Puckstopper

59 minutes ago, johncho said:

These guys are known as a Hockey Club - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Canadiens

But they're not referred to in that way in common dialog.    You don't run around talking about the new "kit" "Montreal HC" will be wearing this year.  At least, I hope you don't.   

I'm really curious to see what Utah does with the jerseys.    I'd like to see them go with a similar red to the 'Yotes as their primary color (a little more orange in tone in my perfect world) and add other earth tones around it.    I get that you don't have to tie your team colors to local geography, but there's some pretty spectacular scenery in Utah that they'd be crazy not to tie into.  

On 1/22/2024 at 9:33 PM, Chenner29 said:

IMO the Bauer pads are a little top-heavy due to the Stabilislide/Flex bracket.  You need the extra security of the elastic to combat this

This is why I still prefer 1 hard strap behind my knee/calf instead of all velcro. 

23 minutes ago, Mike24 said:

I like Yetis as well 

I liked Blizzard, but felt like it overlapped with the Avs too much.     Similarly, the Avs have the Yeti paw on their shoulders for a minute.   It feels like Utah deserves something with a unique feel to it.   I guess if the owner is letting the fanbase have a say, they'll find something that they feel represents them and at the end of the day that's what matters.   

11 hours ago, ChippedWall said:

That's the nonsense they do in soccer, I don't wana see or hear about any hockey club being called a hockey club.

Agree.   Let the Soccernistas think they're sophisticated by not having team names.   Stick to the traditions of the sport/league that you're joining.  

10 hours ago, WillyGrips13 said:

Cool meme bro, but you appear to be in the minority on this one.  

26 minutes ago, jerd31 said:

The new owner said the team name will be "Utah" and not "Salt Lake City", apparently they're going to come up with some options and put it out to a fan vote.  

Here's what they've trademarked thus far:

• Utah Venom
• Utah Blizzard
• Utah Fury
• Utah HC
• Utah Hockey Club
• Utah Yetis
• Utah Outlaws
• Utah Mammoth
• Utah Ice

These all sound like ECHL/AHL names.  

Interesting that they're following Warrior's lead in thinning out the upper portion of the vertical roll.   

On 11/16/2022 at 12:32 PM, coopaloop1234 said:

 

Gear > technique. 

My wife tells me this applies off the ice as well...  

On 12/2/2022 at 1:30 PM, seagoal said:

Your EF4 set was gorgeous, just sayin'.

They were beautiful to look at but holy cow did they not work for me AT ALL.   

23 hours ago, Mr Smurfington said:

Brand new here guys, but this thread speaks to me. Ironically, the Warrior Quick mid curve sticks are my jam, and i have an absolute bullet and very good long distance pass accuracy using them and buy any I see just cause they are hard to find now. 

Try Perani's.   The damned Mid/Quick pattern is all they order Warrior sticks in apparently.   I'm legitimately amazed they work for you, because I have absolutely no clue how to do anything with them.   It's not like I can only use one pattern, I like both the Bishop and Mrazek patterns from Warrior and use 4-5 different patterns fairly interchangeably when I skate out.   I swear, I'd legitimately be better off playing with a full right stick and playing the puck backhanded than fumblefarting around with a Quick curve.   It's embarrassingly bad.  

One of my favorites was was calling a guy who perpetually flew the zone looking for a breakaway "Stephen Hawking" after stoning him for the 5th time in a game.  His own captain looked at me funny and said "he's not that smart", to which I replied "yeah, but he's all wheels and no hands...".

On 4/12/2024 at 12:04 PM, ZeroGravitas said:

Ordered 2/28, received 4/10, so 6 weeks on the dot. Wait time is probably longer now because custom orders opened up for retail.

That's insanely fast.   As others have said, beautiful set.   I'm interested in how (if at all) the new toe ties affect things. 

I'm an old geezer with stiff hips and have no problems with Stabilislide in my Hyperlite setup.   I spec'd the Stabilislide over Stabiliflex because I'd tried it and liked it, and at the time I placed my HL order we hadn't recieved our HL demo pads with the 'flex knee blocks.   Honestly, when the stock HL's showed up, I didn't notice much difference between 'slide and 'flex, both were a huge improvement over anything I'd used previously or since.

Sorry for the quality, but at the Canes/Wings game and noticed that Kochetkov has made the change to CCM.  

Pretty sure the replacement steel comes with a basic 30' profile.   

On 3/13/2024 at 8:07 PM, goalieThreeOne said:

All you need is diluted white vinegar. $3.00 for a big jug at your grocery store. $5 for a spray bottle. Everything else is just overpriced and unnecessary. But the most effective way to prevent odors is quick drying. Lots of ventilation, don't leave it in the bag. Grab a $50 wire rack from Target or wherever and a $10 box fan. I'm to the point I don't even need a spray anymore.

I agree with the rack and fan solutions being most effective, but adding some Scenturion in my gloves and skates has ensured that they stay funk free for life.   

37 minutes ago, pfeiffjay54 said:

The prep was my favorite part. When I move on from this mask probably not gonna paint my own mask again, but it was really fun I'm gonna be more patient when I repaint for the season. 

Also I think the paint I used wasn't great. I had a white base of some sort of Rustoleum, then I sprayed krylon red for lines and it worked so much better. Gonna grab that same paint in white for a base next time.

Man, that's awesome!   If you've got the patience it's got to be super rewarding.

For paint I had better luck with automotive paints than anything else I tried.   They're a little more expensive, but there are so many good options for color and topcoat effects, plus the primer helps cover minor scratches.  

3 hours ago, OldSchoolGoalie said:

I could just request they bake each skate separately I suppose and do the wrap? This place sells TRUE skates as well but I'll have to ask if they can do it once they open up.

Also, cranking them since October hasn't really made them mold tighter around in a way to help with heel lock. I have very wide forefeet, but narrow in the ankle and since day one after my first skate my heel never felt locked in enough unless the sides of the boot are squeezed in enough. If I left the boot more open I would get a tiny amount of heel lift, no side to side or front to back, just a bit of lift when walking in them. Not sure I noticed it on the ice that much but I was told by others it shouldn't lift even when walking around. Maybe I just need another bake with them super tight there to form better. Thanks for the help.

 I worked for a pro shop for several years and prior to that, have been down the journey you're on, trying to get by on a pair of skates that weren't right, but were what I could afford.   So I have experience to back up what I'm going to tell you, AND significant empathy for your frustration.  At risk of being overly direct, you're spending an awful lot of time, effort and money trying to make a bottom of the range pair of skates feel like something they just aren't ever going to be.  When you have a hard to fit foot  the best solution is full custom.   If you go that route, you'll never want to go back.   Your next best option is finding something you can live with, and understanding that it's just not going to be perfectly comfortable.   You may get lucky and your next pair of skates will be the magic bullet, or you may find yourself spending as much or more than you would have on custom skates.   YMMV.

A few specific things:

• As I'm sure you know, the materials in each skate line are the biggest differentiator between the lines.  A major misconception is that the top line is the "best".   You should buy what works for you, both in terms of price and performance, as top end skates aren't the best performers for everyone.
• As you'd expect, the materials in bottom of the line skates are not as strong, durable, moldable and resilient as the materials used as you go up the line.  When you buy better skates, you get different materials that allow you to bake/mold more of the skate for a better fit, AND allow you to bake them more often without breakdown.
• I wouldn't recommend baking bottom of the range skates more than twice.  Beyond that you run the risk of losing more in stiffness and boot life than you're gaining in comfort.  You're reaching that point of diminishing returns and I'd be extremely  cautious with further baking. 
• Contrast that to top end custom skates.  Our old True rep stated that my custom boots could be baked as many times as I wanted without compromising the materials.   When pressed, he admitted that baking them monthly probably wouldn't be a good idea, but that if I felt the need to rebake several times throughout the life of the skates to dial in fit or account for wear it wouldn't be an issue.  
• To your specific question: Cello wrap works wonders with composite skate boots that will hold the shape they're baked to after they cool.  It will do very little for bottom or even mid range skates.  We actually tried it for a former co-worker and a couple customers, hoping to reduce stress on the eyelets.  The consensus was that it wasn't nearly as effective as using the laces with most skates.

I've had my True custom skates since 2017.   I play 1-3 times a week on average and am absolutely fanatical about their care.  I'm talking blades dried, footbeds removed after every use and I dry them in front of a fan.  I unpack my bag immediately upon getting home no matter how tired I am.  With that level of play/care the skates have held up beautifully and  have no issues recommending them.  On the other hand, I've seen players treat them poorly and the skates will not last nearly as long.   If you're going to buy a Ferrari, treat it like one.

5 minutes ago, johncho said:

Painting is 80% prep.

I have learned that the hard way.  The best paint job I ever did was the first one because I was meticulous (for me anyway) in my sanding, dust removal, etc... and when I made a mistake I started all the way over and did it all again.  Future endeavors were not as successful due to lack of patience.    Going forward, it's a "pay the man" sort of thing. 

You're not going to make wallets out of them are you?  

6 hours ago, chile57 said:

Easy fix @pfeiffjay54 - you just need to go thinner on your coats. Maybe extend the distance you are spraying from too. 

A lot of getting a good finish is the prep work too. Looks like you maybe could have used a little more initial sanding to get a better overall finished coat. Good luck.

All of this^^^  If you're actually seeing color build up rapidly you're probably spraying too heavily.  Also, using a good quality primer that matches that paint being applied over it and working in a dust free environment are equally crucial.   Good paintjobs cost a bunch because it's meticulous, time consuming and detail oriented work.  Great paintjobs require all of that plus experience and an artist's touch.   I've never even managed a mediocre paint job, and it's largely because I get impatient with the amount of detail work in the prep.  

Edit:  I forgot to wish you luck.   You probably won't actually save money painting your mask, but it's worth trying at least once for the opportunity to learn.

But did you use any patented, custom, exclusive FX?   Nah, just kidding.   Absolutely beautiful work that should be visible at a distance but have extra meaning up close.  This is top notch!

I'm a huge True slappy, but I get wanting to keep new(ish) steel.   I'm with ZG, look at the HF2.  The Elite won't feel like much of an upgrade, more like a lateral move.  

I'd agree that you won't find anything lighter than the Warrior stuff.   The flatter blocker is supposed to be slightly heavier, but it's so well balanced that it feels like wearing a player glove.    Combine that with the ability to accurately put rebounds where you want them due to the more uniform surface and it's one of 2 blockers I've ever owned that's elicited a reaction from me beyond "eh, it's a blocker".   To be fair, the other is my Bauer rocket launcher.   It weighs more, but the rebounds come off it with noticeably more velocity.  

9 hours ago, CamWardFan said:

I understand what you are saying, but to me that's still a poor excuse for sending out a not ready to play product.  Those costs you are talking about are inherent to any business that wants to put out a quality product.  As a business, you need to find a way, not depend on your customers to do half of your job themselves.  We as customers just have never demanded that the product we receive be finished and ready for use, and without defects like poor lacing or assembly.

The VERY LEAST they could do is make a final inspection of each glove before it leaves the factory.  We aren't talking about a massive amount of gloves, and each glove would only require a minute at most to inspect for quality.   This should NOT be too much to ask for the current price we are paying........

 

 

You do have options.  You can buy custom, request extra break-in time and pay more.   Personally, I prefer to do the break-in myself to ensure that it's done to the shape of my hand and done the way I prefer, but the option is there to pay more for a premium service.   Overall the pro level gloves produced by most companies ARE game ready with significantly less work that used to be needed.  

The fact that you had an awful experience doesn't mean that your experience is typical.  I submit that your issues demonstrate one end of the extreme, and were compounded by the choice to have the glove worked on by a 3rd party instead of spending that money shipping the glove back to the MFG for repair/replacement.   I get that the 3rd party guy made a bunch of statements that support the need for his services, but my preference would have been to have the people who designed and built the gear be the ones to determine if there were issues.   

Again, not trying to diminish or blow off your experience, it sucks and I don't blame you for being frustrated.   But I do feel like you're making a sweeping statement out of a single data point.  

8 hours ago, keeperton said:

My "zinger" here is: and yet CCM is still in business. Their large social media marketing pushes backed by their existent capital likely benefits them a lot.

I'll admit that CCM gloves are probably the best example of his point.   They're not great and the ones I tried on recently felt worse than the EF4 and Axis gloves that we got in back in the day.  But he's talking about Brian's, and almost every single one of their gloves I unwrapped were butter smooth, and the worst Brian's pro level glove I can think of was still better than anything by CCM/Lefebvre.  He absolutely got a lemon glove, but it doesn't mean they're all, or even mostly, bad. 

On 2/3/2024 at 10:43 PM, Zigactly said:

A long story short, I tore the MCL and damaged my ACL in my right knee, and I have a lesser MCL tear on my left knee. Months of physio and I still cannot walk without a limp, let alone play hockey. 

Ok, (a) I am likely too old to play and just not smart enough to quit, and 

Is some of this my fault? Of course. I did not pay enough attention to how much stretch the bungees had for me. I just assumed that they are the latest in goalie technology and did not think much about it. There are a lot of different bungees and toe tie systems, so if you, like me are switching from skate laces (or leather, or baling twine) I encourage you to try the systems out to make sure that the have enough give to avoid adding unnecessary strain on your knees and hips. 

 

Ouch!   I've jacked up both MCL's over the years and that injury is no fun at all.   Your point A most certainly describes me to a tee, so believe me, I sympathize and feel your pain. 

It's certainly good advice to test the fit and function of the gear.  

I find it interesting that people are finding Bauer's bungees too tight.   I had to tie a knot in the front of mine (in front of the toe bridge) to get them short enough to feel right.   

21 hours ago, CamWardFan said:

The gloves the pros get are definitely closely inspected and broken in by the company before they get sent out. Why can't they just do that for all of us? They are the experts, they have the machines, so why not?   Also, according to The Goalie Glove Guy (again) many retail gloves are laced incorrectly or too tightly, or the padding or break is wrong or in the wrong place,  which is another main reason why gloves are hard to break in.  Doesn't anybody at the factory look at these gloves before they are sent out to check out these things???   Apparently not.  $300 to $700 for a glove and it's not even built right coming out of the factory?? Retail customers deserve better, that's all I'm saying.

This is why I'll always buy in person or order custom.  Unusually the guy building custom orders is a little more experienced than the guy building retail orders.  After all, the new guy has to learn somewhere, right?

I know you don't want to hear this, but it comes down to cost.   These are handmade products and it takes time and training to learn the craft of doing it properly. 

• Time and training cost money. 
• Retention of staff you've invested in training costs money. 
• Failing to retain those staff members and starting the cycle over costs more money.

Adding cost to a product that you already charge more for due to low volume of sales and relatively high complexity to manufacture is a non-starter.   Unfortunately, there's just no world where every glove can be 100% "pro quality" perfect.  As mentioned earlier, there's the experience of the builder, and for every glove to get the pro treatment on the break-in machine you'd either have to increase both staff and machines, or push out lead times.  Neither of these options are palatable.   Small companies like Vaughn and Brian's would be gone, and CCM/Bauer would look for cost savings by reducing the number of lines offered.   The other option would be to increase retail price further, and you're not alone in feeling like those costs are already unreasonable.

Honestly, I do think a lot of these companies lost valuable employees both in the manufacturing and management spaces during COVID.  The pro level gloves I saw on the shelf pre-COVID were really starting to show improvements in consistency and feel right out of the box.   I went to a couple stores last weekend and almost everything on the shelf felt worse than expected.  So I do feel your pain to a degree and sympathize that you got a glove from an extreme end of the bell curve.  But honestly, that's what I think happened here.  You got the worst one that came out of the factory that month and it sucks.   

On 12/24/2023 at 9:27 AM, The Teal Terror said:

Irbe

Fresh Prince

Belfour

Hockey Night in Canada (I lived just across the border in Toledo, OH and LOVED that theme song).