mik

On 2/10/2024 at 6:53 PM, creasecollector said:

I wear the KOHO 589 Pro Swiss style knee pads and the landing area is soft and thick. 

Hear's a picture of what the landing area looks like on these:

:

These knee pads are extremely bulky though. So it may not be your thing. However, they area super protective and nice to land on.

 

I use same knee pads and they are great. They just don´t fit to every pads, there must be a lot of space in knee area. 

3 hours ago, creasecollector said:

Going through random photos on my computer, and found a pic I saved from somewhere. Could these be the original Pro Tech Swiss modelled knee pads similar to what Hiller would have worn when he first debut them?

I had a chance to see ones he wore years ago and looked almost same, without ProTech logo and carbon "tape" in the middle of the front plate. Even the grey part was same. I don´t know if  they were the first ones, but Hiller was very picky and conservative about his gear . 

19 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.

My friend who repairs & reskins gloves (and he is really good at it) says the same - usualy incorrect lacing and inner material at wrong place or bad plastics pieces, not problem with design of the glove but poor assembly.

7 hours ago, RichMan said:

Most of everything is done overseas now. They give them the "Building a glove 101" course and off they go. I'm sure there are random verification but is there an actual QC department? Who knows. After all, once they start building things, it's all about numbers thereafter.

I don’t think there is QC in terms of person who looks at every single piece of gear & knows how it should or shouldn’t look. As you say, it is about numbers…

On 2/2/2024 at 6:33 PM, coopaloop1234 said:

 

I'm genuinely curious why you guys believe that Pro's are getting an entirely different product line of gloves?

 

Not a product line, but quality? In my experience with pro return gloves and comparsion to the serial pro models pro returns were better made - materials, stitching, overall quality - with no problems CamWardFan writes about, usualy. Sometimes I found pro return glove, that is hard to close/break in even after use of pro goalie. But it was due the goalie and how he catches - Gibson comes in my mind or better - Lundqvist (sadly never had his glove). 

Can it have something to do with Canadian made product? I don´t know, but gloves form Lefebvre factory are better than standard True, even when JRZ made gloves for Bauer, that product was not comparable to stock gloves in shop. Not so much in Vaughn but still. Can´t truly say about Brians, as I have expirience with only one pro return glove, realy special. 

But yes, realy BIG downside of pro return gloves can be their customisation, can be far from stock gloves in terms of shapes, closures, palms, inner sizes, reskined models/brands etc. Often dosen´t make sense for "normal" goalie .    

On 1/28/2024 at 8:29 PM, Inferno said:

I love the one picture of typical beer league defense...

On 1/28/2024 at 11:31 PM, creasecollector said:

Those Heaton's are epic.

Cujo style is great too.

2 hours ago, Puckstopper said:

Finally got my entire Ozzie tribute set on the ice at a game where my wife could come and take pics.   As much as I like how easy it is to breath in the combo, I think I'll stick to my mask going forward due to the crazy ringing you get when your teammates decide to go up high in warmups.  

Edit:  Yes, I know I need to reskin CCM as Vaughn or at least cover the logos with Padskinz if I really want it to look like Ozzie's setup from the late 90's. 

Absolutely perfect!

So THIS  is the real reason I did not make it to the NHL! I know I look on ice bigger in white gear, but I just don´t think I play level of hockey, where it realy matters...or where it matters more than "look good - feel good" . But it makes sense, that in the show you try every advantage...   

1 hour ago, creasecollector said:

Nothing crazy, but picked up an extra set of cowlings just in case. Someone on my team had theirs explode the other night and it made me think might as well pickup an extra set. 
 

I guess I’m old wanting to stick with a cowling, but I am okay with that haha.

I still use them as well. It is my oldest piece of equipment I think. Today I´m going to sharpen my skates at Bauer shop where my firend works. So we´ll continue our endless debate about whether it is time for new cowlingless skates. Not yet . 

18 hours ago, beansbats said:

Beautiful!  New to me for some vintage gear skates.  No DigiPrint here

Like it was yesterday - that colours !

4 hours ago, RichMan said:

I finally found some quiet time, gathered my supplies and proceeded to put my idea in motion. I'm no pro but I'm kinda happy with the outcome

And voilà!

 

Great, I like the idea & how it looks .

On 1/9/2024 at 3:12 PM, court31sierra said:

Usually not fan of digi print sets, but this one looks good. Can’t believe it is almost 20 years .

2 hours ago, coopaloop1234 said:

Those aren't Hiller gloves. 

Good eye . There were no Hiller gloves I could actualy buy, so I was forced to buy this. But I will use it on ice, not on the shelf

1 hour ago, A.YOUNGoalie13 said:

I'm pretty sure I threatened him into never buying Hiller's gear again so I could get it all

 I’m sorry, but that wouldn’t work .

1 hour ago, A.YOUNGoalie13 said:

New gloves after quite a long time. I’ve never used 600 offset before, looking forward to try them on ice.

16 hours ago, MTH said:

This is tough, sorry.

The market for goal cut NHL jerseys is pretty confusing to say the least. There was a time where CCM was selling replica grade jerseys in goalie sizes. No more today.

There are ways. One, make the NY Rangers squad. Plenty of gear for you and you get paid to play too. Not a bad combo. Two, know someone who can get you one. Asking here isn't a bad start. I see people with current jerseys in goal cut. So there are ways to do it. Three, order a knock off and have it tailored to fit you. The knock off market is quick and readily available. Have it opened and all so that it will be the correct size (I've done this).

This is the best advice in a long time. Well played sir .

23 hours ago, havlicekdom said:

Exactly, if a goalie gets traded, he often has to switch brands. Even our national team is sponsored (by CCM) and I've seen goalies playing in the EHT with covered logos on their gear.

Rey and VHV Opus were two very common brands back in late 90s, early 00s, mostly because of availability, not everyone could get their hands on "Made in Canada" gear. Both brands still exist, but they narrowed their offer. Rey focuses mostly on masks and Opus offers only knee pads, jocks and clavicle protectors.

And mostly due the money back then. 

How could I forget OPUS? Unbelievable (local joke ). 

There are other small brands in Europe, but usualy not big (or good) enough to make it to the profecional leagues. Other thing is sponsorship and contract of the clubs with Bauer, CCM...sometimes even in highest league goalies can´t decide brand of their equipment (some can, some can ´t). 

I can think only about REY masks form Czech Republic, which are used regulary in profesional hockey.   

M4G (M4G - ULTIMATE GOALIE GEAR (m4ghockey.cz) - small custom brand, in past same was DV Hockey (dv-hockey.com) now only repairs and service work). There are some other brands like STA (STA Šťastný (sta-stastny.cz) but their products are not on part with big brands.  

As an european goalie - we still love "made in Canada" gear .    

In emergency, one light pass and it is ok for next ice or two, sometimes even more. Then I´ll usualy go for sharpening. Sometimes I saw players at locker room who use it repeatedly forth and back (with no good result, because it is the case "I didn´t sharpen my skates..again"). It is for removing nicks not sharpenig skates... 

14 hours ago, IpaddyTECH said:

That's true but I really doubt with Brian's that it's a quality issue. Every pad takes time to "dial it in" with strapping to get it to perform ideally with your legs and style of play. Plus factor in synthetic ice. 

I agree with you, but just saw two sets of new Vaughn pads (in one week) that were curved in the front, sometimes it happens.   

4 hours ago, Taylor said:

Okay thank you! If this makes more sense, usually when you see a goalie play and drop in the butterfly, the five hole will mostly be sealed completely. However, when I tried on the pads, the top pieces sealed together in the butterfly, and the bottom pieces were not sealed. It would kind of look like a slim A.

I can think about two reasons. First is overrotation of the pads, second that sometimes pads are not not well made and there is slight curve in the front part.    

4 hours ago, Taylor said:

When I tried them on at Pure Hockey on synthetic ice, they would sometimes overlap, and other times in the butterfly, the top pieces are touching, but the bottom split apart. Is that just a thing that requires breaking in? 

Can´t say exactly without photo, but sounds to me like overrotation:

On 12/1/2023 at 11:24 PM, coopaloop1234 said:

He just has every single gear ever worn by Hiller. 

It is a matter of perspective, I would call it just few things  .

On 12/2/2023 at 4:37 PM, creasecollector said:

I'm convinced he is Jonas Hiller at this point.  

Too bad you can´t see me playing on the ice, than you wouldn´t think that anymore...

11 hours ago, keeperton said:

I feel like I see him use half-butterflies more than most of the league. He really does a lot of stuff to simply stop the puck that are more difficult to teach, definitely doesn't look like a robo-goalie that can sometimes occur from someone who is overcoached.

Exactly! Half butterfly every game .

3 hours ago, seagoal said:

 

I can't find it now but years ago on here I said Gibson reminded me of a beer league goalie.  I do find it really interesting to watch him play and I think he's one of the most fun goalies to watch play. 

@mik do you ever get to watch him practice?

I love this picture so much.  It's now my wallpaper on my computer at work.  He looks like a pro wrestler taking a move, haha.  He absolutely crushed his gear color ways with those white jerseys.  Definitely in the running for Best Dressed Goalie in my book.

 

Never had chance to watch him on practice or at game live. It is a long long time when I have been at live NHL game. I live in Europe .

22 hours ago, seagoal said:

Good eye.  Man, I love Gibson. He's on my short list of "wasted" goalies on bad teams over the years, even though the Ducks are on a bit of a tear this season. 

Ducks need few more years to become competitive again and make the playoffs. Given Gibson´s age I don´t think he will make any big success here before his career is over.

As a Ducks fan, I watch him from his first days with Ducks (and still can´t forget 2014 playoffs, game 7 against Kings ). Sometimes his moves looks like from beer league goalie, but it obviously works .   

Kaapo Kahkkonen - CCM body and Kenesky arms (front part with what looks like clarino).

btw. found it at ebay:

Kaapo Kahkonen Game Used Goalie Chest Protector - San Jose Sharks | eBay