Puckstopper

Yeah, that one hurt to watch.

Just ignore him (I literally put him on Ignore because his posts make my head hurt). He beats this drum in every stick thread and has nothing to back it up other than his own assertion that "Allz of da proz use a curved bottom". It might be easier to take him seriously if he were even slightly articulate or literate. Curve definitely plays a factor. I find CCM's Crawford curve to be the easiest to get good loft on at the moment, but I can use a Price or a Warrior Twist curve in a pinch and be OK within the space of a warm-up. I tried a Quick curve for about a month a couple years back and almost totally stopped handling the puck (normally a huge part of my game). I could do nothing with it!

I used Brian's Gnetik 5.0 pads for 3 seasons of beer league before I started working at the local hockey shop to support my gear whore tendencies. For the price I paid and the level I was playing at those pads were an absolutely PHENOMENAL value. The only place I'd be totally unwilling to compromise would be catch gloves. Pricepoint gloves always feel like crap compared to the pro level stuff. Otherwise, there's pretty much no reason for the average beer leaguer JV high school kid or house leaguer to pay $3000 for a full pro set up every couple years. Drop down to the mid-tier pads and blocker and invest the money you save into a better mask and better skates. The bottom price point stuff is pretty bad though. I'm talking CCM's .5 series, Bauer GSX, etc.... The gloves are paper thin and the knee stacks are made of open cell packing foam. I do my level best to steer people away from those unless it's clear they have a strict budget and MUST have new stuff. Those people frustrate me, but they'll be happy with the gear for a month or two after buying it, so I guess good for them...

There will be slight differences in feel, but nothing you can't adapt to in a couple of skates. I am fairly certain that all Warrior sticks are the same lie, but their catalog doesn't provide much info.

CCM does pro, .9 and .5. Bauer does Hyperlite/Ultrasonic, 3S/3X and GSX. Having three pricepoints seems to be the most popular decision for MFGs. I'm guessing that the materials innovations and associated cost increases in pro level gear and improvements in quality and performance of the middle pricepoint are what make room for a third pricepoint.

All in favor...?

They do not.

Looks great. A little 2 part epoxy and grip tape will have it feeling perfect.

I don't have Bauer bumps, but do have crazy wide feet any my True's are the most comfortable skates I've ever worn, and it's not even close! The finish and appearance of custom Trues have come a long way since I got mine 4 years ago. I had no complaints with mine, but it was apparent that they were handmade. The most recent ones that come through the store look like any other skate. TBH I kind of miss the rough edges. I felt like they gave the skates character.

Agreed. The X-Stiff thigh rise wasn't unmanageable in any way, unlike Bauer and CCM. You go to the top of the stiffness chart with them, you'd better have the widest butterfly ever! Warrior's X-Stiff was stiffER than retain, but mainly just felt like it would hold it's shape longer.

You're good. No changes to the steel lineup other than a nebulously phrased "improvement" to the LS3G steel and Pulse Ti coming to the goalie lineup. I have every intention of buying at least one set of Pulse Ti goalie steel as the player steel feels FANTASTIC going across the wheel.

I'm aware, I did the Bauer U training as well. I just don't think for the average person it will mean anything. Trying to upsell a customer based on Bauer's "stories" they tell in those videos is a losing proposition in my experience. They just don't care that much. The average person who comes to buy skates where I work is interested in Brand-Price/Value-Fit/Comfort-Appearance-Performance. Yes, there are outliers who do their research, know what they want and try on several lines. Those are the folks who will benefit from custom anyway and with 3 custom offerings available we can accommodate them. But the average person comes in and wants a Bauer Vapor because it's Bauer and they've always worn Vapor. You can show them the 3D scan that shows they have a higher volume foot, get them to try on a Ribcore and they'll admit it "feels pretty good" and "doesn't hurt in the toe area like my old skates" but they're still leaving with Bauer Vapors because... Bauer.

With Fit 1, 2 and 3 there's really no need for 2 different lines IMHO. True has done just fine with only 1 line and CCM already put the bullet in the FT line.

We got our EF5 stuff in about a week after we were going back and forth and I've been having SERIOUS buyer's remorse ever since. We got in 2 Pro level gloves. Both were stiff and didnt' seem to close any better than previous generation 600's. Then these arrived and everything changed: I don't know if my glove went down a different line than the retail stuff, if it's the single-T, or what, but there is a night and day difference between what we've got on the floor and what I got from CCM! I'm not going to say it's the best closing glove I've ever seen right out of the bag (Genetik IV's and recent Bauer gloves are usually the winners there) but it's far and away the best CCM glove I've ever felt. It's almost as good as my 9 month old Axis 600. Other first impressions: The blocker is a CCM blocker. Very little evolution from EF4-Axis-EF5. I did goof and order the curved finger protection instead of the straight on this glove, but it laces in and out so if I really hate it I'll just ditch it. The pads also seem more flexible than the retail offerings. I don't mind stiff pads, but it's nice that I'll be able to compare/contrast with the Axis line very quickly. The QMSS system on these duplicates that of the EF4 as opposed to what's on the Axis. It'll be interesting to see if I can feel a difference in pads that fit me better than my EF4's which, at 35" were a little large. The leg channel appears shallower than EF4 and the boot definitely is. It's not as shallow as Axis, but more modern than EF4 was. Unfortunately it'll be over a week before I get these on the ice as I'm heading out of town for Memorial Day, but I'll follow up with more info as I get a chance.

Out of curiosity, what's with the obsession over pro neck guards? Most of them are probably semi-custom/tweaked by the equipment guy anyway. I'm not trying to be rude or dismissive, I'm honestly curious if we can help you.

Quoted for truth!

Those are great looking. I absolutely LOVE my Axis pads. They slide great and the rebounds are nice and hot.

Got to try out a Hyperlite blocker last night. Rebounds off this puppy are every bit as hot as advertised. Shots directed to the corner seemed to just change direction without losing speed, which was super impressive to see. On another note, this is one of the most comfortable gloves I've ever worn. It's right up there with the Warrior blockers in terms of the glove feeling soft, comfortable and natural. It's a big improvement over the Axis blocker I have.

Probably no worse for my health than drinking 2L of Jager...

I've trimmed down 2 V1 Pro+s and they're holding up well. I've also trimmed two M1 Pro+s and had one snap where the shaft met the paddle the second game in. That was probably on me for cutting too deep, but I haven't used the second one very much to know (went back to EF4's to match the colors of my Axis pads). The EF4's have seen the most use since getting the Lundy grip cut in them and they're holding up like a dream. Basic common sense stuff: Practice on an old stick at least once Use a sharp, fine toothed blade for your cuts Sand your sharp edges lightly Cover the area with epoxy to seal the foam inside the paddle and to protect your blocker from splinters/sharp edges Use sponge tape for comfort and longevity of your blocker glove Measure twice, cut once. Error on the side of taking too little material. If you go slow and are careful I think you'll be OK. While you're at it you might try shaping the paddle differently. I never thought I'd like the Lundy grip, but now I couldn't use anything else.

I'm glad my hairline is intact, otherwise I'd fit the description as well! Well, some of the time anyway...

Thanks guys. I had successfully blocked that out of my memory. Now I've got to go buy several gallons of Jagermeister to start killing off the new set of brain cells that would otherwise be traumatized by memories of that god-awful equipment!

Made me thing of Coming to America:

I saw the same thing for years from them. Honestly, every single brand on the wall has some variation as you'd expect with a handmade product, but CCM's was the worst by far. I'd say Warrior and Brian's are the best at being consistent in their pro lines.

Lucky lucky! That's the best turn around I've seen on a custom CCM order! Fingers crossed, although that level of inconsistency seems to be a hallmark of CCM gloves. There is such a wide variety of QC in terms of function. The appearance and construction is pretty much spot on every time, but we'll get 5 gloves in (usually the .9 line, which does make this SLIGHTLY more acceptable) and one will close like butter, 3 will be acceptable, and 1 will be an absolute rock to close. We only get in one Pro glove at a time, so it's hard to draw the same comparisons, but they're definitely not on the level of Brian's or Bauer when it comes to being truly "Game Ready" out of the bag.