bildeer

Yeah, that is how I feel about C/A's. As long as it doesn't really hurt, I'm good. Frequency of hard shots plays a big part in it. Over the years moving up in age groups and eventually college, I found that the shots haven't gotten any harder for the most part, but the frequency of those hard shots have gone up significantly. I have a THS spec Vaughn Ve8 that I used for about 8 months at that level before the shots to the arms got really annoying. These days, I don't even try to stop the puck, it just happens. Read the situation and react accordingly. Experience and recognizing patterns can make differences in skill less drastic. When I first started playing with the big boys (18-25 year old college guys who formerly played at the prep school and junior levels) The only thing that saved me was that I knew what they were going to do before they did it, and knew that the only thing that changed was the speed of the game. Do this and you will find that positioning yourself and reading the situation in front of you is the hardest part of this occupation, and that the save is the natural result of this process.

I think it is just one of the many occupational hazards of this trade. One of the first shots I took to my 2400 Russian spec was a freak shot off the forearm that actually hurt. Haven't had it happen since.

I have a 2400 Russian Spec and the last time I weighed it, it came in at around 9 pounds. I believe it was somewhere in between a medium and a large. I came from a Vaughn Ve8 that weighed 6.4 pounds and it took me a week to adjust. If I recall correctly, I believe the standard unit is about 7-7.5 lbs depending on size.

I love how they have the same font!

Adding off of what bunnyman stated, long ago in my early days (2013), I had an opportunity to try some double break Premier 4's and I had a terrible time with them because I strapped them in the same manner that I had done on my Velocity 4's at the time (before I adopted the idea of wearing giant knee pads). I could not move for the life of me and every single time I dropped down, I was stuck. After modifying the leg channel on my first pair of V4's and removing the knee lock to accept the Koho 589 knee pads, I had to wear them much looser at the top, but I found that a soft pad strapped loosely gives a lot more mobility than one that is strapped tightly. They give a bit more movement than the traditional V4 leg channel configuration regardless of strapping, but I think this a winning combination if you want soft pads and huge knee pads.

Is the individual in question willing to listen when/ if you try to explain to him that this is a recreational league and that all parties are there to have fun and not just win games? If he does not want to listen to what you have to say, pay them no mind. It sounds like the rest of your team is beginning to catch on.

We're exited to have you back on the forum! I was in a similar situation about 2-3 years ago following the untimely death of a childhood friend, and it scared the hell out of me because I had no idea what was going on. Panic attacks, depression, the whole package. They came back about two weeks ago but now that I know what they are and how to handle them, I'm having a much better experience this time around. Life is short! Try to make it somewhat enjoyable!

Well, this rolled in today all the way from Chicago! There's no way I'm getting all of my equipment in this thing, but I bet I could fit my leg pads in the passenger seat.

Yes, I understand that, which is why I ask. I order my custom stuff from the same retailer that the @AdamL's set was ordered from so I wanted to know what to tell the person sending my specs to the manufacturer to get the same thing. I had quite a few non standard modifications on my last two pairs of V4's and that made them cost an obscene amount of capital, but I got exactly what I wanted, although with a lighter wallet. I know that sending a picture of the modification works too, which is what I did with my leg channel specs, which is what I did on my last two pairs in addition to specifying something along the lines of "extra large outside calf protector moved to the outside edge of the pad"

@AdamL Could you tell me what you had put on the order form for the reinforced sidewall of the blocker? My V5 is on its last leg after nearly 8 years of use. (best $175 I've ever spent!)

The 580 and 590 offer different feels and pocket orientation with respect to hand position. Notice how the 580 gives more vertical coverage than the 590, and despite appearing to be an old spec glove from before the sizing regulations that we use today, this is still true with the current spec of 580's. Because of this, the motion that is used to close the glove resembles a "thumbs up" with your fingers flat on your palm. I have been using this style of glove for almost 6 years now and found early on that it trivializes shots that are directed just over the leg pad (i.e. low glove one timers). The 590, on the other hand (get it?) offers more lateral coverage with respect to the orientation of the pocket. In theory, you could achieve more vertical coverage with the glove by utilizing the "fingers up" orientation of holding your glove. There is a potential issue of covering space in places where pucks won't go anywhere near the net (like above the crossbar). This is what I used when I was using my Vaughn T7600 back in my early days. I think glove position determines which style glove you use, but at the end of the day, they are two different ways to achieve the same task: catching the puck.

I have been using a 26.5 Bauer Total One NXG that is more like a 25 after I messed with the paddle since October of 2019 (took me nearly 7 years to get me away from my foam cores!). Previously I used everything up to 28 inches because my stance was much more upright in my earlier days, but has become more compact over time. Last time I checked I was somewhere between 5'10 and 5'11.

Very cool! Let me know where your PA tournament is. I may be able to drop by and watch a game or two if it's on the eastern side of the state.

Back in my midget 16 (2016-18) days, I was bumped down from the very competitive 16AA team, to the A national to A American team (the equivalent of B, in this case) all in the span of a few weeks (My father wasn't big on the idea of the extra travel of the 16AA team, and made it known). At the time I didn't realize it, but this would actually be beneficial in the long term. While we did lose just about every game that season and I later had a much greater appreciation of defenseman that actually played defense, learned how leadership works, and I earned the prestigious title of 3rd string goaltender of the 18AA team at age 17! I also had a major breakthrough in my development where I had learned to become consistent. Previously, while I was pretty good at stopping pucks, I was nowhere near as consistent as I am now and I suspect it was due to the fact that because of the setback that I had encountered, I took a step back and looked at it from another angle. If someone had told 15 year old me that getting put on a team that was not competitive would allow me to advance in my development, I probably would not have believed them. A situation like this can be interpreted as a setback or an opportunity to improve. (mind you my knowledge on parenting is limited at best on account of being 20)

Here is what mine look like. They came with a second pad that goes in the knee area and another that goes behind the front shield. I have removed those because I found that they moved my leg pad further away from my leg than I would have liked.

I don't want to derail the thread but I've been thinking, is there any chance that we could get the Steve Passmore blocker review up on this website? It is of great historical and cultural significance!

You're right about that! I remember the first time I saw one. I decided I would have to get one one of these days, there's nothing else like it! They're even more fun to work on because you can take 99% of the car apart with a 8, 10, 12,14, and 20mm socket. 320 WHP at just a hair over 2700lbs is crazy!

Behold, my combustion carriage, the 2008 Toyota Avalon (pictured next to a friend's seven) The Avalon was free, so I'll be driving it until the wheels fall off and when that happens, I will put the wheels back on and continue driving it. Purchased with 110k miles in 2013 and currently has 198,800 something miles and has taken me to nearly every single game and practice. I can even fit my nearly 6 foot long alpine snowboard in the back, it's pretty neat.

I still have them! I can't see myself getting rid of them any time soon, they're my favorite (and first if I recall correctly) piece of equipment. This was the beginning of my velocity four obsession all the way back in 2013! I think I had just starting using toe buckles when this picture was taken, haha

We ran 2 teams, one junior varsity and varsity. Myself and a few other player played on both teams. I managed to play 18 out of the 32 total games we had played that season.

Found my team picture from my high school days! I was 14 in this photo. As you can see, I was still wearing DoubleG's old V4's that the factory messed up the specs on.

I couldn't believe that they weighed what they did, but I think part of the reason my 2 newest pairs weighed more was because I had the 7800 V5 knee block and sliding surface, so that was likely what added the weight. I'm also quite certain that part of the reason they weighted less was because I did a fair bit of modification to them when I was still using them, so while they were stock when I got them, I had removed parts of the leg channel and knee lock by the time I was done with them. I also recall hearing many years ago, probably in 2014, that the V4 was lighter than the V5, for whatever reason. I think I read that somewhere on the GSBB. Did you by any chance use a V1 blocker? I've always been interested in hearing how those were with the flatter board profile.

I bought the blocker as a lightly used pro return (Matt Hackett from his wild days). As far as I know, the build is completely stock.

Excited to hear about how they are on the ice! I was torn between the V9 leg pads, and a third pair of V4's (I like V4's). Interesting to hear about the weight, it does make sense that it would weigh more, but I had no idea that it would weigh that much more than the standard V9 leg pad. My 2010 V4's came in at 4.8 lbs (34+3) 2017 V4's that weighed 5.1 lbs (35+2) and a brand new 2021 pair that I I just have sitting around until I get around to purchasing the matching blocker and a glove that weighs 5.7 lbs (35+1.5) each. Oddly enough, they are softer than my 2017 pair was when I got them. The velocity blocker's have pretty much been the same since the V5, which is what I have been using for the past 8 years, so a V9 will likely be the replacement.

I found that they offer a more consistent response than what I experienced with laces, and sliding toe bridges. I tried it just to see what it was like 5 or 6 years ago and never looked back.