CJ Boiss

Yeah, they make Bauer Profile cheater cages. https://goalieparts.com/cages/bauer/ http://www.goaliecages.com/product-category/bauer/

https://images.app.goo.gl/8fTpEQVNUYKvCJhg6 Cheater cages open up larger square patterns, primarily around the eyes, by essentially removing bars from what would otherwise be a straight-bar cage. Precise designs vary. The only way a stick is getting through that cage is if someone with a very slim knob butt-ends you.

Been wearing a pro Cat Eye for about half a year now. No issues whatsoever. I'd also be fine using a straight bar - I wear a cage when I'm skating out so I'm used to it - but I really do like the improved sight lines of the cat eye.

My older brother took some pics of a game I had last year. I've changed some gear out since: new pants, new chestie, helmet got painted, proper goalie jerseys arrived (the Sunnyvale jersey is an XXL player jersey that worked well enough, and was always good for some laughs). Need to get him to come out to another game.

Everything is removable if your knife is sharp enough.

Are you going to buff out every puck mark? (that's what my teammates were asking me after I got my mask painted)

Lookin' sharp! When is it going to see action?

A little elastic strap over your floater is not going to eat up inches of coverage; certainly not off of a chestie like Price is wearing, the floaters are already snug to the top of his shoulder.

Floaters are there to protect our shoulders, collarbone, and upper chest. If you want to stop pucks going over your shoulders then hold your feet longer, or challenge the angle more aggressively; that extra centimetre of height isn't ever going to be the difference maker, and it isn't something you should ever find yourself relying on. Like I said, as a player I've never noticed which goalies have suspenders on their floaters and which don't. But I do notice when a goalie can't look behind his net because his shoulder floaters come up too high, and it makes it really easy to set up scoring plays. Wrappies, passes to the slot for a one-timer, hell banking it in off a leg that isn't sealed to the post because the tendy lost track of the puck. If you can't follow the puck in a scramble because your helmet keeps banging into your floaters, then you've got an issue that's ripe for exploitation. Any half-ways skilled player will pick you apart if your ability to track and move with the puck is compromised because you're fighting your gear, so do what you need to make it as comfortable and responsive as possible. If wearing suspenders over your floaters does that for you then full steam ahead.

Those shortcomings being: the blade's tendency to pop out of the runner if the puck hits them hard and square, and, the difficulty of putting blades back into the runner mid-game? If it solves those issues, I'll look at getting new skates sooner rather than later.

Suspenders will pull your floaters down, making it appear to shooters as though there is more room above your shoulder. Having skated out for two decades, I can tell you that I've never noticed a difference between goalies that use suspenders to hold down their floaters and those that don't; it's a minuscule difference. Far more significant is the size of the goalie, and how far out of the net they're challenging to cut down the angles. If you find yourself being consistently beaten over your shoulder I'd try tweaking my stance and positioning, holding my feet a little longer before dropping into a fly save, and challenging shooters a bit farther out. I think you'll find the extra head mobility is well worth having smaller shoulders. Proper puck tracking will lead to way more saves than an extra inch of height on your shoulders.