and Trav4 arrive, both drawing crowds in some sort and being very friendly with any and every person that wanted to speak with or take a picture with them. I told Travis to try the Vaughn V10 glove, forgetting he is full right and got a small laugh, he took many pictures with people and got to show off his Warrior pads; I chatted with Nick's partner (I assume) and she was a pleasant soul. The guy was swarmed with child fans for a lot of the event, doing fun games on the ice like teaching them how to pick up pucks with their gloves of Michigan the puck, and gifting a set (maybe more than one) to a kid via his Bauer sponsorship. One of my local goalies was also there (HI PAUL @casualT) and hungout with me, as well as helped me carry stuff around. I hope you got to try on some cool stuff at the shop, dude!

In the locker room I had a lot of people ask my opinion on the Konekt skates, so that was fun getting to talk about my own gear stuffs with people. My generally given opinion is, "I like them a lot, but the first skate felt like I was playing roller in how little I could move. They're super comfortable and I've had no issues once I dialed the fit in a bit better."

Cam was running around for a lot of the event trying to get people to move their cars that were illegally parked, I hope he got to settle down and have a good time at some point. Chad, the store owner, was a nice presence and pleasant guy, always commenting on my dad's 90s Winterhawks jacket. Everyone on the THS staff side was super nice and helpful, they're great hosts, my dad did overhear one of them say, 'great event, could have dealt with 10% less turnout.' A decent problem to have if I had to complain, but I am an outsider.

__________________________________________

GEAR I TRIED ON AND MY IMPRESSIONS

THS had posted the general set up of gear each vendor would have, so I created a hierarchy of what I wanted to try with True topping it. Thus, I beelined to the True booth. I got my hands on the only 32+2 set of PX3s, a blocker, and a 600 glove (the only 600 was a 9X3). 
Immediate impressions were that THESE ARE STIFF THIGHS ON THIS PAD! Incredible, they felt great despite being a little too large for me by all accounts. Due to their size, walking around and skating was a little awkward, but moving around on the ice they felt fantastic: shuffles, t-pushes, butterfly slides, butterfly pushes all felt wonderful and the pads seal the ice like nothing I've experienced, I was borderline infatuated. The FRS strapping system is very good and gives a tight, connected-to-the-pad, type feeling if wanted without making the wearer feel beyond restricted. I would love to fuss with the strapping a little more to dial it in, but I don't think I got it wrong upfront. 
The 600 glove break felt fine, I could close it, but not super easily, and was surprised by how shallow the pocket was. I'm curious how much better the PX3 would have felt compared to the 9X3 because on the blocker side of this, the PX3 dwarfed the 9X3 in feel and finish; the PX3 blocker being my favorite that I tried on during the weekend, it felt great on the hand, in balance, kicking rebounds, and holding/maneuvering my stick. The blocker was the most articulate unit I used all weekend, I think it also had the hand placement the furthest down the board. It's a very "no frills" unit, and focuses on doing everything it does right.
The True guy was too busy to speak with, but had great energy.

The second set I tried on were the Vaughn V10 Pro Carbons. The V10 glove was the ultimate winner of the event for me. It was a puck vacuum, closure sealed beautifully, was easy to close, and felt great to close. The glove's wrist straps have been tweaked so that it can be done from both sides of the wrist floater, which I liked for the sake of being able to really control how tight it is, and where the tightness comes from. I crank my wrist straps down on every glove I wear, so I am a fan.
I was a little disappointed in the V10 blocker only because I was used to how much I liked older Velocity blockers, not to say it was bad. I will always be a fan of how Vaughn does the pinky and index fingers in their blockers, it's good design. No major complaints or notes here, I could tell there was a carbon insert in the face of the blocker and it had some good pop.
The V10 pads are, as I've said in other threads, a huge step for Vaughn and a well designed pad. The problem with them is that it might lose some of the diehard Vaughn fans since this is an "actually stiff" thigh and not a "Vaughn stiff thigh" pad, I'd compare them to the stiffness of a Brian's 1 but with a little more body to them. The strapping is very similar to that of the True FRS, but with some modular options (to put the straps closer or further from the leg in their anchor), and have been overall minimized of straps and gimmicks. The boot was flattened way out to align with other trends and functioned well, this pad was much better than the VE8 and V9 I tried on back when. The toe ties are now basically industry standard bungees as well. My assumption is this strapping, very flat boot, and stiffness will be carried over to the SLR4, which I think will make those a "killer app" of a pad, comparable to a True 20.2 (or 20.3/HZRDUS/whatever they end up calling it).
I also got to try a SLR3 Pro Carbon Chest Protector, but it was far too big for me. I did order SLR3 Pro Carbon pants though, they fixed everything about the SLR2 Pro Carbon pant that I didn't love so I am excited for those to arrive.
Shoutouts to Conner (Connor?) from the Vaughn booth. He stayed at the same hotel as my father and I and was incredibly nice.

The third set I tried on was a full Optik3 set. I staked out at the Brian's booth for almost 35-45 minutes to get my hands on the size that fit me, which took a surprisingly long time. Maybe a bit corny, but the set felt like going home: if there's one thing I don't like about the GNetik like it's the calf strap that they've used on the 4 and 5. The Optik3's strapping felt, as I said to the rep, "immaculate." It just made sense and felt great to wear. The pad sent pucks off hard, comparable to the True pad, and moving in them felt great. Only real complaint I have about the Optik line is how much curvature they have baked into them, it's a little too much for me and what has kept me out of them during their existence. If I could get a very stiff GNetik pad with Optik strapping, rebound kick, and boot break angle that'd probably be my "perfect" pad. Fun information I gleaned: The GNetikVI will have basically the same strapping as the GNetikV but will come stock without a boot strap. No other notes were given to me because I'm just some guy.
The Optik3 glove reminded me that I do not like the Optik glove break as much as the GNetik break. It's not bad, but it's not my thing.
The Optik3 blocker was my second favorite of the event. It fixed a couple of things I didn't like about my Optik1 and Optik2 blocker without really changing much because what's not broken doesn't need fixing. The Optik blockers have great finger attachment design (little piece of jenpro behind, then the elastic from that goes through the finger protection instead of from the outside of the finger to the finger protection). I do not know why this is not a more popular style of attachment and I basically told the Brian's guys they should be doing this on the GNetik blockers too (I like my GNetik blocker more EXCEPT for how the fingers are attached).
Shoutouts to the dudes from the Brian's booth for letting me say too much about their gear as a long time user.

Warrior has some of the most exciting offerings in the industry in my opinion. The V3 sticks are coming out, which I'm already excited about, but they've got another stick cooking that will show some time later this Summer that I have already marked off as a, "ask very nicely to get this for my birthday" sort of item.
The Warrior G6 pads are built to be a crowd pleaser. The slide plate is the real deal and will let you slide pretty much as far as you want to. The strapping is modular and allows for the user to do pretty much whatever they want with them. Case-and-point: I had to get off the ice to fix them because I had them strapped in a way that was making me bottom out and lose my edge, I came off the ice and redid them and all was good (I had the bootstrap on in a way that was messing me up). I even got to give this feedback to Kirk, who is an incredibly nice guy (as was the entire Warrior booth). 
Warrior's glove offerings are very cool. I love the 6 and 6.1 idea as a customer, I tried the 6 glove and 6.1 blocker. I knew going into it that Warrior gloves aren't my thing because of the lack of wrist strap, but their closure is always easy-off-the-shelf and the design is all very solid. The blocker was fine, my impression was a little tainted because someone had clearly messed with the modular protection on it that I only noticed once I took a puck to the finger tip, so that was a little sour. Balance of the board felt great.
I relearned that I still really like Warrior chest protectors when I tried a few on. They kind of just fit my body and how I move in net.
Huge shoutouts to all at the Warrior booth.

I also tried on some pre-profiled skate blades from the guys out of Prosharp, ended up trying the Goalie SAM profile and really enjoyed that it does sort of pitch you forward in your stance. Also made me feel like I had more play in my pushes in a manner that felt like it gave me more ability to control how much steel I put on the ice. I am going to see if I can get my lower-grade steel done with this profile to test it more before committing.

The people at the Biosteel booth were super nice and let me drink a ton of the raspberry lemonade flavor. I was impressed, as someone that already buys their other stuff, it didn't taste nearly as salty/sour as some of the others (which I like anyway).

I did not get to try anything Bauer on the ice as they were super slammed and I didn't even look at the CCM booth due to pre-stated biases (the only piece of their gear that I'll really touch are sticks and maybe blockers). I did try on the Bauer and CCM stuff while in The Hockey Shop proper, my hand went numb trying to close a 581 EFLEX6 glove they had on their shelf, which I think is hilariously awful. The Bauer 90deg is neat, reconfirmed that I would not want to use a 90deg glove though. The Hyperlite2 blocker seems like a step in the wrong direction from the Hyperlite (which I have one of), the wrist articulation felt incredibly limited. The Hyperlite2 pads are super interesting, they're not soft and they're not stiff, they're resistant and springy. I think these will be a hit up through Juniors, but that the pros will still probably stay in the Ultrasonic, or we'll see some Hyperlite2s in there (I don't remember seeing much actual Hyperlite in the The Show). Shoutouts to Ray from inside the shop for hanging out with my dad and me and helping me try on a bunch of stuff as well as shoot the shit.

Thus, my gear highlights from being on the ice are:
Pads: True PX3
Blocker: True PX3
Glove: Vaughn V10 Pro Carbon
Honorable Mentions: Vaughn V10 Pro Carbon Pads, Brian's Optik3 pads, Warrior G6 line as a whole, and Bauer 90deg glove

__________________________________________

 

After the show was over, my dad and I were walking out and Pete Fry noticed my dad's jacket. Pete Fry being the goalie mindset coach and a former Winterhawk, so that was pretty cool (we were on his Instagram live feed. Look ma, I'm on TV!). Always fun seeing someone that played in Portland. We went back to the hotel, cleaned up, and went to get Canadian A&W, which is significantly better than American A&W. Teen burger combo with root beer sweet cream shakes, definitely hit the spot.

We had the fortune of being placed next to some youth basketball players in the hotel, who must have been moshing or something in their room next to ours until 1am, when I sauntered down to the front desk and gave the nice lady at the desk their room. I heard their phone ring and they were quiet thereafter, so thanks for chilling out youths. I had a continental breakfast to make it to next morning.

The drive home we stopped off and got some Canadian snacks. What that means to me is ketchup and all dressed Lay's/Ruffles, Wunderbars, Coffee Crisps, and Tangfastics. The border crossing back into the states was incredibly fast, and the drive home was 2 hours faster than on the way up, despite the new rain.

[keeperton]

 

Double posting to add the one video I liked the outcome of from the event and the picture my dad got of me in front of their net in the shop (PX3 blocker, V10 glove). Additional "trying to adjust my mask and glove hand without touching it" faced picture.

Edited June 28, 2023 by keeperton

[coopaloop1234]

Great write up. I'm surprised that people make that such of a long trip to come to these. 

And here I am 15 minutes away and can't be bothered. 

I've never gone through the process of actually trying the gear on the ice, I've always gone to enter my name into the draws and just look at the gear. Which is kind of pointless to me since I live so close to THS that I can see the new gear on a regular basis. 

I really should try getting on the ice one of these years. 

[keeperton]

4 hours ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Great write up. I'm surprised that people make that such of a long trip to come to these. 

And here I am 15 minutes away and can't be bothered. 

I've never gone through the process of actually trying the gear on the ice, I've always gone to enter my name into the draws and just look at the gear. Which is kind of pointless to me since I live so close to THS that I can see the new gear on a regular basis. 

I really should try getting on the ice one of these years. 

Thing I'm going to harp on, that I already do enough in my local circles and probably on here: there's such a scarce scene where I am at. There are three sheets of ice in the entire Portland metro area that see any use for youth and adult hockey (the Memorial Coliseum does not get regular use for the adults, some use for youth, but is mostly for our Major Junior guys). None of our buildings have multiple sheets. One of our rinks has no shelves in any of the locker rooms (and is in bankruptcy), another has shelves only in half the lockers with showers with fun and unique growth in their tile grout (no stick racks!), and the other doesn't have showers in half the lockers. It's a hockey desert despite being in the PacNW. Thus, this drive was reminiscent of my entire youth hockey career, typically having to drive to somewhere in Washington (Sno-King, Puget Sound's "Meat Locker," Lynnwood). It's pretty comparable to some of our resident Brits and/or Europeans on here; most gear I buy is sight unseen based on my education from internet resources like this and going to events like Tendyfest.

The local proshops here are about the size of the goalie office at THS, and to their credit every inch of them is filled. The closest shop to me with any inventory is the Pure Hockey in Lynnwood, and frankly I find their stock (usually sticks) to be a bit disappointing, but I get why top end goalie gear is not their focus.

 

Post Script additional details: There are six ice rinks used for youth hockey in Oregon: Sherwood, Beaverton, Eugene*, Bend*, Klamath Falls*, and Medford. There is another right across the river border in Vancouver, Washington. The items with asterisks are seasonal rinks. If you live where the Coliseum is: Sherwood is 18 miles/35-40 minutes, Beaverton is 9 miles/20-25 minutes, Vancouver is 15 miles/30-40 minutes, Eugene is 113 miles/2 hours, Bend is 165 miles/3.5 hours, Medford is 280 miles/4.5-5 hours, Klamath falls is 300 miles/5-5.5 hours. All of this is to say: There's so little hockey out here and I feel rather powerless to make much change about it. Most rinks work on just trying to tread water at best, let alone seemingly grow/add to their repetoire.

[keeperton]

Let's add some more details to the pads/gear, since I think some of it was a bit barebones and I was afraid of the wall of text ballooning further.

Vaughn

The V10 pads hold true to the Velocity line in a few key manners, while moving Vaughn further into what I would call a "typical high end friendly pad." The way that the pad stays true to the Velocity line is the amount of play in the break at the knee. The wearer will still be able to get mobility and bend from the knee when desired, I would liken this to the amount of flex in the GNetikV, a little softer in the break than the True PX3. Another way the pad is true to the Velocity line is the outer roll being its squared up chunky self, not tapering up at the thigh and the overall profile/shape of the pad with a gentle curvature throughout. The knee rolls are very minimal, about as much of a profile as the True PX3 pad, though maybe a little larger. A few other great things about this pad are the flattened boot, the quickslide covering the entire boot, the toe tie positional options, and the knee block being integrated into the face of the pad. They felt stable and sealed on the ice in the butterfly. The strapping was its own version of the FRS with a bit of "user modular input possible" built into the design. A few negatives I have are that the thigh is still a bit corpulent compared to most, but is thinner than it used to be. I did not get to notice their weight nor rebounds, so that's up in the air from me. As a reminder, primo as the sliding surface is always just...so good and the real deal.

The V10 glove, again, is one of the best gloves I've ever worn. The pocket is deep, the closure is snappy, it's balanced on the hand, the seal is pristine. The only complaint I had was that I felt the gentle promise of a stinger on a puck I didn't catch super clean. If this is the "game ready" glove, then the pro palm would also be super easy to handle. This is the closest glove I've ever felt to a GNetik. Frankly, I can't tell what break angle I like anymore. I thought I liked 600 style, but this is technically a 590 style and I loved it. I guess I'm, "whatever this 60deg Vaughn and the GNetik glove is" team.

The V10 blocker has only a couple further notes from me: the back cover of the nose bevel being quickslide/primo is a great touch and how I have custom ordered every blocker of mine. Good balance, great feeling palm, good wrist mobility, and I love the trigger finger stitch Vaughn does.

 

True

The PX3 are, to me, a "believe the hype" sort of entity. They're built great, they seal the ice great, the FRS strapping is great but not super straightforward at a glance. The strap that attaches to the knee block knocks the mind as redundant, the demo version I wore having the nylon strap (of which I'm a big fan). My major complaints would be I wish the boot strap was removable, because I would like to try a "behind the heel" strap more, without committing to it always being there, that they don't offer primo for the sliding surface, and that the calf wing that touches the ice is a little flimsy. The stiffness of the thigh, with how thin the profile appears, is a "feel it to believe it" level of stiffness, I was taken aback. The knee offers some play and makes the pad feel nicer to skate in. The taper of the outer roll at the top of the pad is a great detail that I think more manufacturers should mimic. Every part of the pad felt like it worked perfectly in concert with the rest of the design.

The 9X3 600 glove felt good on the hand. The strapping is traditional and sensical, an overall comfortable glove to use. I did find the pocket to be shallow and the closure seal to be a little less lined up than desired, but I could still pick up pucks with it.

The PX3 blocker is amazing. Great pop (but less than a Bauer, everything is, comparable to my GNetikV), great balance and a joy to make saves with. The amount of play in the wrist on this unit is perfect (comparable units would be the Mach and Optik series) and I felt finally completely comfortable and articulate in holding my stick. The padded layer on the blocker palm is plush and the ultimate in comfort on the stick. The sidewall could be stiffer, I think that's my only negative note.

 

Brian's

The Opitk3 pads had the best feeling strapping I felt that weekend, "immaculate." The calf pillow was substantial and comfortable, the primo sliding surface is ideal, and rebounds popped off the pad well. As stated previously, a little too much pre-curve for me and the lack of an outer roll at all is still odd to me (see my note on the True outer roll for my ideal). The thigh could be a little stiffer for their "stiff" pad, but it does not leave much to be desired. The boot angle is closer to a 90deg (I think it's 100deg?) than what I am used to and it felt like it nestled into the boot of my skate well, giving an "attached but mobile" feel. The MAX core is a great design, though maybe I'd personally prefer the FLY core for the shape (if that has an effect), with how flexible the MAX core boot is and how stiff hard the face of the pad is. The binding being moved to the interior from the edge of the pad is clever and helps with how THIN these pads are throughout, it's impressive. Great finishing touches, attention to small details, and a great pad.

The Optik3 glove is an Optik glove. This glove seems to have accrued a sort of cult following among its users: Carter Hart, Jake Allen, Alex who I play against in adult league using Aaron Dell's Optik1 glove. I had an Optik1 glove and liked it well enough, but found the break isn't for me. The Optik3 glove is the same, but with some added carbon inserts, better protection (I got a lot of stingers in my Optik1 palm), and small tweaks to making it a better revision. Classic Brian's ease-of-closure out of the box, and I adore the u-turn/BOA strapping in the glove locking my hand in.

The Optik3 blocker fixes some minor issues I have with the Optik2 blocker, just like the Optik2 blocker fixed some minor issues I had with the Optik1 blocker. They've added a carbon face to give rebounds more pop off the board, retooled the thumb area to give it a little more play, but kept the openness of the cuff, the beveled board design that I've loved for years, and really dialed in the sidewall to get it stiff without adding too much weight. This and the PX3 are great and lightweight blockers. The Optik blockers have the best finger attachment style in the industry in my opinion.

 

Warrior

The G6 Pro+ pads are a thoughtfully designed piece of equipment. The user can change every strap to their liking, the outer roll tapes in the thigh, the boot flex is designed in a way such that it will bend inward and be sleek. Some quick input I gave to Kirk was that the clip-style boot strap is really hard to get through a LundyLoop (impossible to get through the look on Konekt skates), which made the pads bottom me out early until I retooled the strapping on the calf (which the pad let me completely do in a matter of minutes). The landing gear and inset of the pad is stiff/rigid, which is great for seal, and Warrior's composite materials make the pad stiff from the knee up. I think this pad should be a hit on the market for anyone that isn't totally sure what they want, or conversely knows EXACTLY what they want. I do think the boot angle is a bit too open, but that's a personal gripe. These pads are light.

The G6.1 Pro+ blocker felt balanced on my hand and I liked the angle of it. I would have liked to got to try it longer/with one that someone hadn't really messed with at the booth. I like the finger attachment style and thought this unit oozed of small detail thoughtfulness.

The G6 glove is a Warrior G series glove. Easy to pick up, light as all-get-out, easy to close, and easy to catch with. If you like Warrior gloves (G4, G5), you'll like this glove. Warrior is severely underrated in this category.

Again, to be a huge tease, the next stick Warrior will be revealing had me drooling. Additional detail I think I can share is that there will likely be a 24" paddle M3 next year. I do think it's ridiculous how big most other manufacturers have their sticks.

Edited June 29, 2023 by keeperton

[creasecollector]

Nice write-up! Glad you had a good time!

[punkard]

It was pretty fun, I came over from Victoria with my daughter for it. Was probably right beside you in the lineup, we got there around 1130

[Flyers27]

Damn, nice write up! You certainly got more out of it than I did lol. I totally missed the YouTube personalities and guest speakers. I was mostly on a mission to speak to the Brian's guys about the optic3 chesty and then see the new V10 pads/gloves. Glad you had a good time!

[keeperton]

5 hours ago, Flyers27 said:

Damn, nice write up! You certainly got more out of it than I did lol. I totally missed the YouTube personalities and guest speakers. I was mostly on a mission to speak to the Brian's guys about the optic3 chesty and then see the new V10 pads/gloves. Glad you had a good time!

Did you get to speak with them about the Optik3 chest? That thing's a tank, but I've yet to see one my size so I don't totally know what having one on is like.

I barely follow the personalities, but kids I coach do and Nick is such a big dude that my friends send me his reels because, "he's a goalie and so are you, also funny."

[coopaloop1234]

13 hours ago, Flyers27 said:

Damn, nice write up! You certainly got more out of it than I did lol. I totally missed the YouTube personalities and guest speakers. I was mostly on a mission to speak to the Brian's guys about the optic3 chesty and then see the new V10 pads/gloves. Glad you had a good time!

FYI, if you weren't able to see the C/A, hockey shop has one sitting on their shelf right now. 

[coopaloop1234]

7 hours ago, keeperton said:

I barely follow the personalities, but kids I coach do and Nick is such a big dude that my friends send me his reels because, "he's a goalie and so are you, also funny."

My mom is sending me Nick clips that's how big he's gotten. 

[Flyers27]

18 hours ago, keeperton said:

Did you get to speak with them about the Optik3 chest? That thing's a tank, but I've yet to see one my size so I don't totally know what having one on is like.

I barely follow the personalities, but kids I coach do and Nick is such a big dude that my friends send me his reels because, "he's a goalie and so are you, also funny."

I did, and it is a tank around the shoulders, but I was able to dial them in. The arms move really well. The build quality is excellent. I'm not sure I like the velcro rib attachments, but we'll see.

10 hours ago, coopaloop1234 said:

FYI, if you weren't able to see the C/A, hockey shop has one sitting on their shelf right now. 

Yea they didn't have one on hand but I spoke to a Brian's rep for a while about it and then went to the Hockey Shop and picked one up. Big change from my 7 year old Warrior classic pro lol.

[coopaloop1234]

1 minute ago, Flyers27 said:

I did, and it is a tank around the shoulders, but I was able to dial them in. The arms move really well. The build quality is excellent. I'm not sure I like the velcro rib attachments, but we'll see.

Yea they didn't have one on hand but I spoke to a Brian's rep for a while about it and then went to the Hockey Shop and picked one up. Big change from my 7 year old Warrior classic pro lol.

Well, get us some pics and some initial reviews then. 

[Frenchforwin]

The tendy fest has been a staple in my to do list every year they do it. I'm a Brians guy. Been for 20 plus years now. Started with a set of Beast pads 23 years ago and after 10 years I went I to Zero G prostock heavily modded pad. One thing these demo days have done for me is open my eyes. On paper I should love the Gentik pad line over the Optik. 2 tendy fests in a row and a heavy bias towards the Gentik I still  preferred the feel and play of the Optik pads and absolutely hated the Gentiks. I have Gentik trapper and blocker and absolutely love those. Although the fingers on the blocker especially the thumb which wore through in a season could use improvement. The Iconik line is supposed to be a Gentik clone... So I'll be ordering some custom Optiks in the near future. Here's a shot of my zero g pads when new next to my thrashed Beasts. 

Edited October 6, 2023 by Frenchforwin

[keeperton]

17 hours ago, Frenchforwin said:

The tendy fest has been a staple in my to do list every year they do it. I'm a Brians guy. Been for 20 plus years now. Started with a set of Beast pads 23 years ago and after 10 years I went I to Zero G prostock heavily modded pad. One thing these demo days have done for me is open my eyes. On paper I should love the Gentik pad line over the Optik. 2 tendy fests in a row and a heavy bias towards the Gentik I still  preferred the feel and play of the Optik pads and absolutely hated the Gentiks. I have Gentik trapper and blocker and absolutely love those. Although the fingers on the blocker especially the thumb which wore through in a season could use improvement. The Iconik line is supposed to be a Gentik clone... So I'll be ordering some custom Optiks in the near future. Here's a shot of my zero g pads when new next to my thrashed Beasts. 

I would be really interested to see if they would do the Iconik with the Optik3 strapping and the primo-covered boot I typically get them to do. That to me would be my perfect pad (assuming it has a little more rebound pop than my GNetikVs). There is something about the Optik pads that do feel really nice that I cannot place. The MAX core has a nice connect-by-floating sort of design.

[Frenchforwin]

18 hours ago, keeperton said:

I would be really interested to see if they would do the Iconik with the Optik3 strapping and the primo-covered boot I typically get them to do. That to me would be my perfect pad (assuming it has a little more rebound pop than my GNetikVs). There is something about the Optik pads that do feel really nice that I cannot place. The MAX core has a nice connect-by-floating sort of design.

In my experience with Brian's they will do whatever you want. My zero g custom order was extensive and not one upcharge either. Mods included +2 thigh rise, lace in thigh boards, DX2 tapered outer roll, flat knee, sub zero boot, mono chromatic side leg logo, and logo delete on the face of the pad, custom embroidery and a few others I'm forgetting. 

From the start of the genetik and optik lines to this last trendy fest I've preferred the feel of the Optik pad every time. 

I'll be custom ordering these optiks without graphics in the same style as my zero g pads. 90°boot, fly stiff with max precurve since my butterfly isn't that wide. Professor strap and Lundy loop removable options and quite possibly no toe straps. No face of the pad logos and the vintage brians logos down the side of the legs. Any mesh material to be replaced with genpro and a removable top strap. I'm looking for any other suggestions that might be of benefit. 

[keeperton]

On 10/7/2023 at 9:24 AM, Frenchforwin said:

In my experience with Brian's they will do whatever you want. My zero g custom order was extensive and not one upcharge either. Mods included +2 thigh rise, lace in thigh boards, DX2 tapered outer roll, flat knee, sub zero boot, mono chromatic side leg logo, and logo delete on the face of the pad, custom embroidery and a few others I'm forgetting. 

From the start of the genetik and optik lines to this last trendy fest I've preferred the feel of the Optik pad every time. 

I'll be custom ordering these optiks without graphics in the same style as my zero g pads. 90°boot, fly stiff with max precurve since my butterfly isn't that wide. Professor strap and Lundy loop removable options and quite possibly no toe straps. No face of the pad logos and the vintage brians logos down the side of the legs. Any mesh material to be replaced with genpro and a removable top strap. I'm looking for any other suggestions that might be of benefit. 

After talking with reps, they did say they should be able to do a boot strap moved a bit to make it work better as a "behind the heel" strap than a normal boot strap.

I really like the additional primo on the boot, but that's because I detest the nylon soaking up water. I do know this one they do have an upcharge for.

[Frenchforwin]

58 minutes ago, keeperton said:

After talking with reps, they did say they should be able to do a boot strap moved a bit to make it work better as a "behind the heel" strap than a normal boot strap.

I really like the additional primo on the boot, but that's because I detest the nylon soaking up water. I do know this one they do have an upcharge for.

I like this idea of primo on the boot. And the boot strap that's lower will essentially be able to lift the pad more with less tension. 

Any other mods to suggest?

I can't remember a few mods I did on the zero g in regards to changing some bindings, I had researched all that when the goalie bulletin board was still around and there was a great nod thread 

[keeperton]

7 minutes ago, Frenchforwin said:

I like this idea of primo on the boot. And the boot strap that's lower will essentially be able to lift the pad more with less tension. 

Any other mods to suggest?

I can't remember a few mods I did on the zero g in regards to changing some bindings, I had researched all that when the goalie bulletin board was still around and there was a great nod thread 

Only other major thing I had them change was that I have all nylon straps, no elastic, since I like very little give in my straps. I don't know if I would recommend that to most people though. I like Brian's upper-calf strap (professor strap) quite a lot, though I think it's pretty redundant on an Optik pad's strapping. I know a common Optik mod is to make the entirety of the knee landing sure grip instead of only the edge. I wonder if they'd do the outer roll different (as a normal one), since that kind of goes against the Optik's identity?

I haven't used a bootstrap in awhile. If I were to, I'd use one like the True "behind heel" option, but that's preference.

[Frenchforwin]

Thanks! Great ideas. 

 

[Yzueblin]

Really good post 

I’m about to order vaughn V10 vintage at the release December 15 

It’s hard to find some Vaughn gear here in Montreal.

How you compare size with true and Vaughn ? similar ? 
 

 

[keeperton]

4 hours ago, Yzueblin said:

Really good post 

I’m about to order vaughn V10 vintage at the release December 15 

It’s hard to find some Vaughn gear here in Montreal.

How you compare size with true and Vaughn ? similar ? 
 

 

I would definitely consult through a rep via whoever you're ordering from. 

I could make a 32" True PX3 work, but I'd be in a 31" if ordering for me. With Vaughn, I'm not so sure because the ones I tried on were 33", and they were huge on me, but I do not know their sizing (nor could I find it on their 2023 catalog in a quick glance).

[Frenchforwin]

On 10/8/2023 at 8:46 PM, keeperton said:

Only other major thing I had them change was that I have all nylon straps, no elastic, since I like very little give in my straps. I don't know if I would recommend that to most people though. I like Brian's upper-calf strap (professor strap) quite a lot, though I think it's pretty redundant on an Optik pad's strapping. I know a common Optik mod is to make the entirety of the knee landing sure grip instead of only the edge. I wonder if they'd do the outer roll different (as a normal one), since that kind of goes against the Optik's identity?

I haven't used a bootstrap in awhile. If I were to, I'd use one like the True "behind heel" option, but that's preference.

I've been in a set of demo pads in a 33+1 max core for 3 games now. Coming from my zero-g prostocks these are completely different in every way. 

So far, things I've liked. 

#1. These slide effortlessly and in game 1 I over slid for half the game before getting used to it. 

#2. Rebounds sound solid and are live, I appreciate the extra time afforded to recover from rebounds. 

#3. The calf strap is money. I like snug pads around my shins/calves but need the stretch of the strapping. 

#4. I love how square they are and the coverage. 

#5. The angled atretchy knee strap with one caveat, it needs to be stronger for my liking. 

Things I didn't/don't like

#1. Professed strap. Hated it, I use thigh boards still and I like the stretchy behind the knee strap I had on my zero g's. Wish these had one, well a stronger one that is. 

#2 toe tie bungee is too short and still pulls my foot up in the butterfly position. I moved it downward one hole on the toe bridge and that seemed to improve things. 

#3 the knee block and calf wedge interfere with each other due to the prep curve(something I'll probably have them trim on my customer order) .... More on that in a sec. 

My custom order and tweaks so far are 34+1 primo/weave on the skate side of the boot, lace in Lundy loop tabs that extend towards the toe more to allow for different positions Larger/stronger behind the knee strap and a tab to lace in the Velcro attachment point at the outside of the calf. Set of Velcro spare straps. Weave along the outer side of the pad and leg channels were it's currently canvas. Old brians script down the side of the pad, no face of pad logos. Black outer roll, white leg... Super basic. Maybe a black old school triangle above the knee. Stretchy professor strap instead of the solid one. Customer embroidery. 

Gonna check out the Iconik to see if there is anything from those I'd like to incorporate. But so far this is a good start