OldSchoolGoalie

4 hours ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Yea, the people I play with play bottom tier beer league if they even play. I'm definitely not in a similar scenario. I'm there to fuck around as much as they are, though they sure do get a kick on scoring on "an actual goalie". 

Sorry man, I don't have any advice to give. 

All good! One of the groups I play with is very casual and is all about having a good time, but that group is over until after the summer. The groups I got now are pretty intense. Maybe a few pre-game rum and cokes with triple shots will help? Drunken goaltending!

8 hours ago, mik said:

If it is not fun to play ball hockey, don´t waste your time - just don´t do it. It is that simple. There were times when I played ball hockey almost every day (I was young ), but abandoned it years ago with similar feelings - it was not like on ice and was not fun anymore.  It only cost my time..  

Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact those groups are my friends I wouldn't even bother, but even now I'm still not wanting to put on the pads to play. I'll come out as a player anytime, but as a goalie it just sucks. Even ball hockey as a player is so sub-par to that of ice, but I find goaltending in ball compared to ice is far worse of an experience. We also run our games for 2 hours! So if the heat doesn't get you, surely the fatigue from 100s of shots and janky movement killing my joints.

3 hours ago, dreadlocked1 said:

Nothing beats slide plates and roller fly is a step up from that.  

I've heard the best are the ones with ball bearings but those come at a premium cost. Always something to consider in the future if I take it more seriously I suppose! Right now I'm trying to avoid the net in ball hockey as much as possible. I just feel bad leaving those groups hanging with no goalie but it is what it is.

 

3 hours ago, dreadlocked1 said:

Maybe look into slide plates or roller fly on a dedicated ball/roller set?

Might be something to consider as I have a set I only use for ball hockey. I think I can get something pretty cheap off Etsy? I've also heard of Velcro, and even anti-friction tape.

I wish the guys I played with would tone it down a bit... Some played AAA so they're not only running at you at full speed, the shots are being released faster than you can see, and on top of that they can curve the ball. Breakaways with the very fast players can be pretty daunting, and even worse when you got two coming at you. Not being able to butterfly fast is a problem because I'm trying to play the percentages as much as possible as shots up close from high leveled players are just too fast to visually react to.

Any tips, or should I just try to keep doing stand up with the occasional half pad saves, and paddle down while praying?

Also, I forgot to ask... do you get super sore from ball hockey? I find one game of ball hockey as a goalie feels like playing four back to back ice hockey games. I also find my ankles are a lot sore as well, with or without a toe tie mod.

I'm not sure if anyone has the same problem but when I go for my ice training one of the major compliments I get is how fast I can drop into my butterfly and move around, and cover the puck in the crease. Sadly when I go to play indoor ball hockey I'm running into several issues with my speed. For reference I'm using a second set of ice hockey pads sized properly for ice with my skates, so maybe with shoes it is a more bulky. When I'm dropping into my butterfly I feel like I'm unable to just snap my knees down as the edges of the pad will get stuck. Some of these floors use that rubber material (green and blue) - smooth concrete seems fine. The other issue I'm having is any lateral movement can leave my pads getting caught up and I'm just moving too slow to really respond to the plays.
 

I read up online that in general you want to play more stand-up in Ball Hockey, but honestly it just doesn't work well for me. If I stay up I get beat down low a lot, and by staying up I'm so much slower to cover the ball when near me. If I was already in the butterfly it is a matter of milliseconds to cover. I'm also not fighting with my pads getting stuck all the time to drop due to the friction. It feels like I cannot just snap my knees and flair out my feet to drop fast.

I really don't want to entertain ball hockey much at this point, but the main problem is some of my groups of friends really depend on me to come out weekly to fill the net. When I see how quick I move on ice and how slow I move in the gym with ball hockey it really becomes a major let down. I also play with pretty competitive guys so they're expecting me to move like I do in ice where I'm covering the ball as fast as possible, and doing that standing up is just really slow. Especially if the edges of my pads are glued to the floor as I'm trying to get down. I haven't considered rollerflys or anything or those edge guards for anti-friction, but I might be open to mods as these are dedicated pads for ball only.

Any advice, or should I just stick to ice?

Bit of an update. I've done a few ball hockey games since but as a goalie. I generally prefer to play out (been a forward for a few decades so its a nice change up), but most groups are lacking goalies not players. Since my ice slots were done I didn't really have any options apart from city ice. I must say it was a pretty miserable experience. Coming from inline to ice and then going to ball hockey is just a major step back. I find the ball does some odd things, and on top of that my mobility is so bad that I'm usually getting beat on passes where in ice I would do a slide or a T-Push and be fine. I also find the edges of the pad stick to the floor and really hinder my side to side movement at times and even dropping down. Due to my highly competitive nature I think it is just best to avoid ball hockey all together because I'm always comparing it to how I would perform on ice and it just isn't good for me mentally. I don't like letting down those groups though that need a goalie, but it just isn't fun anymore. I'll just keep my 2nd set of pads as backups for ice in the event I need to repair something and don't have time between games.

On the plus side I did a few ice slots as some friends are getting the groups going again and I had a good time. This weekend I have a coaching session and another game so I'm looking forward to that.

I just need to change it up and really find the smaller wins out there and not get down too much overall. After this week I'll try to restrict myself to a game a week if possible. I cannot say 'no' sometimes... and my phone is ringing off the hook for me to come out and play.

7 hours ago, RichMan said:

Just a heads up to indicate that things do change...after a poor record of 9 loses (maybe more, I stopped counting) and 2 ties after the holidays, last night was our final game in the series. We were dead last in the 4 team league standings and although feared in the beginning, not much was expected but the boys pressed on the pedal and I gave everything I got and we came out with a 5-2 win to close the season/series. I was fully gassed out. I did make a 2 pad stack high corner toe save deemed for sports highlights, alas no post-game interviews   

Just keep "keeping"  

Congrats on pushing through!  

7 hours ago, mik said:

It is good idea to do some on ice pracitce. I don´t have practices on regular base anymore for a long time, just goalie camp / cilnic here, some regular training with players there. But whenever I feel my game is off (physically or mentally) or I have more time, I try to go for pracitce. Maybe it is strange, but I usually like goalie lessons more than actulal play. Cliché, but I´m enjoying every minute of it and it makes me to look forward for the play. 

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.

On 4/6/2024 at 10:05 AM, ZeroGravitas said:

Late June 2024

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. 

1 hour ago, keeperton said:

I think it's weird that it says it's a 75° break angle, to be like a 600, which is straight-up not the angle the 600 is. I don't know what that's about.

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.

9 hours ago, RichMan said:

@OldSchoolGoalie

Here's my take: I think that when you decided to come back, you expected to take off where you left, on a championship and high performances. That's clearly what DIDN'T happen. 

There's a huge difference between beer league games and pick-up/shinny. BLG means performing, dealing with pressure and team chemistry and emotions. Pick-up is no stress, no trophy, just some good banter and occasional bragging rights.

As spring is here and the season unwinds, you could take a break as @dreadlocked1 mentions, gather your thoughts and recalibrate. You could embark on a training program (strength, mobility, flexibility and mental preparation) 2-3 days a week until September comes around. Or you could jump into something completely different like softball or soccer or basketball or cycling or running and change the whole scenery. 

If you're like me, very competitive, letting go of BLG will be difficult. Despite the pressure, i love the challenge. But, if the stress is too much and you bring that shit back into your personal life, maybe it's time to let go and just enjoy shinny time. And when you play shinny, it doesn't have to be so serious. You can mess around, try new things, joke and poke fun on the ice, be a MAFOMGBBQ!!!!. He's a pro but still manages to enjoy the moment, win or lose.

Don't say it's over until you're actually ready

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.

9 hours ago, wigalicous said:

 

 

How much of the film do you wrap to the backside of the knee block? I have tried the ppf twice using Chenner's application method but each time the film ended up shredded after one game. I guess it is lifting during game play and being torn somehow. Perhaps when it lifts it sticks to itself and the force tears it or the ridges and divots of our poorly zambonied ice causes the tears?  Not sure exactly what happens but it looks like an angry racooon disapproved of the game play advantage the ppf was providing me and did a Kay Whitmore gear check and denial on my specs. 

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!



 

29 minutes ago, RichMan said:

I have to ask...why are the laces on the bottom part of your skate so loose? Was it just because you simply wanted to show the Increase lacing technique at the top?

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.

1 hour ago, Korppi32 said:

It's not a surprising that you have some lace bite issues. The felt tongue is so thin in GSX skates that is clearly worn out already. Lacing tricks might help some time because there is some fresh foam in tongue but it wont last forever.

 

1. I think you need some rest if your feet are inflamed and painful.

2. You have to make felt tongue thicker and stronger.

3. Try wider non.waxed laces. 

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?

On 3/13/2024 at 2:11 PM, johncho said:

I'm super happy for you and I might try it myself

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:

 

1 hour ago, mik said:

I used to do it at home, but now (1-2 months) tried it in locker room and looks like works better. 

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!

On 3/12/2024 at 9:11 AM, johncho said:

Try also this lacing method maybe
https://www.instagram.com/p/C4ZRhtwgmqm/?hl=en

@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.