Leaderboard

The bla-bla part Lets begin with some background information on me; I'm a 27 year-old female goalie in Finland, who is no longer is playing at a competitive level. Nowadays I play with a bunch of guys 2 or 3 times a week. Difficult to describe what the level would be. Some guys can really shoot the puck and some not so much. Anyways, when playing with women I preferred 2nd hand c/a's just because they're already broken in, cheap and well.. I didn't need that much protection. When I switched to playing with men, I realized it's time for a new c/a. I got tired of feeling the shots to my ribs & arms. Originally I had an CCM X-Pulse Pro, then I switched to I think Brian's SubZero 2. The SubZero was fine, only I wasn't happy with how short it was and how there wasn't enough rib protection. In February 2019 I was on a holiday in Canada and found an used Brown 2100 c/a at a 2nd hand sporting goods store. I bought it, tried it on ice when I got back home. Loved it, but it was slightly too big for me. Protection was superb though and I was really impressed with the quality. The c/a was nicely broken in and very flexible, but still very protective. I find that most chest protectors once they're "broken in" you start to feel the shots a lot. This wasn't really the case with the Brown. I finished the season with it, but I knew I needed to get something that fits. During the summer I was thinking what I should do: - Get a CCM or Bauer Pro unit (made in Asia, questionable durability) if I find one on sale or - Get a custom Brown or Passau. I also considered McKenney, I had one in 2012 but I couldn't really find them online and the price seems to have gone up (used to be really good quality for the price). Also custom sizing was something I kind of wanted, as a woman its sometimes a bit difficult to get a good fit with gear off the shelf. In late August I had made up my mind, I decided to get a Brown c/a. I used to be a member on the GSBB and I remember Brown had a great reputation and was known to be the most protective c/a on the market and very durable. Their c/a's haven't changed that much since.. Some would say that they're stuck in the past, but I think they have a product that simply works. I guess I had always dreamed of getting a Brown unit for myself some day. The actual review After some discussion with Mr. Brown, I decided to go with the 2400 model. I wanted to get protection, without going over the top (no Russian spec for me ). Custom options I went with; colour (all black) and segmented shoulders. The order form on the website is very nice, all the basic custom options are well described. Originally Mr. Brown was thinking that I would fit in the intermediate sizes (I'm about 5'7, normal weight), but after all he was able to fit me in the smallest size of the 2400 model. Also, I wanted to get a quite long belly on the c/a, but he recommended not to, because it would cause mobility issues because I tuck my c/a to my pants. He was absolutely right. I followed his advice and I ended up with a well fitting c/a. At first the c/a was veeeeery stiff, but luckily I had played with the 2nd hand Brown before. I knew that eventually the c/a would break in and feel a lot better... Mr. Brown also warned me of the stiffness in the beginning haha. First few times on ice were terrible, I couldn't move and I couldn't get the c/a to stay inside my pants etc.. I didn't do any special break-in stuff with the c/a (like shower with it or something). I just played with it. Took about 10 ice times to feel comfortable. After the break-in period and a few adjustments the c/a is great to play with. At the beginning to get the c/a to feel right I had to use a carabiner clip to attach the back of the c/a to my pants. After the break-in period, the c/a stopped "riding up" and I could ditch the clip. The protection is great, shots to the chest I can barely feel. Shots to shoulders - no pain. Only shots to arms I can sometimes feel, but I think that's just something that a goalie has to live with. In the pictures you can see the adjustments I have made; Changed the straps wrapping around the body to elastic (I wear my c/a pretty tight around my body) Added a loop to the bottom of the stomach padding (the padding would sometimes fold, my current pants are slightly too small around the waist) I attach my suspenders to the shoulder floaters with velcro (my version of the TGN straps) and tie them together with skatelace Pros Protection Good durability (no fancy materials, just plain jenpro & tough nylon) Sizing, custom options Short wait time Direct contact with the manufacturer Cons Heavy Clips on the arm elastic straps come off without tape Back piece is too big, the design could be different The unit is pretty hot to wear Prefer elastic on the back straps The list of cons is pretty long.. but my complaints about the non-elastic straps and the design of the back piece are just personal preference. I prefer to wear my c/a pretty tight, I don't like if my equipment feels too "loose". I changed to elastic straps just to be able to get that tight feel without sacrificing mobility. For the same reason I want to modify the c/a's back piece by making it a bit smaller. Now the back piece's "wings" feel too long, they wrap too far around. I'm still trying to decide if I'll do it myself or if I'll send the c/a to a repair shop. For sure the back piece works fine for most male goalies, for other smaller goalies like me -> maybe an issue yes. I personally wouldn't get any other c/a. The protection and quality with Brown are superb. I think I won't need a new unit for at least 5 years if I keep playing 2-3 times per week. Next time I'll probably go with the 2200 model, with 2400 breast plate and segmented shoulders. I don't think I need the 2400 model rib protection. And.. Is it expensive? Yes. Was it worth it in my opinion? Also yes.

I've got a couple of things to share at the moment. I'm based out of Portland, OR, as my family has been for a few generations. My dad got into hockey because of the Buckaroos back when and still has a few connections with various people that were part of the organization. He's sent me a few pictures that they've shared with him... My dad said of the first picture, "I first thought this was Dave Kelly, but I think it's actually Jimmy McLeod because he's wearing #1." I did my own quick checking and it's hard to really know since Dave did wearing #1 a couple of times and also used Northland sticks in the pictures I've seen. I got to meet Jimmy a few times as he stayed in Portland after retiring, he passed away in 2019 though. He and Norm Johnson used to be at every Winterhawks game and were really nice, Jimmy was a much more quiet guy though. Of the second picture, the two goalies said, "I am familiar with those vintage goaltenders! I've [left goalie] got GM6s and WinnWell pads. I think my pads are new...look at the white felt on my right knee!" "I [right goalie] am in Tube blades and sloppy Cooper pads...Shout out gm6 and blue felt gm4 I think." I've got a few old commemorative pieces of Buckaroos memorabilia hanging around and some game programs I could scan and upload some time. I'm still asking for more pictures and stuff too since this stuff is all super cool to me.

I’m very interested in hockey history, so figured a thread for pre-modern(ish) goalie stuff might be interesting. I picked 1980 as an arbitrary end date, but we’ll see how it goes. I’ll start with something I noticed looking at pictures of the legendary Glenn Hall during his time with St. Louis. Knowing that he was the grandfather of what became the butterfly, I’m tempted to think that he had a crude knee guard made (maybe for temporary use while recovering from an injury? With a 502 game streak under his belt, he was the quintessential “play through the pain” goalie.) On the other hand, maybe it’s part of a pant girdle sliding down from a Blues shell...?

VID_20191212_234422.mp4

Doh. For some reason I thought I was in the G5 thread.

Dude, that sweater!! Beautiful