ULTIMA

I do wonder if he's ever gonna get into innegra materials and give his masks a more modern construction.

20 hours ago, Maxpower29 said:

Love the bauer stuff but I just cannot get past the fact they dont make the high end stuff in Can/US anymore

Looks great though

I had this problem for a while too.

But lemme ask you this - if all pro grade equipment from the big 6 companies were only available at retail from offshore, would you stop playing?

If you answered no, then you obviously love this game enough to look past that. You would do well to recognize that pro gear coming from other countries is made fantastic. You're missing out.

I'm truly happy to see him pull through, he needs a ring!

Although I am curious if he will remain loyal to Bauer or jump ship to True like some of the other guys.

17 hours ago, TheGoalNet said:

It's my understanding that New Balance is shopping Warrior. Same as Adidas and Nike pulling out. Hard goods is a hard business compared to sneakers or moisture wicking sweat pants.  Not sure how much Warrior wants to spend on skate development right now

Now that's something interesting I haven't heard. Granted that's true and accurate, I can see Bauer buying the brand and swallowing it like others, adding to the graveyard of hockey brands that have left us in the last 25 years

10 hours ago, RichMan said:

I had heard that Mike Vaughn was stubborn about doing changes to gear structure at retail. ??

It's been no secret that Mike Vaughn has been stubborn on a number of issues and has put his foot in his mouth. I do recall him saying that other brands' pro level gear is only as good as his 2nd tier gear.

On 2/19/2021 at 3:18 PM, ZeroGravitas said:

I think you're right about True/Lefevre, but there's a lot to say about True/VH and how they changed the skate business. Prior to True/VH, custom skates were not something most people thought about purchasing. Only the biggest gear nerds or people with truly troublesome feet were looking at custom as an option. And back in the day, custom skate order forms were essentially an Excel file with a couple drop down boxes and maybe a tracing of your feet. It was sort of an arcane process at the retail level.

In comes True with the iPad scanner. Scans can be done quickly and accurately. Customers can see what their foot looks like, highlight problem areas, and have pictures taken to show the factory what needs to be done. True has really leveraged technology and opened the market for custom skates. Nowadays, custom skates are something almost everyone knows about. A lot of people consider it an option over stock skates, even if their feet are not particularly troublesome, especially in goalie, where we don't have many skate models to choose from.

Bauer and CCM have followed True with their foot scanners. Bauer has specifically collected data on all the feet ever scanned on their 3D skate lab scanners to formulate the new Fit 1, 2 and 3 for their higher-end player skates. CCM is also transitioning to a three fit system for their higher-end player skates beginning in 2021. Would all of this have happened without True? Probably. But maybe True's disruption of the skate world has accelerated and/or inspired some of these moves that the Big Two are making.

I totally forgot about True acquiring VH, I'll agree with that - yes their skates were a game changer and put True on the map of hockey and showed they could potentially be a player. Warrior started out the same way just doing sticks and some protective and 10 years later they have almost everything to offer except skates. I do think Warrior should have gone after Graf and slapped their logo on their skates.

Great topic of discussion but I can still see people derailing this thread into some irrelevance with non NHL brands.

Nonetheless, I somewhat agree with your list and it's ranking. if you were to decide to open a hockey store in the modern era and sell goalie products, you simply wouldn't be one without offering CCM and Bauer. Say what you want but I can almost guarantee every goalie owns and wears at least one piece of CCM or Bauer gear even if they're not wearing the 5 big pieces. When you offer skates to mask and everything in between, you're definitely in a position to be more recognizable and influential in the hockey shop industry. They also have the funds to push R&D towards the future.

As much as goalies are traditionalists, they also like the newest and hottest fads in goalie stuff which is why I think True is a little high on the list. Sure, Canadian made gear is fantastic but hypothetically if all 5 companies went overseas with their pro grade gear, would goalies throw up their arms and retire from the position? Don't think so. True is just popular right now because of all the goalies they've managed to snatch from CCM and Bauer. I make no bones about the fact that their gear is good. But from a consumer's standpoint it's still CCM gear with no D30 and new lipstick. Besides, unless they decide to offer a 2nd tier of gear, junior sized gear, accessories etc, they can continue to pay NHL fees all they want if they're satisfied appealing to that certain demographic. I don't see much innovation there, frankly. I see popularity.

Brian's is holding steady, sort of. Sure, they were once known to be the kings of true custom gear with their graphics and functional options but let's face facts, almost all goalie companies offer that now and if they don't, they will. And I'm probably gonna piss off a lot of people by saying this but let's lay all the cards on the table okay? They don't offer skates, they don't have any certified products, their chest/arms have been hit or miss for years, pants are decent at best and really the only guys I know buying their jocks, knee pads and sticks are those die hard Brian's-wearing guys. And their junior gear along with their 2nd tier gloves, blocker and pads....I dunno who's buying that stuff. I don't have a bad thing to say about their pro level gear, it feels great and it's built well. They're always finding new ways to make their gloves feel and close better.

All I will say about Warrior is they make a great, innovative and feel good product but the salesman has to work a little bit harder to make that sale. Their gear is awesome at every age and price range. That aside, accessories, chest/arms and mask are all fantastic. When they day comes that they crack the NHL with a big name starter, they'll take off I feel.

As for Vaughn...well.....I think I could spend all day on those guys with their good and bad. They're trying to be as innovative as the other guys they're just really slow at doing it. Like jeez I think it took over 10 years to offer more than silver and black transfers on the face of gear, yikes. But they're that company you can always rely on

Also my pick for Number 1: Bauer

I can't get the image but just saw a few days ago on Insta some absurdly large percentage of NHL goalies are now in True gear. Something like 41%. So aside from them, who's still wearing CCM, Bauer and Vaughn? I feel like this happened overnight.

The older we get the more things we have to leave behind and that's just life, sadly.I'm hearing lots about certain hockey stores on the brink of closing down.

And as for that mask, I see a semi white window with a blue cage. Not hating at all, I think people just love to talk about Patrick Roy too much.

Everyone keeps saying it's a Roy tribute or whatever. When i saw it, I thought of someone else.

Unlikely to happen but if pro hockey were to return to Quebec city and the team would then again be Quebec's Nordique, I'd be in favor of replacing the red with that maroon. Having said that, that mask is fantastic looking.

I should have mentioned that if I had a van or pickup, the choice would be definite on those Sumo bags by Grit. They're so convenient, strong, organized.

I'm tired after a skates, it's nice not having to lug your gear on your shoulders after a game. Having said that, I like to try other bags occasionally but I keep coming back to the Velocity Pro series wheel bag.

3 hours ago, Puckstopper said:

Hey Ultima,

Do you remember if you used regular RIT or RIT DyeMore?  I know for a while regular RIT would work on plastic, but they removed that ability and created a separate line for synthetics called DyeMore many years ago.   I'm curious because I haven't seen any long-term effects using Idye Poly and DyeMore on other types of plastic, but I've only had to leave things in the dye bath for 5-10 minutes to achieve the color I wanted.

Maybe if I get bored I'll whip up a batch of black dye and try it on the old True holders I have sitting around.   Putting out feelers now, anyone want to by black True holders with basically brand new StepSteel? 

I really don't remember. It came in a box. lol

On 1/4/2021 at 2:24 PM, chile57 said:

I know on the old board (RIP) there was a good thread where a guy did up his cowlings in orange RIT dye. Lots of back and forth (and back and forth and... ) regarding whether or not this compromised the integrity of the holder. As I recall - he didn't have any issues with it and they turned up pretty sharp/held up well. 

I tried this method.

So the first time I recall using 2 packages of the powdered red Rit Dye with hot water. I did it on a friend's cowlings and the plastic did not fully take the color and the red turned out to be more of a magenta. He didn't complain but I could tell he wasn't happy about basically having dark pink cowlings. I tried the process again a pair of Vaughn cowlings that I wasn't using from my Vaughn skates using black and they came out very purple.

Long story short, I did feel the plastic was a bit more flexible on both pairs. The color wasn't what I was hoping for either. Before any of you bored guys decide to give this a try, I strongly suggest that you don't use this method. I should have learned my lesson that through the stupid method of that hot water to soften the closure of your glove. So, do not try it this way.

18 hours ago, RichMan said:

Well, as much as I tried and as much as I want to make it work, I think the mask is just not shaped right for me. Too bad.

With little chance of seeing Canadian made brands hands on before purchasing, it becomes more like pulling the trigger on a slot machine hoping to hit something. Solid build but no can do 

You didn't try on anything?

So are you guys gonna sell and drop more dough on correct Lefevre sizing stuff or go back elsewhere?

5 hours ago, TheGoalNet said:

What looks lousy?

That is interesting, I have talked to 3 different retail stores. They all say the Axis is doing okay and the 2nd price point is doing very well.

Specifically, the "faded" color zones.

I'd also say it's doing okay (at best). But there's been repetitive comments about the graphic looking weird. People try on other things and roll with that over the Axis. Can't confirm if it's a fit/feel issue or a dislike for the look.

While functionally it looks like a great product, I predict this line to be a bust for CCM. While I think the graphic looks decent, I can see why others would think it looks like dog meat and unfortunately, gear that looks lousy has a harder time selling. I'm already having trouble moving these in my store.

On 2/18/2020 at 7:00 PM, aircanuck said:

Any idea if it's just the 3-4 sizing options or how custom can they go?

Just wait.

1 minute ago, RichMan said:

Ah now, you went and just STIRED UP the pot now didn't you, yes you did!!!

We DEFINITELY need more pics and info now!!!!  

That's all you get from me. Pictures I cannot do as I was instructed not to share anything from the catalog until released. You'll just have to be patient.

1 hour ago, RichMan said:

Don't know why but I'm feeling a Reidic vibe from that mask.

@estogoalie what do you think?

43 minutes ago, netminder said:

I get an Ollie mask vibe tbh

 To both of you I say this, think if The Bauer 960 and The CCM Pro had a love child. I saw it, I tried it on and it's unmistakable to think of one if not both of those masks as you see it and feel it. It's fantastic and I'm very excited for it. While I got a G5 set coming, the mask is what I really look forward to. It's about time we had another nice mask thrown back into the mix, I see this mask catapulting Warrior to the next level and turning the corner to be as recognized as the other big boys.