OldSchoolGoalie

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.

I actually don't lace my skates besides the top two eyelets for heel lock. My feet are perfectly fitted in the skate, and even had a few spots punched out. The issue with these skates is depth, but aside from that I need a bit more support on the sides of my ankles coming from my older Reeboks which actually had a much narrow fit. I go over everything in the thread I linked of my struggles with this. My ankles are pretty strong now but the main issue is heel lock, If I don't crank the sides in enough using that loop trick my heel will lift up. The side to side ankle support isn't the real goal for this. The only way to fix this is cranking the skates but that brings the other problem of tight laces in the front. The skates were baked upon purchase and after a few skates when they needed to punch out a few spots. I cannot tie the skates any different to work and any additional pull on the laces will mean massive foot pain because they already fit like a glove. I even have a two lace system in place to make sure I don't cause laces lower down to tighten when doing the top ones. I'm just trying to get something to work to get by for whatever time it takes to replace them. I'm always left with some ankle pain post skate, and much less than before thanks to the Forsberg pads. I had it bad enough where any weight would cause pain and I could barely walk on both feet for the first 10 mins or so after getting up in the morning, and going down stairs was brutal. Now it is just an aching pain all around with some mild stiffness when forcing myself to play in tighter skates at the flex point for heel lock.

I was curious if you can take a GSX Skate which is very stiff boot and actually do the wrap method like you see with TRUE skates to bake so you get a better ankle wrap without cranking the laces in the front which attribute to lace bite. I'm probably half a year if not more off from just buying either custom skates (then I have to factor in wait times) or just buying KONEKT ones and not dealing with lace and ankle flex issues. Just thinking to ask here before I attempt it at the pro shop. If I can get a more narrow ankle fit and not have to tighten my laces as much that would really help make it through the year. So far using Forsberg pads has improved my issue but you still have to crank those laces. The boot fits like a big oval. The only reason I have to crank them is I need the sides tighter for better heel lock and support, but that comes at a cost of less forward flex which I need. My other post for reference:

Can anyone confirm if Warrior and CCM cages are interchangable? They pretty much look 1 to 1 for fit... I know one guy put a CCM on a Warrior Mask without a problem (these are the pre 2023-24 masks). I just wasn't sure if they're safe to do?

I think I found some online with Source for Sports, so hopefully they have stock. I was trying to buy locally and see what other cages might fit but I guess I'll need to order online at this point.

No straight bar ones sadly. Thanks though!

Thanks! Pure Hockey won't ship to Canada so I'll have to find another source. Sideline has some so I'll check there.

I'm wondering what masks will fit a CCM Axis GFA 1.9 Mask - M size? https://ca.ccmhockey.com/en/Goalie/Goalie-Gear/Goalie-Masks/GFA1.9-SR.html Right now I'm shopping around for a cage but it seems a lot of places are sold out for the size I need for this mask. https://www.hockeymonkey.ca/goalie/masks/cages/ccm-goalie-accessories-pro-straight-goalie-cage.html I'm not sure if a warrior cage might fit? https://www.hockeymonkey.ca/goalie/masks/cages/warrior-goalie-accessories-rf2-stainless-steel-cert-square-bar-cage.html or if there are any others out there? I've used this lid for just over a year and a few months so I don't want to buy a new mask all together for another $500+ that I spent just because of the cage.

Note to self! Don't use shoe lace, just had it snap in a game. At first I thought my bungee loops got out of the clips, but after the game was over the lace on my left shoe snapped. Normally I would be using skate lace for this so lesson learned! At least the knot held up!

I use a Warrior Warrior Ritual X3 E+ and right above the bicep is pretty bad on these. I should also look at beefing it up. The only other problem I ever had was rib shots when I'm doing a desperation save. I did use a Vaughn Velocity V9 Padded Goalie Compression Shirt to solve that issue but it is a pain to maintain it (every comb pad has to be manually removed and put in), and I overheat wearing any undershirts.

I rarely play ball hockey but I do have a second set of pads I use for it. I'm not a big fan on having pads just rotate around, I still like to have some control and prevent my pads from rotating too far around my leg. For those that have seen my DIY setup for ice hockey here: I was using just shoelace before but I found having no give was really hurting my ankles. So yesterday before my game I just made the below and it worked out very well. You'll want to use some shock cord, I use 3/16", and an S-Clip I used a Size-1 S-Biner clip. You'll need either shoe lace or skate lace as well. Then I would pick some shoes you're okay with modifying because we're going to put some grommets into the last eyelets. If you don't do this step you will risk having your eyelets tear a lot sooner otherwise. If that does happen then you'll need to put a leather or some other strong material patch, cut a hole, then redo your grommets. You can also do it at the toe, and even drill out a toe cap if you want so as long as you're okay with the feel and you can get the S-Clip attached properly without issues. I would suggest having a longer cord first, just put it through then do an angular loop on one, and then do it on the other side before cutting because it can take a few tries to get the length right. You can also test the feel before cutting. Make sure you pull on that loop to apply enough tension to lock it. Don't forget to burn the ends when done as well. For the shoes I use 6mm grommets. I also use a tool to help get the hole to size. Now the reason for using only a small piece of lace going through the grommets here is because it makes sure that the length is always the same when pulled and it doesn't interfere with your shoe lacing. I also do a few knots and burn them to prevent them from getting undone. You can use skate lace as well. The S-Clip looks a bit loose here which is normal because when I put my foot in the shoe the eyelets spread apart a bit and everything is snug. Make sure you tighten the lace when your wearing the shoes to get the perfect tightness. Once done you can just clip them in at any time. I'm not wearing the shoes in these examples so the clips are not as flush. So far these are easier on the ankles and my toes are no longer pointing up like before. I had to really have almost no slack to prevent the pads from rotating, but with shoe or skate lace you're locked in. With bungee it will help keep the pads in the proper position, plus your ankle isn't locked with your foot pointing up.

I had to do a new set of bungees as they were starting to fray after using them since March 2023 for almost 5 times a week! I ended up adding some lace around the bungee as an "armor" feature. Works great! I did this not really because of any issue with blades, but due to added friction of the bungee rubbing on the boot as I noticed on my last set the outside part on both sides had the same wear.

I ended up doing a hardware version but didn't like it due to a few reasons. With goalie skates at those eyelets even with the extenders it just doesn't crank the side enough to what I want as I'm using two eyelets for this, but it does give a good half an inch (I've done more by layering it) of forward flex without the lace digging in. The second issue is the hardware touching and digging into the ankle. I did switch to a lace method but it just won't secure it the same on a single by single basis due to the strips and with belt leather you really need to crank it down. I was also worried about the stock eyelets on the boot because when I would crank them with the extenders and flex forward it did put a lot of stress on the eyelets. For now I'll just remain with the pads until I get new skates - hopefully within 6 months! The only way I could make it work with extenders for these would be to use several eyelets and lace to secure them but with larger pieces of softer leather so I'm not dealing with a strip per eyelet and something as stiff. For the cost to do this it would just be better to buy new skates.

I'm in the same boat. I went from using a bootstrap to trying lace with modern pads, didn't like it, went right to bungees, then to my own hybrid. Works well and I wouldn't even consider going back.

I have no idea why the OPs toes would be pointing up with bungees. If you had skate lace with zero slack and you're getting the same result with bungees that would be extremely odd. When I used my Pro Laces from before I didn't have slack or use a hybrid setup with lace like I do with my own, but even then the bungee should still give enough - it might be a lot more stiff and lead to ankle pain but you shouldn't be locked in. I have never seen a bungee that wouldn't give personally, and the OP being an adult would raise additional questions as to why this would happen. The only thing I can possibly think of is when criss-crossing the bungee through one's skates they did it so many times or so far back to the point the bungee was already fully stressed and left like that, pretty much the same effect as if you just had skate lace.

None of us here are doctors who've accessed the OP to determine any pre-existing conditions. We're also not all the same when it comes to the condition of our body, strength of joints, flexibility, etc... I can only give anecdotal evidence that if your cord is too tight and doesn't allow enough give it can indeed cause additional stress on the ankles. Does that mean your knees are going to have MCL and ACL tears? I don't know the answer to that. I'm not sure about the "weak legs" part because having strong calves and, quads, and hamstrings doesn't mean you're immune to having knee or ankle issues. One of the other goalies at the rink I play at tore his MCL just from dropping into the butterfly, also uses Pro Laces, and for me even when I had them on the tighter side I did aggressive drops and never experienced any problems beyond some ankle tension. This is why I don't like to make absolute statements when it comes to these topics because we're not the same.

If it works, it works! Nice setup.

Looking forward to seeing your setup!

I will make sure I'm doing this! Thank you for that. So far with these skates I'm only cranking these laces as I only use the top two eyelets, nothing else. 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. Just like in the video: The real challenge with the pads is due to the area being on the flex point. I have my order coming tomorrow to work on that eyelet extender.