bunnyman666

From what I glean, the new OD’s give you a bail out option from when you’re bottomed out! That’s what I look forward to! I am just bummed that the guy I was using to coat my blades with something similar to DLC isn’t able to right now. I may research if there is a powder coat that could offer properties other than just cosmetics.

I have taken BOMBS to my 1080 boots with nothing so much as a stinger. Great boot. I am now a member of the cowling-free club.

I ordered a few pair for my skate business. Some of my customers are still in cowls, but the ones who didn’t stock up (upon my advise, BTW) on additional cowls and blades are transitioning into cowlingless and were missing their Overdrives. I could have used them last night!

Yes.

I can get back into my Hespeler onesies! This important base layer has been left out of my bag for over a year because I just couldn’t get my lardy bum into it! Now I can!!! My improved fitness couldn’t control flukey, bouncy pucks last night, but overall, I feel much better playing than I have in a very long time. I keep hovering in that 167-169# range, which means I need to further change diet and exercise. I was late waking this morning, but did my interval/plyometric treadmill workout in 30 minutes this morning. I had been focusing on longer aerobic workouts. Lunchtime workout will be 45 minutes on the bike today. Will I go recumbent or traditional? Decision is “game time”. The important thing here? Despite being in the absolute WORST time (calendar wise) for gaining pounds, I have remained steady with a bit of fluctuation. I am fine with it; my body is just telling me it’s time to change it up a bit. Does anyone have treadmill workouts they would like to share? How about anything else to get past my plateau? I am in the hardest to lose part of goal weight: the last 30 pounds.

Ordered mine. I am thinking that between the Overdrive 2.0 blade, this tape and my improved fitness, more improvement could come to my game. I am hearing that A BUNCH of people are using this stuff with great success.

The 4500 has direct lineage from the 2000, so it stood to reason that the 4500 was okay in use as a combo. I was going to test mine tonight, but temps are going to be quite low tonight. Don’t need plastic to be brittle by cold weather and shattered by the guy trying to bury it bar down.

It’s kind of a cool departure, as far as Talbot’s gear. Do I like it? No. I generally don’t like the faux retro themes in general, especially with a team that has literally been in the league for 20 something years. And I am not really a fan of pad graphics in general. If you think about it, it’s kind of embarrassing that a team from the State of Hockey got their bums handed to them in an outdoor game. I know, the team members are not native to the towns the teams are in. But still- St. Louis beating the Minnesota Wild in an outdoor game in their “own” rink?!? Binnington used an insulated bottle with chicken broth; maybe that was the difference…

No pix, but I saw Talbot’s gear on NHL Network this morning. Kinda cool. A bit of a departure from the “let’s spec retro brown and be done with it”. Someone has pix somewhere. I am on a social media black out period right now or I’d have pix up. Edit: best pic I saw…

It all depends on how much the rest of the jock is falling apart whether or not it’s worth just replacing straps or the entire unit. When I had the main strap replaced in my Vaughn LT88, the rest of the jock was in perfect working order. The main strap was just stretched. I wear leggings OVER my goal jock and it stays in place perfectly. That is something I do NOT want to move. I had that happen ONCE and it was neither comfortable or painless! I understand your point. I see some peoples’ goal jocks held together with tape and whatever else and I shake my head. I have known two people who have had testicles removed from groin shots in other sports.

Reach out to someone like Dennis Dombrowski (Factory Mad) or Sara Marschand (PAW) and they can hook you up.

I knew someone who was wanting to start producing new SK2000 helmets. But alas, a few complications came about and it never was.

Shawn has built me a couple. I am talking new plastic SK2000, which is unobtanium.

I wear a Mage-style. I always go back the the more open style of combos or Mage because they always were more comfy with better vision. I do have a 387 style cage coming that is likely a repro. I am hoping it is a repro as it’s likely made better. I may have to pop that onto my spare Mage shell.

Itech made a cheek and chin protector. I had a composite version. If I could source the moulds, you had better believe I would have a new SK2000.

When I get the duckbill dangler on, it’s gonna be super disgusting!

I am not talking about a Mage or composite moulded combo; I am talking plastic helmet with a cage on it Combo. The SK2000 was a decent base helmet for a combo: not too many flat spaces. Of course I wouldn’t trust 30 year old plastic to protect me. The old M11 Cascade wasn’t bad. It continued on as a Bauer model for five minutes. It had a pretty cool padding system. I came upon the lowly CCM HT50 as a combo. It has dual-density padding; of course I added Kemmler “gel” in several places for both fit and extra protection. The shape is decent and really isn’t flat in too many places. I am carrying this with me as mainly a spare, but may wear it with retro unis. It ticks many a box for a modern combo.

Sorry to hear. Ugh.

Understandable. I have found on these one size fits all holders/cowls that the middle size is optimal. It’s irritating that they do stuff like that. I am lucky that my skate literally was a perfect fit for that size holder, my boot being a 7.5.

That is up for debate, as some would argue that a shorter runner would help skating agility. CCM definitely took Vaughn’s cowl sizing model. Did your skate guy try the next size up to see how that worked?

Exactly! That’s why I said if the blade flies out, the holder is likely toast! There are two grades of hardware for these holders. Add-on holders and top of the range use all metal hardware; lower-end skates have some plastic parts. One of my customers has the lower end Tacks skate and some of the retention hardware is plastic. I don’t know if it’s replaceable when it wears out or not. Edit: it is! https://www.icewarehouse.com/CCM_SpeedBlade_XS_Holder_Adjustment_Screw_Kit/descpage-CSHRP.html

That’s kind of the nature of the beast in these quick release holders. At least you know if the blade popped out of your holder, the holder is likely toast!

Did you ever remove the blade and sharpen in a blade carrier? I do that a lot and have found I get better results.

The sizing changed dramatically during the Reebok/CCM switchover. A size 7.5 Ribcore does NOT fit like a 14K. I am going to try punching mine out. I don’t know if the Ribcore boot is even being offered anymore, especially since it is a traditional goal skate with a soft outsole. That is the closest CCM boot comparison to the Graf I now have. Of course since you named the 14K, I felt it was worth mentioning. I did the cowling/cowlingless conversion on a Graf skate. It took awhile to break mine in. But something told me to stay with it. Glad I did! I have found that for some reason, North American Graf has trouble mounting holders. Frankly, if it were me, I would put a CCM XSG holder on my Graf skate and call it a day.

I’ve done that, as well. I haven’t gone back to my True skates. Given my Trues were five years old and the great fit started to not be so good any longer. I will be installing the new Overdrive blade on mine as soon as they get in my mailbox.