goalieThreeOne

Get this book and read it through. Then read it again to really absorb it. Totally changed my game. I went from letting in double digits to getting forced up a division in beer league over the span of a few months after reading this.

Jumping jacks, lunges, etc. to get blood pumping through the legs. Basically Maria Mountain's dynamic warmup routine. I also bounce a tennis ball off the glass and catch it with my glove. I find that if I do tennis ball warmups without my glove, I have trouble catching the puck in the pocket during the game so I warm up with my glove to get used to catching with the pocket. I also do some eye warmups by trying to focus rapidly between things far away and up close, and also on two different sides of my field of vision.Plus some pre-game vape rips.

And see that's the opposite for me. I only recently started playing about 3-4 years ago, so I'm looking at Warrior and CCM and Vaughn, and thinking to myself "Just think of all the weight they could save by ditching all the thread and jenpro!" To me, Warrior pads look like big dainty marshmallows and Vaughn and CCM look like heavy bricks. In fact I could bet that if you put leather straps on a P2 or VE8 and gave them to a goalie ten years ago, no one would blink an eye. I suppose my mindset is "Why are we all not taking advantage of all the amazing advancements we've made in materials science over the last 15 years?" In the end it will always come down to preference, but like I said, CCM must be seeing the market move in a different direction, seeing all the young kids flock to Bauer, and thinking they better get in before they lose their dominance.

I'll chime in on this as a Bauer guy. When shopping for my most recent set of pads, I of course did my homework and took a look at all the options out there, just so I could be sure Vapors were the right fit from me. When taking a look at CCM, despite all the marketing that says they're lighter, more advanced, etc. they still were perceived by me as kind of old and clunky when compared to some of the stuff Bauer and Warrior, and in some respect, Vaughn. I know you old school guys are rolling your eyes at that because you're not one for gimmicks and marketing. But I think there's a good portion of younger goalies coming up that are looking at all the offerings and looking at Premiers as "your dad's goalie pads". Whether or not that's true isn't the point. From a pure marketing standpoint, if you're trying to grow that audience, making incremental bullet point improvements to your pads that are perceived to be a cycle behind the competitors ain't gonna do it. I think CCM has noticed this, and decided to break from the Premier line altogether while severing ties with Lefevre like Bauer did with JRZ. Goalies interested in the newest latest and greatest are probably gonna take a second look at a new pad, where they might not have looked at CCM before. It will still cater to the same style of play, but whether or not it will backfire by alienating more Premier loyalists than it attracts new customers will have to be seen. However what's more intriguing to me is what this could mean for EFlex if they decide to go the same route there.

On the same token, if you have collapsed arches like I do, even moderate amounts of arch in your insole will cause your ankles to pronate in your stance. Flatter insoles like superfeet can help mitigate that.

2X Pro is a little bit heavier. Both are fairly balanced but the 2X Pro will lean a little more to the paddle side. 2S Pro will have super hot deflections and you'll feel saves. The 2X Pro felt a little dead to me after using the 1S.

That's good to hear.

$999.99 is the MSRP in the US It's a small pro shop in a small rink in a small suburb in the South. There's no need for them to buy it considering there's only about 12 of us that play goalie, and only 2-3 of us have Bauer cowlingless skates. It's also really not that big of a hassle to just pop the runners off and the shop says it's easier to sharpen that way anyhow.

Okay my custom 2s Pro skates just arrived, so here’s the update and pictures I promised. The skates come in a fancy box with MyBauer branding. Inside is a note in an envelope with some marketing fluff and your custom specifications in English and French. SkateLab sized me as a 8.25 C. I’m not a fan of cramped toes so I ordered 8.75 C and I’m glad I did. I suggest going up a quarter or a half size up from what the scan says if it is smaller than the retail size you’re used to. The two other major options I chose were the Grip liner (or Pro Liner depending on which marketing material you’re looking at) and the Dynamic Flex tongue. The Dynamic Flex tongue comes straight off the Vapor skates. I got it because I noticed the stock tongues on my 1S skates were extremely broken down suggesting to me that if it weren’t for my comically narrow feet, the Vapor skate would be more suited to my play style. This makes Bauer’s decision to lock certain features related to play style to certain types of skate fit look baffling. Fortunately we have the custom skate option, but I digress. The Grip liner I believe essentially replaces the moisture wicking liner in the ankle area (yellow in Supreme, tan or red in Vapor) with the same grey material that’s in the retail footbed liner. I believe this material is called clarino. I don’t know that fast drying in that specific area was of any tangible benefit so I figure I’d try the Grip liner. Supposedly most NHL’ers go with this option. The tongue name customization is a standard offering on custom skates. No one will see it under my pads and my skates are never in a pile with other skates where getting them confused is an issue but it looks really cool regardless. I suppose if your pro shop has a jig that will allow them to sharpen the cowlingless goal skates this is a great feature. Mine does not, so once these 5G+ runners get low, I will probably get another pair of Tydans with my name on them. My 8.75 skates came with size 9 runners and steel. I suspect that “quarter” sizes will have the same runner size as the next “half” size up retail model. This is great because I won’t have to adjust for new shorter runners You will note on my pictures that the tag that usually has the retail size just says Customized on them. There is a code under the insole which is uninterpretable by anyone but Bauer but I assume this would allow them to identify the custom order and specs, and possibly allow you to order a clone skate. The tag says Made In Canada, which is super nice to see since I believe the last goalie products Bauer offered to the general public that were made in Canada were the 1X gloves still made by JRZ. The insole is the standard Form-Fit Pro insole that comes with the retail model. When I purchased them I had planned on swapping them with Speed Plates. However I’ve since learned that Speed Plates exacerbate ankle pronation in guys with collapsed arches like mine (also adding to my ankle pain issue), so I’ll be putting in a pair of Superfeet Yellow that I already have lying around. I tried them on briefly and I won’t skate again until at least Sunday so you’ll have to wait for my on ice impressions. However the fit so far is phenomenal. There is zero negative space. My only tiny shred of a complaint is this I can feel the sidewall of the toe cap with my little toes which I believe is not due to the custom fitting but with the shorter length. I believe the toe caps are all standard. Time will tell if this becomes an issue. Mall the other features have already been covered by @TheGoalNet‘s retail model review. I will make special mention of the additional cushioning in the ankle area which was an enormous problem with me in the 1S. If you have ankle rubbing issues, you need to be in one of Bauer’s “2” series of skates. In regards to quality, I didn’t see any issues other than a deep 1/16” gap between the boot and the toe cap. I don’t know if this is a workmanship issue, a result of being in a “quarter” size, or something that happens even in retail models. @TheGoalNet would love to know if you see that same gap in yours. My skates took roughly 8.5 weeks to get to my retailer, and then another 2-3 days to me. As far as initial impressions, I have no regrets. Especially after finding out that my feet are hilariously narrow and any retail size would have left critical negative space on the sides, I’m glad I went custom and would say it’s worth the premium for those of us with snow skis or frying pans for feet. If you’re a more normal aspect ratio and don’t find a need for the pro feature choices, you can save some money and go retail. In either case making a trip to get scanned would be worth it for the peace of mind. In my case I was already in St. Louis for Korn Camp, so it made sense, but I would have made the 4.5 hour drive regardless. If you're in St. Louis and want to get fitted, go see Mike or Bo at the Chesterfield store and they'll take care of you. Since I was their guinea pig, the process should move pretty smoothly for you.

I can tell you from personal experience, that its far far easier for the ref to lose the puck when you're wearing all black pads. Nearly every single game I've played since getting my 2x Pros, I've gotten an early or undeserved whistle, usually multiples. Absolutely ticks the other team off, but that also wasn't why I bought them. I bought them to look good. Look good, feel good, play good.

Excellent write up. Pro tip for you: Use some Lectric Shave with a magic eraser, and puck marks will wipe off like a dry erase marker.

I store my pads upside down against a wall and put my skates on top. A month in and it's already taking a curve pretty well. Did the same with my 1X.

@maxtm30 Great looking set! Any reason you went with square knee blocks? Also I've never seen a blue 2X Pro chesty before. How'd you get your hands on that?

I'm eclectic...

Forgive me for being blunt, but is a standard water bottle this much of an issue? Once the whistle blows, prop your mask up with your blocker hand, squirt some water, then lower your mask. If your teammates are shooting at your bottle, tell them that's a dick move and ask whoever does it to go refill it for you. Or keep your bottle on the bench until puck drop.Way easier than having a water tank on your back.