Fullright

wow!

100% agree about the ads on the boards and the adverts on the sweaters. Appalling! I think differently about the game itself. I think the last several years the game has tremendously improved. The players are faster, stronger, and more highly skilled than I can remember. The sport has been my passion since 1971 - I am 60 now - and the skill level is off the charts in so many respects. Everyone can skate. Everyone can pass, The systems for the O and D are better. I'll leave goaltending out of this diatribe but they are all good (but if someone can explain why Petr Mrazek is in the Show, I'm buying the beer). There are drawbacks though. @MTH is spot on. The emotion is either absent or goes 0 to rage in 2 seconds if someone gets hammered like the hit Trouba laid on a few nights ago on Kadri. That was a clean hard hit. Nice to see the teammate stand up for Kadri but how about checking harder in response? The physicality of the game is short. I dont know whether it has to do with helmets, visors, or stop signs on the backs of youth sweaters but that part is gone. Trouba is probably the only genuine hitter in the game at this point. I dont want to see it go back to cement heads like Dave Schultz; however, speed alone isnt enough to put fannies in the stands. NASCAR and F1 had more physicality last year.

Saw some bits and pieces of it. The golf and water dunk things were strange but I suppose the purpose is to get more folks into the sport. Saw a headline somewhere that Hasek bitched about Ovi's little boy being on the ice. Havent seen a "good" all star game since 99 lite up Lindbergh w 4 goals. Felt sorry for Pelle then....I think it was his first all star game and he seemed to expect better D.

Should have asked for a refund. I am old enough to have seen Rutherford play (he was a good goalie in his day) and overall he's done good as a GM. Sounds like the torches and pitchforks are coming for him and Tocchet. @RichMan: sorry I took the thread off topic.

Havent seen as much of them as I would like so with that in mind, losing Caufield (Goalfield) is a blow. Saw Montembeault a week or so ago and he seems to know what he's doing. Allen has taken tons of beatings over his career but can still play. One thing is it seems St. Louis is doing a good job, and the team doesnt seem to make headlines for dysfunction this year. Dach is a player. Chicago just didnt know what to do with him. @coopaloop1234: Chicago has the tank title in the bag...I hope. They are so bad they probably couldnt beat a high end mens league team. Just awful: watching them and a game involving better teams is like night and day.

What a disgrace to not only his family, but also our position. In addition to being shunned, he should be banned from ever playing goal anywhere anytime. Carlos the Perv Convict.

Hope you fellas are better. I never had one of those to date. Seems like a painful and persistent injury. Get better!

Glad to hear that Toronto is progressing. Here in Chicago's Loop (downtown) things are still in the toilet since the pandemic and the unrest during the summer in 2021. Office buildings are at about 50% occupancy, public transportation use is at about 45% pre pandemic, and restaurants on the ground levels have fled with broken windows still boarded up. Homeless (or "unresidented") folks are sleeping in empty doorways to a larger degree than before the pandemic. Throw in a rash of carjackings/robberies and the Blackhawks being a mens league team, Chicago is thriving....yikes.

I cant keep up with the ever changing nomenclature and it is a big reason why I still use my old D&R LG 55 pads. Bought them in 1981. Thigh rise? Thought the stick blade was to cover the 5 hole. Plus 1 or Plus 2? I got a C in algebra so I dont even know what that means. Same ballgame with gloves. Practice palm, game palm...whatever. How about a glove you can actually close and not worry about pop-outs? Sticks? There was a lie 12, 13, or 14 and eventually a curved blade if you wanted it. Used to be if you got senior level gear, you had the same stuff the big boys wore in The Show. I know this reads like an old fart who is long past the end of the road, which is true. But the topic shows how gear has become even more of a cash grab by manufacturers. It is good that players have more choices of stuff but the intermediate, senior and pro levels are just ways in which the companies put out more product for which the manufacturers charge more. Goalies today are better trained and better protected than me and my peers ever were but I also have great sympathy for them and their parents when it comes to shelling out major cash for equipment that seems to disappoint the buyer or needs to be replaced every season. I really dont know how parents or kids generate the dough to play at a high level. The sport has always been expensive but every season the outlay must be big. For the country of origin, Cooper had a small stamp usually saying "Made in Barbados" and a french canadian or candian company had a small stamp saying Fabrique en Canada or Made in Canada.....unless you were Tony Esposito who with a sharpie wrote on the side of his Kenneskys saying "Made by Esposito". :)

Screw it. It's behind you. Good luck w the new team!

For me I did. Now I went whole hog when I had to send Paussau my 60 degree back for a few minor repairs. Initially, I ordered a double T and was very happy with it. Because of some of the commentary here, I asked them to make it a floating double T w a skate lace. I absolutely love it. You could probably catch a small planet with it.

, that is excellent, Willy....purity and sincerity have always been just a few of my flaws,

Define cheat. If you mean whether I managed to stop one over the goal line and pulled it out before the ref saw it, guilty. But I only got away with that in broken down end of the road mens league. Playing for real in junior or college, goal judges pretty much saw everything. I also freely admit that I stack as much snow as possible at the goal posts. If that is cheating, guilty. If deliberately loosening a pad strap or glove wrist strap to get a few extra seconds of air or the PK was gassed, guilty. If falling into the post to knock the net off the line to get a whistle, guilty. I suppose I am a convict but I do go to confession at church.....just wish that was all I had to confess. Although I was tempted to do the equipment "mods" mentioned by ThatCarGuy, I never did that because I was concerned about messing up my stuff. The deceased Tony Esposito, I am sure, is smiling at ThatCarGuy's creativity, especially with the pads.

"just"?....good for you and good luck. :) Glad you had a productive meeting w the Boss. As for why the team sucks in front of you, it is probably because you're good and likely better than the other goaler.

Being on a team with a BS coach is just awful. Worse than one that yells no matter what. Little confused though....are you a pro? If so, I hope things level out for you and you get a better chance.

Got back on 10/14/22 and, as I expected, I stunk the joint out. For the most part, everything went in unless it hit me. I know I made 4 saves because I am significantly bruised on each collar bone, the left elbow, and the outside aspect of the right biceps. On the plus side, I lasted the 90 minutes without the need for an ambulance so not all bad considering. Video when I get a chance. It will be a good example of how not to play goal.

I'd end up breaking my arm. :)

Asking this gently and sincerely because I dont want to get into the middle of the Leafs v. Habs deal (I've always like both team): what is the deal w Price? Is is the knee or a substance issue or both? Game is worse off without him so whatever is his problem(s), here's hoping he gets back. Allen can play. He's not likely to be in HofF but with some help, he can do well. Saw alot of him when he was w the Blues and they played the Mens League team formerlly known as the Chicago Blackhawks. Talk about tankin'....

Funny looking at the comments about recovery time. Up until about 2018, I could do a Friday skate (the one I am re-joining) and a Sunday morning skate. No matter how much I get in shape (shape for an old man way past expiration date), I cannot do it anymore. I just dont recover fast enough. Once a week maybe twice - 5 days apart - is my max.

Pretty cool topic! I had a grasp of what Bitcoin is for about 20 seconds. I owned some Coinbase stock for a trade. Got it, sold it, and never dipped into the crypto space again. All kinds of source material about finance/investment in general. Give yourself a chance and read up; not as hard as an off wing one timer at your head from the dot. Check out the open to visitors of any no load mutual fund. Most bank, local and otherwise, websites can put you onto good info also. Almost all banks have a wealth management dept that will talk to you for free, (Disclaimer: no exp w Canadian banks). Some sound suggestions in the thread already. Retirement date has a way on sneaking up on us all.

Fall is here and the time to get back is approaching. Personally, I plan to return to a pretty good skate next month. Covid and some parental health issues threw a monkey wrench into skating regularly the past few years. I turn 60 this January so hopefully I can get one more run of skates before my body craps out for good. I am done with teams and games; just cant do the late night games on a Tuesday night, for example, anymore and cannot take on the responsibility of committing to a team as its goaler. Interested to know what you all have on the books for the upcoming hockey season and I hope it goes well for you

Sorry to hear about your work accident. Here's for a speedy recovery. Only about 2 or 3 mins into the video but I am effing impressed; you look like you've been playing for a long time. Going to watch the rest of the video as time permits. Really nice to see film matched up with a goalie here. Thanks! If you get a GoPro, editing is easy...or at least it was when I filmed stuff.

MAF has a lot left. I like Cam too but I cant say Guerin is wrong. Besides, I wouldnt want to throw down w Guerin. :)

Stalock to Chicago...dont know the cap hit. Already an upgrade of what they had but not the answer. The 2 they had were decent but if they were 1s, would have known by now.

@ilyazhito, all good bud. You've seen my use of the word "dinosaur" in my notes from time to time. My changing of gear usually happens when it is forced on me. Check out a sec or two of my videos here; bet my pads and the mask I use (unless the rink bans it) are older than you. :)