IpaddyTECH

I think the guy just needs to be heard out a bit. In this tight economy, it is crazy that we have to spend $600 plus just for a glove. For one single glove. And yes, most of them take quite a lot of work to break in. It would absolutely be better service if they came more broken-in. Fair enough. Also, this is why I'm a big fan of warrior gloves. I got the 6.1 pro and out of the box is was easily closable, and became nice quick snap-closure-broken-in after 1 game. They are still protective, they are just designed to have more of a foldable, almost hinge like quality to their closure and it's very nice for those wanting next to no break in, or who have small hands (I'm both). Also monster pocket and the most modular strapping out there. Warrior should be paying me haha

Yeah another example, is it the gear, or in your head? The classic psychology answer would be... yes. It's probably a combination of both and unique to the individual and the gear. I think somebody else said something similar earlier but I wonder how much importance shooters place specifically on looking visually for gaps anymore? They already know where the gaps are, hell they numbered them. When I skate out and shoot five hole, it's not because I "saw a huge gap" that looks too good to pass up, instead it's me just testing how quick they go down. I don't expect to score the shot as much as I'm looking for a juicy rebound also. Similarly when I go top shelf, I know that's a good spot to test a goalie, I don't have to look around for that. I know snipers are still looking for any puck sized hole so maybe I'm wrong. Just musing.

So you need a narrower skate at the top then sounds like. KONEKTS should be great for you. They're also on my shopping list for after I wear out my GSX's. For now, have you tried baking them again? And then the shrink wrap thing to make them fit tighter?

Sorry to hear about your experience, pain from equipment is always no good. I have a very similar issue with my player skates so I look forward to seeing how your methods work as I still haven't found a fix for mine. I'm playing out tonight and I'm trying a foam pad sleeve on my low shin to see if that stops the top of the skate cuff from rubbing my shin raw. Funny enough though I have the same GSX goalie skates and love them. Maybe a bad fit or not your style?

That's not a bad compromise possibly. I was playing around with the G7 customizer and made a mostly black set but with some lighter colors on the sides behind the outer rolls, thinking maybe in a b-fly I'd be able to track rebounds near my pads better.

I can get behind that! Erm, your statement that is.

Not necessarily defending Warrior, but we are proudly wearing brightly colored, stupid expensive foam and arguing about which expensive foam looks best... so what does that say about all of us I wonder... merely for reference haha douchebag (plural douchebags) (US, slang, vulgar) A jerk or asshole; a mean or rude person; someone seen as being arrogant, snobby or obnoxious. synonym ▲ Synonym: douche

To me that seems like a lot of slack in the toe ties. Maybe play around with less slack or bungees? Or like Coop said haha!

I've always found this to be a fascinating topic to discuss. Overall I tend to throw my hat in with the majority of us non-pro fellas who say it's personal preference, get what you like. Personally, while I like every advantage I can get same as the next goalie, there's also just the factor of am I playing my reasonable best and having fun. If I am doing that, then who cares if potentially a white pad might have made the shooter confuse my five-hole a bit. I say this while sporting Warrior G2 classics in white/red, where the outer roll is red and totally blends in with the posts even better than all white pad would haha. I'm mainly a goalie but in my side life I'm a therapist with an extensive education in psychology and some neurology it it is truly frightening how much the brain just decides and does things subconsciously without any input from our conscious thought. To me, the different advantages and disadvantages that colors provide are very likely legit, albeit depending on the goalie and level of play and even refs. In the extremely fast paced game of hockey, I'm sure white pads do make shooters misidentify where the 5-hole is, and black pads make the puck harder to find for everyone (including the goalie). To me, the greatest factor not being discussed here is the placebo effect, which is the well documented phenomenon of giving fake pills to test groups to measure medication effects and surprisingly, even those taking just fake pills (often filled with a little sugar) they do get clinically better (though not usually as much as the actual meds) just because they believe they are getting a helpful drug. If you THINK your pads are giving you an advantage, then psychologically you ARE LIKELY to be more confident/relaxed/positive and attribute saves to your pads colors, thus actually making you a SLIGHTLY better goalie just by improving your mental game. But could this eventually unravel with a few bad games where you don't see the supposed advantages of your pad colors helping? Possibly. Or was that you just eating too close before the game and having some brain fog. The variables are nearly endless.

https://sidelineswap.com/gear/hockey/goalie/goalie-leg-pads/7574755-vaughn-lethemon-pro-return-slr4-pro-carbon-pads

Ah Itech... my old flame. You'll be missed. I use warrior pro pants and to me it feels perfect, moma bear sized. Not too big to interfere with closure, not too thin to leave you open to stingers.

That makes sense. I'm just an odd duck then. I can't say I'm a good goalie (purely because I don't own bauer pads yet haha) but I have a wide butterfly despite short legs and prefer straighter stiffer pads.

Thanks for the info all. That makes sense. I'm guessing I better jump on some m5's soon. To me it's surprising the m5 has done so bad. I read on hear that it's similar in quality to the mach but in some ways more like the more popular Ultrasonics (cortech which slides better, and a better precurve with more flex). Maybe it just hasn't been marketed well.

Noticed the lack of a new price point pad. Does anyone know if they'll keep the M5 in production? or is that just what's left on the shelf and the X5 is taking over? I'm hoping to snag a pair of the M5's before they are gone. Also I'm curious to see if the SL1D3R Skin 2.0 (geez that's a mouthful) improved the sliding at all compared to the Mach.

Nice post @A.YOUNGoalie13, I love this kind of stuff. Agreed on Hzardus, E-flex, hyperlite, and even my Warrior pads. Glad you came around on the Mach's, despite the limited color zones. To me the techy/robotic looking details up close are great too. Okay I might be crazy, but I kinda like the Axis 2 graphic, even the asymmetrical one... (bracing for tomatoes being thrown at me). I will say it has to be exactly the right colors, but it can be done. Finally, to me the Optik 3 is an amazing graphic. Very unique, endless versatility, and can be made to look simple or very modern and complex. It's vertical lines to me are more clean and less chaotic than the Gnetiks. Yes it's not a timeless simple graphic like my beloved Reebok P3's but to me it was in the top 3 for its year. But I will say, the 27 color zones sometimes do give guys enough rope to hang themselves with and I've seen some baaaad apples. Here's a few good ones and a bad mixed in, see if you can spot it haha

That makes a lot of sense. I might have to play around with them again.

Thank you, I'll check them out more in-depth. That interesting about using skate lace. I've been debating going back also, but they always say the bungees are better for your joints, and I'm not getting any younger so that's a thing I have to think about now.

That's really helpful to know. I only used my full 3m film for 2 games and gave up... prooooobly coulda stuck it out longer and gotten used to it.

I'll see what others say but if no one has tried them, I'll give them a shot and write a little review of my experience. I'm not loving my simmons ones. Do you use pro laces? Haha yeah I was just thinking, I guess some goalies still do that! The buckles seem pretty cool, and I'm all for speeding up the dressing process, and things not getting looser.

I've been having trouble with my toe bungees being too lose, coming off even, not fully recentering my pads after butterfly saves. My bungees are the Simmons ones, good quality, undamaged. I wear a size 7 skate, so maybe they're too big for my skates? Anyway, in researching I stumbled across these https://tendymods.com/products/tendy-tiesth and found a positive review wanderingjustin.com/tendy-ties/ Anyone here have any experience with these? They look like they use two bungees, so it might be a stronger attachment, more like laces but still with some give. They also make a Ski boot style strapping mod so any skates can ditch the laces.

That's great news. I'm adding film to half of each knee stack this week and I'll be testing it out soon.

That's great news! Do you feel like you've adjusted to the speed and don't overslide too badly?

Sorry I can't help myself hehe Me: I like warrior. Warrior gooood. Everybody else: Yeah they used to be the best years ago, they literally invented the standard of the modern innovative pad but now everybody else has just (barely) caught up to them. But they haven't reinvented the wheel, again, in some time. Also their gloves are arguably the best. This is why I don't like warrior anymore. Me: ??? Warrior:

That's true but I really doubt with Brian's that it's a quality issue. Every pad takes time to "dial it in" with strapping to get it to perform ideally with your legs and style of play. Plus factor in synthetic ice.

Haha I love brand loyal discussions, so no worries about disrespect. I think this is fun. I guess it does depend on how you define innovative. For me It's not just coming out with something new every year (which as we all know is more about marketing and sales), but creating something truly innovative (meaning new). Something nobody else has done before, and both Warrior and Bauer have had their years where the blew everyone else out of the water. But you're right, it's been awhile since warrior has had something as game changing as the G2. But you could kinda argue the same that Bauer hasn't done anything significant since the OD1N line, mostly just changing straps and break angles. The Mach to Shadow line is a very timid change as far as I've seen. But to your point, the G6 to G7 is warrior copying other brands for a change. Also, this goes beyond pads. Warrior's C/A's developed the hinge technology, the pants were some of the first with exterior armadillo style pads and elastic or cut outs for movement, their sticks are cutting edge, and everything from their knee pads to jocks are best sellers due to good protection and durability. So if you factor in the truly inventive advances in pad tech over the years, In my book, Warrior goes toe to toe with Bauer except Bauer narrowly coming out on top for the pads/blockers as I said. To be fair, lefevre pads have always blazed their own trail too. Then there's Brian's which makes fantastic stuff, but nothing really ahead of anybody else. Then you've got ccm and vaughn, which in my mind are almost always behind and copying others, with the exception of maybe vaughn gloves which have their own cult following. To be honest, cutting edge "technology" in pads is going to "top out" at some point right? There's only so much you can do with leather and foam. Soon I think it's all going to be about quality/affordability and which company packages the "tech" you like in a single piece of gear, in a way you prefer. Vaughn's SLR4's are certainly catching up to everybody else nicely, but I can't think of anything Vaughn has innovated. Maybe the carbon? But other brands have already had their versions of "extra stiff" foam for a while now.