OldSchoolGoalie

Congrats on pushing through!

At this point I'll probably have more fun just skating around doing my stick handling drills, working on my passes, and doing edge work and working on my butterfly slides. When funds open up more I wouldn't mind going back to my coach and doing an hour of 1 on 1 at least once per month.

So I got called out to play some pick up ball hockey with a group, was a few months since I played there and thought why not... I haven't been physically active since I made this thread. Horrible experience. Apart from ball hockey not really being up there for me when it comes to playing in net when compared to ice or even inline... I had zero drive, no focus, and pretty much played like I just started as a goalie yesterday and couldn't stop a beach ball the size of NHL regulation net. The other issues with ball hockey I find as a goalie is that for me it harder to react and read the ball due to the rise, dips, curves and just odd bounces. When I play ice the puck is just more easier to read. Then you have mobility issues (I don't use sliders on these pads). This definitely was a negative experience. On the drive home I regretted even bothering and haven't played hockey since my thread was made here on March 24. Probably wasn't a good idea to dip my pinky back into the pond with ball hockey first. All my ice slots are done until after the summer, but I probably should've just did stick and skate once a week to keep active and work on my edge work and do some drills.

Praise the sun! I'll be getting these!

I should probably update this as the lace bite issue got 100% resolved with the help of using Forsberg pads and changing my lace method to move it lower down. Thread: Lacing method:

Also for anyone interested, this is what I bought: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B073X7WF5J/

What are your thoughts when comparing these two videos? Brings in two perspectives to position. I know I've hard how going down is faster, but I've also heard going up is also faster due to your muscles contracting. I have found the fingers up does visually make a shooter less likely to go there on a quick glance, but the draw back I found is that I still have to adjust to catch it perfectly if it doesn't get stuck in the pocket, and at times it does feel like a bit of a blocker. For reference I've mostly done fingers down and to the side for most of my playing time.

They say the same on the SLR2-ST glove which I use. https://www.thehockeyshop.com/products/vaughn-ventus-slr2-st-pro-sr-catcher I've gone back and forth between fingers up and to the side and honestly it does feel like I catch more with the side, but... I prefer fingers up as it feels more natural to me. Just wasn't sure if I'm going against the glove here by doing fingers up based on the break. Also when I visually look at the pocket it will slightly do double coverage with fingers up at 12 so you got to do a slight rotation between 11 and 10:30 or so. (I might do a picture later to show but not sure if I should be forcing fingers to the side with this glove or not?)

I was browsing thehockeyshop and I noticed on the https://www.thehockeyshop.com/products/vaughn-ventus-slr4-pro-senior-goalie-catcher there was this part: " Break Angle The SLR4 has a 75° break angle, which feels similar to CCM’s 600 break. This break is designed to be held in a side position rather than upright. In terms of feel and look, this catcher feels very similar to the previous SLR2. " It seems they're saying you're supposed to hold the glove with your fingers pointing to the side (3 O'clock) and not say a fingers up 11 or 12 O'clock. I was always taught that as long as your hands are up and out in front of you with the pocket square to the puck you're fine, and the rest is personal preference in terms of where your fingers are pointing. Since I'm no expert on this I was very curious if there was any actual substance to this and if a glove is a certain break you "should" be holding it only in the indicated way. I've used a lot of gloves and have gone from fingers down with my Heaton to fingers to the side with Sherwood and Vaughn and CCM, then even tried fingers up with Vaughn SLR as well and it didn't seem to negate the ability to catch pucks as long as you're getting them in your pocket.

This is pretty much what happened. I'm thinking to just use this spring/summer to get back heavy into the gym again (I was a gym rat before so I kind of miss that) and really work on body building again and further my flexibility. I have some other issues off the ice sadly so I'm sure that has contributed to a lot of additional stress. Come fall I should probably book a few 1 on 1 coaching sessions and then off to find a new team. Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I also just need to take it more easy and more than anything. I quit once before and I do regret to this very day that I sold my gear then... I had several sets I wish I kept! The amount of time it took me to get my current gear is probably the only reason I still have it regardless of wanting to take time away from hockey. Since September 2022 I went through 6 sets of pads, keeping 2 of them, and countless gloves, a few masks, and some chest protectors just to get the perfect feel and fit, not sure I would want to repeat that for awhile... Thanks to my OCD/Perfectionism... one wrong thing about the gear I don't like and I'll be up all night thinking of a way to fix it or buy something new. Probably the main reason you'll find I've posted a lot about my skate issue and still wouldn't give it up to find a solution (thankfully I'm at the point of it being good enough for now until I buy new ones). My goal is to really find a chill team and play some quality hockey once a week. Finding that team will be a hit or miss I'm sure for a bit, and a lot of teams don't really do a test run before you sign up with them which makes it hard considering I'm also told to pay full league fees (the norm here). The last time was one where I was so fed up I just had to quit and took the loss.

I came back out of retirement in September of 2022 and since then I've been playing anywhere from 3 to 5 games a week, both ice and ball (mostly ice). Prior to this I retired about 10 years back and ended up selling all my gear and quitting after finishing up my inline league after we won our 3rd championship. This time around I really found a spark to come back, and went through a few sets of gear to get back into the modern way of things and eventually ended up with my dream kit that I use for ice and another for ball. The major struggle was adapting to the the modern way of playing, and the gear from using my old school kit and playing essentially only stand-up. I did some coaching sessions which helped and oddly enough apart from butterfly slides when down I wasn't too bad. The down ward spiral really hit me in mid 2023s, and got really worse when I went from shinny to an actual league where I got fixed up with a team that I had zero chemistry with, a lot of weird locker room drama, and no synergy on the ice. I had a test game with the group and honestly ignored my first impression and thought to not move forward, but really wanted to get things going again - big mistake! It pretty much made going out to any of these games dreadful and I started hating playing more and more. I attempted to counter act this by treating those games as practice but the negative social environment just made it more miserable, so I ended up quitting league play as of recent and just starting doing only shinny. On that note as time went on to the present my performance has gone wildly up and down to the point where I feel I have maybe 20% of my games where I'm actually on autopilot making saves and performing well not having to "think" as it would just all come naturally. Then I have 80% games where that subconscious part turns off either fully or at some point in the game, and I'm stuck trying to "react" to shots and playing extremely bad, even resetting to the basics just doesn't work anymore and trying to focus on one puck at a time. I actually found shinny a bit more hard due to the wild variance in skill and playing down just made it so much harder than up, but on that point playing too high without that autopilot kicking in means I'm trying to "react" to shots that happen so quick I end up being lit up like a Christmas tree. Come to today, I look back on this and I've played through some injuries, done my fair share of back to back games in a day, and took almost any call to action when someone needed a goalie (my phone was always lighting up with requests - never had any trouble getting ice time), but the sense of duty to help various groups really didn't keep that flame going and I'm now at the point where I've probably lost most interest in playing. My last game I played a day ago I actually did very well, but about 20 minutes in I just lost focus and it all crumbled up and I couldn't wait to get off the ice and back home. The other problem with a lot of random groups is that lack of connection, I had a few regular ice slots which made it more enjoyable, and some ball hockey ones, but apart from those it was more or less getting out on the ice from some reps. All my slots are pretty much done now as people are breaking until after the summer so I'm going to hang them up. There are a few slots still going but I'm at the point where I'll feel like going to a game, but once I roll into the dressing room I'm kind of checked out... not sure how to explain this. I guess the idea of playing is more appealing than actually playing. I'm not sure I'll sell my gear off as it took several sets to get both my ice and ball hockey stuff right - I still need to do another skate upgrade, but at this point I'm pretty much done. I had some pretty memorable moments and made some very nice saves that I wont forget, but I think those are few and far between as time went on. Hopefully I'll find that spark again, not sure though, but it was an interesting return.

This is all I got on each pad and it has been holding up really nice since my first post apart from a more recent rip on the one side. I also didn't use any tricks to apply it, just cleaned the area, peeled and pressed. Ended up even using it before 24 hours and it still holds up. I think it is just now starting to show some signs of needing a replacement soon but then I'll actually apply it properly and with heat. I also should probably round the corners as well to prevent lifting there. Pretty good considering I've played 3-5 times a week since November 2023!

Due to the fit, my feet fit perfectly snug without having to lace anything lower than what I need for heel lock. I did have them more loose to show the lacing better in the pictures. I actually never liked to tighten my skates in all my years from mid to toe, and with these skates if I do it will actually cause major foot cramping. I also had to get them punched out a lot just to make it work off the shelf and these are their EE model. When I do my skates up I pull the laces just enough to not give any tension but not so loose they're flopping around. If I wanted to I could just pull out those laces (they're a second set by the way so when I crank for heel lock they also don't tighten as well) right out and it wouldn't make a difference. I just need to have them loose enough to move the tongue forward to get my feet in and out, and apart from that they're snug.

I actually got called out to a game tonight, and with the above lacing method with the added part of looping through I was able to maintain a good wrap around my ankle for heel lock without having restricted forward flex. This worked perfectly with my Forsberg pads. I felt zero pressure, no rubbing of the laces or anything. My feet also don't hurt post skate either. There still is a very minor heel lift but it is pretty much on par with the very first lacing method I did with the loops on the top eyelet which restricted my forward flex giving me nasty lace bite; this problem is fully solved on the lace bite part. I was able to skate out and play the puck without moving like a grandpa this time which was great. This is the best it will get with these skates and I'm glad it worked out so well. I'm extremely thankful for all the tips and help! Especially for @johncho sharing that video. I was pretty much on the verge of just quitting ice hockey fully until I got this all sorted with new skates. I'm taking a bit of a break now as all my ice slots are finished so any lingering issues should be healed up before my next skate, then I'll be shopping for either KONEKTs or going TRUE customs.

I'm taking some time off ice hockey for a bit so I'll get plenty of time to rest thankfully! I didn't show it in the picture above but if I insert my Forsberg pads under it adds enough cushion where the tongue being thin doesn't matter and you cannot feel any lace pressure or rubbing on that spot. It was 100% worse when I laced them the old way as up higher it still would dig in regardless of the pads, but moving the pressure down the boot helped big time! I only need these skates to last about 6 months (plus any additional time for customs), and they're off to the donation bin or a cheap sale. Thanks for the tip on the wider skate lace, I'll have to locate some as I believe everything here locally is just standard width? .3 of an " wide -- I did find some .5 of an " wide ones online. I do have a question about wax vs non-waxed, doesn't wax hold better? but due to less give I'm guessing it is worse for lace bite as it doesn't give a bit as the game goes on?

Thanks! So I tried the lacing trick on my game today and I would say it was fine for about the first 15 minutes, then I felt my heel slip more and more as the lace was letting out a bit... which is odd as I'm using wax too. So I thought... why not just loop through these instead because it will pull the boot in tighter, hold it, and since it is lower down I'll still have that flex. His video has this as the final result: Factoring I only have 8 eyelets and he has 10, I still work from the first 4 down from the top doing what he shows: Then cranking it as hard as possible will still leave a gap here enough for that heel slip issue, and it worsens as the game goes on. It was so bad in my game I literally could not skate with any real power. If I left my net (which I found out quickly) to play the puck I was done for! So once I got home I looked at this some more and tried to use this piece here to actually pull the sides in while still having that pressure lower down which allows forward flex and no lace bite. Now it is a more snug fit and my heel isn't as sloppy anymore, and I have enough of a bridge over where I don't feel the laces digging in when flexing forward:

I could just imagine if I sprayed my water/vinegar solution in the locker room! I would be chased out due to the strong smell. My wife already complains enough about the vinegar smell in the house. But better than the stinky goalie smells!

@johncho This actually solved my issue for the most part. The GSX skate only has 8 eyelets and his has 10 but I still did it the same way where I leave 3 empty from the top, and go up and back down. It pulls the sides in just enough and now my pressure from tying the skate is not fully on the flex spot. I then added in the heel gel pad from what @RichMan suggested and it seems to help fill some space there giving me that heel lock. I'm not sure about the ankle bone ones as I didn't notice a real difference, I might move them down a bit but I'll see. I'll take these out to the rink and comment back later. I might still have to use the Forsberg pads as my depth isn't 100% great and I just fail the pencil test a tad bit on that area. The main problem is gone now with that lacing trick as I'm not cranking them and tying them at the flex point anymore. The only issue that might occur is some foot cramping, but it might not be super bad if I continue with a two lace setup as cranking them even lower still pulls the other areas tighter. Thank you everyone for your replies. This is extremely promising and will hopefully get me through until I get my next set of skates.

I've seen maybe one other goalie in my time spray their gear as they took it off. Now that makes two!

I'm looking to see what solutions fellow goalies are using to spray their gear with post game. I used Captodor in the past but eventually just bought Vinegar and Water then made a 50/50 mix which seems to do alright. Also the cost for making two big jugs like $6-$8! As opposed to one jug of Captodor for $60! https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/captodor-sports-hockey-equipment-odour-destroyer-spray-3-8-l-0830329p.0830329.html Would it be a good idea to mix in isopropyl alcohol as well? If so, what ratio would I use for all three and what percentage of alcohol? Also I ended up picking this up for $5 at a dollar store to replace my manual spray bottle I modified with weights so it would work upside down too: https://www.amazon.com/Scotts-190518-Battery-Powered-Handheld/dp/B07JYFFZ2F pretty happy with this! Sprays upside down as well and works great. Best $5 I spent in awhile! Been using it several times a week for two months now.

I'll give this a go! Thank you very much. EDIT: Found them for $10 locally! There was also these too but I'm assuming the one you linked would be better? Also $10 as well, I guess I could give it a go too. The only issue I seen online is that they don't really stick well in the boot (I could just secure them another way or within my socks), but apart from that using both might just be enough to get me by. Cheap enough I suppose to try both at the same time. Thanks again, I'll pick them both up tomorrow at the sports shop.

@Puckstopper My goal at this point was to get them more or less passable for 6 months before I buy my KONEKTs, or go full custom with TRUE skates and have to wait that 6 months + the build period. These GSX skates were a quick upgrade from my really old cowling Reebok skates which did fit well but I wanted that attack angle and better mobility when in the butterfly. I'm not looking for them to be on par with any custom option, I just have such feet that sadly off the shelf skates don't really work so I'm forced to do all these adjustments. This is why I had to punch the heck out of them and the GSX one I got was already an EE. I'm going to try that video link and see if lacing it like that will help because if I can move the pressure and open up my forward flex with decent heel lock I'll be alright for the time being. I play roughly three to five times a week and prior to this quick skate update I did get some newer gear as I didn't think the skates would've been this awful. The intended plan before I bought these was to just grab the GSX skates because of the price point, use them for a year, chuck them and get a custom option. Looking back on it I would've saved my gear update and just went and got KONEKTs, but I had to buy two sets of gear so that put me back as I play off and on the ice and have too many commitments to miss so I thought a cheaper skate upgrade might work coming from my very old skates as it was. Kind of wish I kept them! Lesson learned for me... I'm not going to bake them because they were baked on purchase once, and another time so they could be punched in. With the amount of use I put these skates through they'll never hold up if I break down the materials further. I'm the same as you, I take very good care of all my gear and once I buy my next pair I hope it will last a long time. I'll just be sure to pick up some extra steel for the future. Thanks for the replies. I was just trying a last ditch effort to see if a wrap would work on these.

I'll take a look at this and give it a try then report back! Thank you! The major problem with the GSX skates for me was a depth issue. I'm just barely failing the pencil test and I also had to remove my Yellow Superfeet because it actually made my foot closer to the laces so when cranking for heel lock I would get even worse lacebite. I only bought the Yellow Super Feet because of foot pain, but it turns out after skating with flat insoles (stock) and loose laces mid to toe that foot pain 100% went away. Hopefully this method you linked works! I just need to watch how low I go with my laces because any amount of snug laces past the ankle causes cramping. --- I'm currently doing a variation of this but with only two eyelets for the lace set. My Pictures below: I make a bridge first so this part doesn't dig into my foot so outside in on both parts. Then I take that lace and do a loop to the top eyelet for the heel lock. After that I would take the lace ends for each side and put them through their opposites for the heel lock and use two or three unders for the first knot and then a double bow. I have all the other eyelets below on its own lace pretty with zero tension.

This was my general fear with baking such an entry level skate that the boot wouldn't hold the shape. I guess since I've only worn two skates as a goalie in my life... coming from my old skates the boot on these felt stiffer around the ankle. I guess I should maybe do a forward flex when tying them and keep that as my limit to not tighten further to avoid my tendons from getting irritated again. Then I'll just need to live with the slight heel lift until I get new skates.

I could just request they bake each skate separately I suppose and do the wrap? This place sells TRUE skates as well but I'll have to ask if they can do it once they open up. Also, cranking them since October hasn't really made them mold tighter around in a way to help with heel lock. I have very wide forefeet, but narrow in the ankle and since day one after my first skate my heel never felt locked in enough unless the sides of the boot are squeezed in enough. If I left the boot more open I would get a tiny amount of heel lift, no side to side or front to back, just a bit of lift when walking in them. Not sure I noticed it on the ice that much but I was told by others it shouldn't lift even when walking around. Maybe I just need another bake with them super tight there to form better. Thanks for the help.