MTH

Cool idea. I live in south jersey and many folks hit up the Flyers former equipment manager for sharpenings. He's got a shop in his house (and does a podcast there). I don't know how rinks will feel about a mobile pro shop showing up outside their rink. Although, some places don't have anything. Flemington Ice Arena and I think Ice Land lack pro shops. Princeton and the arena in Trenton have nothing too. There's a market for sure.

My goal is to be so fat that I take up the whole net.

Class of 23 rink is much improved with the new boards finally. Did the Flyers issue black New Balance shoes to the boys? Is that Brad Marsh, Barber, Dave Poulin, you, Dave Brown and Briere? You gear is killer.

Old friends needed a goalie for a beginner league. It's been rough to play again. I'll be 46 in two weeks (like Brady) and haven't been on a team since 2019. My wife may want to divorce me too. Actually she told me I needed to play (translation - go get in shape fat boy) Game 1 - I got beat for just one goal on a breakaway in the first minute. Gear was hurtin. My cup elastic was gone so I had to make it work. I fell twice catching edges. Forgot a water bottle and forgot to tape my sticks. Rink allowed all of a minute warm up - so I was in prime shape. Also was just getting through a cold so I couldn't really exert myself too long without coughing my head off. Game 2 - last night - New CCM cup was nice. I played well for 2 periods. Got beat on a breakaway again right off the opening face off. Let in 5 goals with two on breakaways. One nice deflection out of the air. One I made a simple blocker save and rather than push it into the corner like I've done a million times, it fell to my feet and someone knocked it in. Last one I fumbled trying to get my pad down against the post for rvh. Soreness sneaks in quickly late in the game. Legs get stiff and pushing off for slides is really hard. Brain says go but my legs are not listening anymore. I debate retirement again the whole third period. Does Life Alert make a unit for goalies?

I was working on my rvh stick side during the game last night and I slipped and let in a bad goal. oops 45 year old hips don't like bending like that.

I wish. Stuff was cool. Just 30 years old now.

I'd rather dress at home, drive to the rink, walk in , play, walk out, drive home and undress at home than use a wheeled bag. Call me old fashioned.

12" wide pads is where it's at. Remember the line - 'They were legal when I bought them'.

My son that plays Midget - his goalie got a new pair of Brian's pads. White with some black design on them. Told him his gear taste was weak. ha ha

Thumb loops are for the weak. Man up.

There aren't many. More in the northern states I guess. I've hit a few in upper PA, NY and in Maine. Dunkin Donuts has the country covered. So most go there like you guys do Tim Horton's. The Tims here are typically part of another store and not stand alone. Shitty gas station mega store. So they use the name and half ass make the crap. Why I was pleasantly surprised it was actually good and fresh. I hit a few between Niagra and St. Catharine's and they all were pretty good. I get it now. Also, there were about one per corner in that section of Ontario...

Sounds like it's becoming the real Gotham City as shown in the Dark Knight movies (that were awesome). Sorry the city is in bad shape. Seems like development comes in waves. Philly for a long time was sketchy in the downtown and all. Now there are tall buildings popping up like weeds all over the place. I work for the DOT and working on rebuilding I-95 through the city. We have public meetings where we discuss the work. They are overrun with new residents that bought a million dollar spot right next to the interstate. Now they come to the meeting and ask what we're doing about the noise and are amazed that it was so busy on I-95 through a major city. We also are working on the highway, forever, so they ask when we'll be done (NEVER!).

Hockey announcers are the biggest hack commentators on playing net. There are many lazy saying that they keep using: Stood on his head. (Possible? Also a terrible position to make saves from - and dangerous for others) Flash the leather. (No leather anymore) Let in a goal. (100% sure he didn't let it in) Goalies are nuts to stand in there. There are many more.

I only stop the shots that were going in - not the ones that hit the post.

I was up in Toronto this past weekend. First time there since 2007. Holy hell the city is built up! Felt like I was in a futuristic city when I drove in on the highway. Every building was 40 stories tall and covered in green glass. WTF? I managed to stop at Canadian Tire for the first time in my life. Not too shabby. Finally saw their infamous gear selection in person. They did have some Sher Wood 9950 sticks that were Canadian made. I would have grabbed two if I was still playing. Tim Horton's in Canada is WAY better than their stores in the States. USA Hockey skill levels and Canadian hockey levels don't line up. My kid's team had a rough go at their tournament. Some big bastids in Bantam in Canada!

GSBB for sure. Shitty goalie in real life. Mismatched gear. Ugly. From a former GSBB mod... certified member for sure!

Thanks for a shot of your nuts. More like no thanks. Reminds me of that weird-o politician (and a goalie) Anthony Weiner from NYC. ha ha

The player from the NorthStars is using a Warrior stick. You from the Warriors is using a Northstar stick. Ironic picture. Great gear.

My kids don't play goalie, so I'm pretty good now at non-goalie gear. That's pretty much how it's done for that. Bauer uses the 2.x (2.9. 2.7, etc) stuff. then pro for the best gear. But the model name is redundant as the price of the gear tells you what level it is easily. My kids can tell you immediately for sticks. Bauer and CCM make their top end sticks way more reflective and shiny than the lower end sticks - on purpose. So they all know what sticks are expensive and not. Look at the stick rack in the pro shop. Dull, plain sticks are cheaper. Glitter and shiny ones are $300+

Stick sizing is also a shit show. It's better now I think with fewer stick makers than ever. Gear sizing too is better as there are fewer big companies left in the market.

I sent Bunny the infamous Passmore blocker. He still had it when he passed. Wrong to ask for it back?

I think they would offer it if there were enough kids playing. The rinks make more from travel teams, so they treat the house (or limited travel) teams like they're unwanted. Limited practices and god awful ice times. My local rink is trying to expand their Tier 1 program into the juniors more every year. This year they picked up a NAHL team and put them in the rink. So those kids eat up more ice that was already limited. House teams just get further pushed down the line sadly. Also, here - every sport has expensive travel clubs. So the kids kinda get locked into one sport more than the others. So the kid that's playing club soccer is playing in tournaments and all almost year round now. Parents can't do it all and other sports get dropped.

To a degree. In the Philly area house league kinda drops off at Pee Wee (12u). From there you have to either find a club team or just play in school. It's hard to make school teams if you don't play club team hockey. Most kids that played just house league around here stop playing at 12. Which stinks. There are kids that come out for the school teams that haven't really played club and they have a tough time getting shifts in JV games. For my 16 year old - It was either $6500 for Tier 1 or $4500 for Tier 2. The Tier 2 team then charged additional for summer ice slots and gym time. As a parent, you get kinda painted in a corner at times if your kid wants to play. Hockey ain't cheap. Most people at the rinks don't look like they have a hard time paying for it. Parking lots look like a new suv dealer lot.

Watching the Flyers practice this weekend with my son's team. Few of the dads were surprised that every player had a half visor on. Had to tell them that it's the rule now. Watching some early 90s scrap videos on YT - the announcers always noted then if someone was in a fight and had a half visor on, they got an additional penalty for it. My how times changed.

I paid $6500 for my one son's AAA 16u team. That covered three practices a week through the season. Also 2 nights in the gym with trainers and a dedicated locker room for just his team for the season. Fee also covered two showcases and summer ice times. Travel costs (few weekends in hotels, etc) were extra ($1000?). My younger son was $4500 for 14u A. Included 2 practices a week from September through February. Fee covered both their league games and the fee to enter a second league (20 more games). Tournaments were extra (Silver Sticks). I think I paid $200 more for that. We also paid extra for pins, summer ice, and some other things. Maybe another $200. So for him, it was about $5000 for the season. Travel costs extra again ($1000) Tryouts are about $200 per kid per program. Both my boys tried out at two different places this past spring ($800). Tryout fees are a scam! They both usually do a few spring camps. Season ends in February and tryouts are in April - so you get fleeced to keep your kids playing until tryouts. Another $1000. High School hockey here is club. So $1000 per kid. ($2000) My out of pocket for a year of hockey for two kids is about: $6500+$1000+$4500+$500+$1000+$800+$1000+$2000=$17,300 or $8650 per kid.