Puckstopper

Two very basic question comes to mind here: What level of shooter are you facing? My recommendation for a mask or C/A will be different for guys who are facing former college/pro shooters vs a kid playing at the US High School level vs an adult in a learn to play type environment. I'm guessing that like most of us, you're not at either of the extreme ends of the spectrum, but rather somewhere in the middle. What budget are you comfortable with? You don't have to give me exact dollars, but usually people fall into a few different catagories such as: A. Price is no object, performance and protection are the only priority (my dream shopper). B. Price is a factor, but you're not willing to compromise much on performance/protection to save money C. Price is a significant factor. Please get me the best protection you can, but I can't spend more than X. D. Price is more important than anything else. I usually steer these folks to the used market so they can get a little more bang for their buck. There's nothing wrong with being on a budget, and I'd rather they/their kids were protected enough to enjoy the game. So, assuming you fall in the upper middle tier of both categories (good to very good shooters, willing to spend if you're getting something for your money) here are my recommendations: Mask: Buy the mask that fits you best in the $500 US range and up. Below that you're getting into some questionable materials/compromises in terms of masks, but you only need to go all the way to something like a 960 if you're really facing bombs or have a reason to be more concerned than normal about your head. Prioritize FIT over price at this level. A poorly fit $1000 mask won't protect you nearly as well as a well fitting upper-mid range mask like a Bauer 950 will. I went from a pro level mask custom built for someone else to a Bauer NME8 and was much safer in the NME as it fit me almost perfectly. I've since added a 960 to my arsenal, and don't notice much difference between it and the NME for the level of shots I face. If you're seeing more former ACHA/NCAA type shots than I do, this will not be great advice and you'll want to spend more. C/A: Seriously consider the Bauer 2X if you can still find one in your size. They're more protective than any retail Vaughn unit, and once they break in the mobility is absolutely top notch. I'll be replacing my current 2X with a 3X in the near future, but having tried one out already I'm worried that it's a step back in terms of mobility. If your C/A must be Vaughn, go with the Pro Carbon. The feedback I get on the way the "Pro" units break down is nothing short of embarrassing for Vaughn.

That is insane. I've used pretty much all of the big brands over the last decade, and I can tell you that I'd cheerfully make due with the pro level offering from any of them if I were offered it for free. Sure, I have preferences, but at the end of the day, there isn't enough difference that I'd be willing to shell out $3k of my own hard earned money to indulge them. On a related note, True would be dead last of the major brands I'd choose for anything except skates.

Simply adding the option for an additional +1 would only result in 5 new molds for the adult line.

Agreed. Add in two lines, and there will be another 2-3 years before something "revolutionary" shows up in the legpads. It seems to be a cycle of innovate, tweak innovation for other pad, evolve for original pad, evolve for other line, innovate. This year's big innovation is in skates, next year it may be masks, C/A's, etc... You've got to remember, Bauer innovates to make progress, but they also do it to drive sales. Very few of us buy head to toe new gear every year, so it does them no good to have all their innovations at once. But if they can get you to buy new skates one year, new pants and C/A in year two, new pads and gloves year 3 and a new mask year 4, then start the cycle over it's better for them.

I'll fight you! 580 is an abomination. Jokes aside, I'm all in favor of multiple breaks available through custom, but 590ish is pretty much the big seller at retail, so hopefully Warrior makes it an option, but not the only one. Going all 580 all the time would be a disaster overall.

Nor should you...

The real unfortunate thing is that ESPN is smarter than the NHL app from years gone by. I could use a VPN to trick that app into thinking I was in a market with games I didn't care about so I could watch Wings games when I was up visiting the family in Michigan. Of course, things got simpler when I found someone with a Bally Sports Detroit login they were willing to share. No more blackouts when visiting the fam! I'd ask around Chenner, you'd be stunned how many people have no idea that the ability log into apps like Bally Sports or even basic ESPN (not +) and stream them is included in their cable package. Not only that, many companies let you create a secondary login that can reap the benefits without being able to see billing info, etc for their security. There's a pretty good barter economy in online logins if you know who to ask. My former co-worker in Detroit gets a free Pandora Premium login on my family plan, I get a BS Detroit login on his cable package (and all the other channels that I'd lost now that I left my old job), everyone is happy.

I can't help but laugh. I spent almost 15 years working for a middle/large sized cable company and we went through a period where everyone wanted to threaten us with jumping ship to streaming services if we didn't bow to their every demand. Since we didn't own TV stations like Comcast or Charter do we offered to help them cut the cord so we could make more money off of them than we did when they were bundled. Almost everyone has the same experience you do Loki, whether it's with cable, or streaming. It's just the person taking your money who's changed. It takes a dedicated, disciplined person to not end up paying as much or more for streaming video than they did for cable, especially if you like to watch sports or kids programming. Now I work for a fiber company and video isn't even an option with us. I'm MUCH happier not having to deal with all the headaches that came with it.

Pretty sure Sling has it on one of their packages.

100% backwards from how I'd do it...

I'm cool with it as long as the relatively small number of Ohioans (like me) who identify as Michiganders no matter what our drivers licenses claim are offered sanctuary.

LMAO, take it personally... Stop, you're killing me. Columbus is a nice enough town but I can't WAIT to sell my house and GTFO next month! I wish I were moving out of Ohio, but at least I'll get out of Woketown USA!

Whereas, living in Columbus, I just put the radio on to avoid listening to Jeff Rimer. HE IS THE WORST!!! Count on him to mangle the pronunciation of at least 3 names per game. It's one thing if it's the opposing team's rookie, but when you F' up ONE OF YOUR OWN PLAYERS NAMES FOR 2+ SEASONS YOU SUCK! Sorry of the caps, but even thinking about that goofy little elf makes my blood boil.

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Sorry but no. Dave Strader (RIP) and Mickey Redmond were the best duo I ever heard stateside. Growing up on the Ohio/Michigan border we also got CBC in our cable package, so I heard some high quality commentary on Hockey Night in Canada as well. Agree that many of today's announcers miss the mark. To me the cardinal sin is the guy who hoots and hollers about an empty netter for his own team, but says something like "Marner scores" in a complete monotone after a tick tack toe passing sequence and a bar down one timer.

Anecdotally (I use G5 Pro and the guy I split time in net with uses G5 SR+) the rebounds are a hair hotter off the G5 Pro.

That's what I read. I'm guessing this is to complement the Pro, which totally defeats the cost saving realized by ditching US and Vapor... Yay for new woke Bauer.

Not really. Dayton is a small city between Columbus and Cincy, but the wife and I are looking to either buy a house on some acreage or buy a lot and build, so between that and building a new market from the ground up my time for a fun job to pay for gear-whoring is close to zero. Oh well, it's a good problem to have...

Yep, I've done it on many sticks. You'll change the balance a little bit, but improve puckhandling. I use a couple wraps of tape to try to make sure the composite doesn't splinter and weaken the shaft. I use my miter saw with a fine blade at home, but for liability reasons the shop I work at makes us use a hacksaw. Both get the job done, but the miter saw is both faster and neater.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the two. I went with the stiffness between US and HL for my set. It seemed to be working out well until my knee self destructed. Now I've got to wait until at least November to get back on the ice and then have to find a team in a new city once I can... The other downside to moving is losing my hook-up on gear, unless I'm willing to make a 90 minute drive for weekend shifts. Haven't decided on that yet, but I may try to gut it out through Axis 2 release time, 'cause those look SICK!

I thought you were doing Hyperlite? Doing US2 as well (eventually)?

This wins and it isn't even close! I wanted those Cooper Legends gloves SO bad back in the day!

SICK!!! Post pics!

Last time I ordered custom from them it was 6ish weeks, but that was M1 Pro+, so right before COVID shut everything down and supply lines got completely snarled up. The wait is the worst part!

Mine was the X-stiff option and I thought it was perfect. Stiff above the knee but flexible at it. For me it's an absolute home run. The blocker allows you to be so accurate with your rebound placement and is light and well balanced. I know there were a couple rough early sets posted, but the stuff that's come through the store has been bang on perfect since shortly after launch. We only had one set that was a little rough, nothing compared to what Jake showed us. It sucks that the set he got soured him on the company, as I'd recommend their stuff to almost anyone.