RichMan

I searched but haven't found a thread.

Knowing how important training our eyes is yet it is so neglected by many of us. I had the chance to try a lighted reflex board some years ago and I used to do eye spotting in a room, moving my eyes as rapidly as I could. I do wall ball and juggling now and then. I did look for a free online eye reflex tool but never found one.

Kaskisuo, Bones and a few others are into Sense Arena and Visual Edge, etc.  

What are you doing or using to improve your eyesight sharpness and reflexes?

I found this pic finally. Would you say the P31 has a more closed face compared to the P41?

Bringing this back...

Any further feedback on these? And in regards to @insertnamehere and his eyelets issues, I'm willing to bet that because there's no true give or flex at the ankle point in traditional skates, unlike what the Konekt does (flex axle joint), the overload of stress is looking for a way out (forward) and hence the eyelets being stretched out. 

If there was a cut at the ankle removing an eyelet and giving full flex of the boot enabling forward movement of the tibia, that might be more logical in an engineering way. (example below - graphic not mine)

Scroll down to Part 2 of his presentation for in-depth coverage of proper ankle mobility requirements and IMO, why Lange and now Konekt understood/understand how it works.

https://www.overdriveblade.com/skates01.html 

2 hours ago, Puckstopper said:

The hollow is the same, but the 1mm of difference in the steel results in a difference in feel.   Generally speaking you want to start about 1/8" deeper when transitioning from 4mm to 3mm, and the reverse if going the other direction.  Even with that there's quite a bit of adjustment due to the difference in feel, but most goalies make the switch fully after a couple hours of ice time.

What most people DON'T do, that I'm a big advocate of, is backing the hollow back down after the initial switch.   Say you go from 5/8" on 4mm down to 1/2" on 3.   Try a 9/16" after getting comfortable on 1/2", leave it for a couple sharpenings, and then try 5/8".   Some people can go back to their old hollow that way and shuffle easier.   Others can't, but for the price of a couple sharpenings it's worth trying to dial in.

The final piece of the puzzle is the skates themselves.   You're in an X700 (flexible boot, so needs a deeper ROH) with 4mm steel (easy to grab and maintain an edge on, so you can shallow your ROH slightly).   If you were to go to a stiffer boot, you'd actually want to go shallower in ROH for your sharpening.   So, hypothetically speaking you buy True TF9's and decide to try the 3mm steel instead of sourcing 4mm.   For this example, I'm going to assume your preferred ROH is 1/2".   For the steel, I'd recommend trying 3/8".  However, making the jump from an X700 boot to a TF9, I'd probably be encouraging you to go between 5/8" and 3/4" for ROH.   Combine the two and I'd put you in either a 5/8" cut or a 7/16" cut if jumping to 5/8" made you nervous.   The boot is the bigger adjustment for sure.

 

I won't lie, I actually do not want to filter through every page to see if it was brought up or not. So sue me.

We all know that you can get a 1/2 or a 5/8 or a 3/4, etc when you bring your skates in for sharpening. One thing I've noticed and I take some responsibility for it is that they don't ask if you have 4mm or 3mm blades. My skates are Vapor X700 but with a custom 4mm blade. 

I'm pretty confident that the hollows are not equal numbers from 4mm to 3mm, 1/2 can't necessarily be the same for both width...right?

Can anyone please show me the difference between a PP31 and a PP41 in blade curve? I searched Google but didn't get lucky.

My 2cents...According to Warrior's chart, my F2K is 20.5 or 21.5 and so I measured for a 36". Given I had just sold my Bauer Reactor 6000s in a 36" cause they were a tad too long, and then bought some Bauer Reactor 9000s in 35" that were spot on but just a tad too heavy, I doubted the Warrior's chart and continued yet my research into their pads.

Seeing that the choice of sizes in my area was pretty slim, closest I found were some GTs in 34". I honestly could get away with it but as they would of broken in at the break but more so the boot, they might of been an issue in regards to the knee landing.

Finally I decided to grab some GT2s on sale online  in a 35". I would say, after 2 seasons that they are working just fine. I'm landing square on the block 90% of the time. The other 10% accounts for the slack in my toe ties and the odd mad scramble.

The GT2 skate channel is a bit shallow cause of the slight boot riser but nothing that would be considered a flat boot like most new models out now. The G7s have a flat boot channel which means I'd have to get some 34" since they'll sit higher.

If Warrior was a small house brand, even if they stuck with producing just one model, they could offer more custom options such as a flat boot or shallow boot or deep boot, etc. But it's not the case. They are moving forward with the trends and won't be looking back. 

3 hours ago, Inferno said:

Just received some pictures of my Brodeur replica.

Off a CCM? I find that some paint jobs/designs can only work on certain mask shapes/designs. You couldn't put that paint job on a Bauer cause of the flipped chin or on a very long chin like Hiller. A short to moderate chin works best. IMO...

Nice work.

4 minutes ago, Fullright said:

@RichMan, I am just not sure now. I thought it was Smith but I may well be wrong. I typed in nhl colored goalie pads and Lemelin with his Aeroflexs came up. Just dont know. 

I tried as well and other than going through extensive archives or tons of hockey cards, it won't be an easy feat. I'll and ask one of my connections, Liam Maguire. Maybe he can find it for us.

On 1/24/2024 at 1:35 PM, IpaddyTECH said:

I've always found this to be a fascinating topic to discuss. Overall I tend to throw my hat in with the majority of us non-pro fellas who say it's personal preference, get what you like. Personally, while I like every advantage I can get same as the next goalie, there's also just the factor of am I playing my reasonable best and having fun. If I am doing that, then who cares if potentially a white pad might have made the shooter confuse my five-hole a bit. I say this while sporting Warrior G2 classics in white/red, where the outer roll is red and totally blends in with the posts even better than all white pad would haha. 

I'm mainly a goalie but in my side life I'm a therapist with an extensive education in psychology and some neurology it it is truly frightening how much the brain just decides and does things subconsciously without any input from our conscious thought. To me, the different advantages and disadvantages that colors provide are very likely legit, albeit depending on the goalie and level of play and even refs. In the extremely fast paced game of hockey, I'm sure white pads do make shooters misidentify where the 5-hole is, and black pads make the puck harder to find for everyone (including the goalie). 

To me, the greatest factor not being discussed here is the placebo effect, which is the well documented phenomenon of giving fake pills to test groups to measure medication effects and surprisingly, even those taking just fake pills (often filled with a little sugar) they do get clinically better (though not usually as much as the actual meds) just because they believe they are getting a helpful drug.  If you THINK your pads are giving you an advantage, then psychologically you ARE LIKELY to be more confident/relaxed/positive and attribute saves to your pads colors, thus actually making you a SLIGHTLY better goalie just by improving your mental game. But could this eventually unravel with a few bad games where you don't see the supposed advantages of your pad colors helping? Possibly. Or was that you just eating too close before the game and having some brain fog. The variables are nearly endless.  

Flipping the script on this, what of the arguments that arose on Price's all red kit? Every time he tried them he had a bad run, so he eventually ditched them. Brain tricks or actual impact? Who knows. Funny enough, Dobes with the Rocket was doing the same in the beginning and now he decided to splash some white on his gear on his second set.

On 1/24/2024 at 6:09 PM, Fullright said:

I am all for getting an edge but if the color of a tender's pads is key to the goalie's effectiveness....

Pretty sure Billy Smith's Kohos were the first to be colored and they werent white. Not so sure, however, the colors had much to do with his name on The Grail.

Wasn't Fuhr the first with his Edmonton set-up? We could also ask about Sevigny and Liut with his all white ones. Hextall? It would be cool to figure it out.

Might I suggest also the Mckenney Pro Spec Elite. It's the second level model. I've own 2 over the past 2 decades and they are fairly light. Brian's Subzero is also a light option I believe. There should be some in clearance somewhere.

I read somewhere that the bed of the CCM is too flat for the Bauer cowlings? Don't quote me as this hasn't been fact checked as far as I know.

1 hour ago, froese said:

I fully support all biases based on personal preference and the urge to judge others who think differently than me.

However, I ALSO support the right of anyone (me) to immediately reverse my opinions should I ever decide to switch brands so I can justify the stupid amount of money I've just spent on something I didn't even remotely need. This is the way.

I was just thinking that as I was reading through the comments. If I would of never experienced Smith gloves followed by Warrior, or if they would of never existed, I might be a Brian's or Vaughn glove guy at present. Who knows. Then again, I have a tremendous itch to try the Mckenney GPX2 Pro Elite glove and the Boddam Fuze has also got my attention for its shape. Future tests if the funds are present  

6 hours ago, froese said:

 

 

 

True 20.2 game ready 590, delivered on Jan 9th, used for 7 games/skates so far. I get that true and CCM may be a little stiffer off the shelf than some other brands but my experience has been it's really not that tough to get them dialed in pretty quickly

For me it's not just the stiffness. All gloves need to be broken in regardless. It's also or mostly how they feel when you try, emphasis on "try", to get your hand in and be comfortable or feel like the glove suits the shape and/or size of your hand.

I get that we all have different hand sizes and shapes. That's why gloves are so personal in our gear choices.

On 7/8/2023 at 2:11 PM, Rfmusso said:

Hey everyone,

just wanted to share a side by side of the Vaughn Velocity V9 glove I’ve been using and the V9 XP with the 70 degree break angle I just got in. I believe the V9 is around a 50 degree break angle and the stock V9 XP is a 60 degree angle. 

Haven’t worn the XP on the ice yet but it has felt really great wearing it around the house!

 

That left one looks like it would catch anything. Beautiful shape!

On 10/2/2023 at 6:08 PM, ThatCarGuy said:

If you like Brian's I highly recommend sticking with them. No other brand is going to truly capture the same feel and another step further, if you like the original Gnetik Pro you can ask Brian's to make you a brand new one (possibly even with the boa system).

Sometimes you simply can't leave that one special glove. For me and @coopaloop1234 thats the warrior glove. For many it's a Lefevre built 580. For you it may be Gnetik

That rings soooo loud to me. I've had some good gloves over the years but nothing seems to come close to Warrior at the moment...for me.

I just HATE that when you read a 590 it translates to a 75 break and a 580 translates to a 90 break. Why couldn't they just say 590=90 or drop the whole 500 numbers and just stick with the 90 or 75 or 60 or 35 break throughout the industry for crying out loud!?!

The slack or over rotation seems more at the knee as it looks like the toe tie is preventing the rest to follow. How loose is the knee cradle? What model knee pads do you use? Skinny legs or athletic? All can be contributing factors to the issue.

My Warriors have a bit of inner rotation in my stance but nothing crazy. 

A couple weeks ago I got in touch with Bonesy (the Nashville EBUG YouTuber) and asked him how he manages to have so much slack on his toe ties and not wear his pads tight yet still can keep his pads relatively square in his stance and when skating. He said he never noticed and he said that for mine, it could just be a question of how I strap them. Then again, the strapping set-up/system is quite different between his Trues and my GT2s.

5 hours ago, pfeiffjay54 said:

That’s my current set up and I love it. After a few adjustments to the bulk it’s great.

 

It’s also floaters, they’re so wide compared to any other chesty I’ve seen, things have to be like 10 inches wide

Geez, looking at that, makes my 2S look NHL legal lolll

It's a small one on the front thigh but the shape could lead to bigger problems. Do I use shoe goo or something different?

2 hours ago, ZeroGravitas said:

I assumed Bauer just makes it NHL-legal in whatever respect it needs to be. All the retail stuff is its own beast in terms of whether its actually NHL-legal or not (retail Mach leg pads vs custom Mach leg pads).

AFAIK, all AHL/NHL gear is shipped direct from the manufacturer to Kay Whitmore's office for him/his office to give their approval. I know that's how CCM does it, I've seen those invoices.

Exactly as he states it in his recent video vlog.

Watched it this afternoon. It was good. Obviously MAF was a prominent figure in his report

3 hours ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Good on you for actually figuring out the hell Rich was wanting to say. 

Har har har

3 hours ago, keeperton said:

 

Thanks  

5 hours ago, MTH said:

Superstars sometimes just do things and see things on a whole other level. Why some of the guys who are hanging on are the best coaches as they lacked the gift and made up with hard work and discipline. 

Baseball catchers seem to be really good coaches in pro baseball too. Not sure if there's a best position for coaches to have played in their day. Goalie seems like a bad fit as a head coach as they ignore the Xs and Os of offense and defense. 

But you can have a good staff and use them for that. Head coaches have to manage their assistants too.

As a goalie, your view of the action is so different from in the meilly (?spelling) in front, we see the open lanes and the open man andthe weak sides and the overloads and the numbers, etc. If you understand the Xs and Os, a goalie can make an excellent coach. 

It's like the point guard in basketball. You see the whole game, whereas your center or power forward only sees one portion of the play.

11 hours ago, Eddie said:

after baking konekts on my 14y old he complains they are a bit sore on the out sides near the bottom same place on every pair of skates he wears (fl;at and wide foot) usually after baking and trying normal skates i heat the area a little with a heat gun and push out and down sides with my fingers from inside skate. Has any one done any thing similar with these konekts?

If this is an ongoing issue with all skates, have his foot/feet checked to see if it's a metatarsal issue or other. It might solve the bottom line issue (no pun intended) and eventually save you some money. 

What exactly is this loosening thing you guys mention? Pics?