mik

2 hours ago, MadsM said:

Sweet! Did you get these on sidelineSwap?

Thanks. Not from sidelineswap, but I saw Gibson L 12.2 there, which looks identical, just with slightly different graphic.

Summer goalie camps :

True L 12.1 gloves, John Gibson pro returns:

Looks great! 

Not to be my regular pad to play in, but always liked this model and graphic. So I could not hesitate to buy . I have done some cleaning and repairs due its age, of course.   

Rest easy Doug, you were realy special member of this group. Will miss you!  

I use this kneepads and they are great, if you can fit them in knee cradle. Bulky, but top protection, comfort and durability. 

7 hours ago, seagoal said:

New V9 Pro Carbon gear in the house.  Ordered April 6th, arrived June 17th.  Through no fault of Vaughn there were a few snags in shipping with FedEx, but 9-10 weeks for new gear from Vaughn ain't too bad.  This is my...5th custom set from Vaughn and the quickest delivery that I remember. 

My new team is called Skeletons Hockey Club, decked out in red/black/white.

My strategy for the new gear was mostly red, then black, then white.  I wanted to add some Quick Slide accents on the mitts to help match the pads better, which you can see below.  I am quite happy to report there was not one single error by Vaughn in the set.  Everything is exactly how I ordered it and perfect.  Here are some pics of the gear with all the specs:

BLOCKER

-full carbon face, pro logos, extra backhand padding for a snugger fit. 

Very happy with how it turned out.  It is VERY snug as as of right now, looking forward to it breaking in and loosening just a tad...but not much.  I can not stand floppy, loosey-goosey blockers.  I REALLY love the Quick Slide underneath the board. It makes me smile. 

GLOVE

-pro logos, leather strap/buckle wrist strap replaces the stock nylon slider strap, external velcro tabs in black to contrast the red background (this is stock the same color, I Iike contrast), pro palm

Glove looks and feels great and I REALLY like the T in Quick Slide giving it a little shine and contrast to the other nylon/jenpro reds.  It feels decent in terms of closure, not great, which is standard for Vaughn gloves.  180 degrees for 6 minutes in the oven and some hot water in the outer palm get these closing like a dream for me every time. 

The leather strap inside was a bit long (as always) and I trimmed it down so that it doesn't curl up and interfere with the backhand padding.  Super easy little mod to make this more natural closing.  

PADS

-there is no stock size labeled on these, they are built to my legs but they are essentially a 34.5-35, no outer knee wing, no boot strap, soft boot, stiff thigh, pro logos

These are unreal.  I can't believe how they feel.  I was most anxious about ordering the stiff thigh, more than any other thing I ordered, but I am so. glad. I. did.  My VE8s got pretty soft over the past 3 years and on my left one in particular (I am a leaner) it was arcing torsionally on the thigh rise.  I don't mind softer pads, obviously as a lifelong Vaughn guy, but I wanted to push my self a bit into the more modern build with stiff thighs and I really like it so far.  They feel much, much firmer and stiffer than my VE8s, but nowhere close to Bauer Ultrasonic stiff.  Which is perfect for me.  I live sorta in the middle anyway and order a stiff Vaughn pad is where I belong. I of course immediately removed the toe lace and put on my Pro Laces that I have been sitting on for a while now. 

 

 

 

All in all I am a happy goalie.  These were a very generous, loving 40th birthday present from my partner who was inspired by how excited I was with hockey returning and being on my new team this summer season.  I would have been fine with my baby/navy blue VE8 gear (I was for game 1 which we won 6-2 and I played great), but this just makes the whole thing pretty f'n sweet.  I am beyond impressed with this gear.  I have a tournament this weekend to look forward to before our next Skeletons game, so I will have a great opporunity to get this gear broken in and dialed in.  

Cheers everyone.

 

 

 

Nice set. Great colours and when I look at the pads, everything seems to be where it should be - can´t discribe it bettrer, just colours and graphic are in great balance (hope it makes sense ). One of the best sets I saw lately..

On 8/1/2020 at 9:58 AM, creasecollector said:

Pro's did/do still wear these, yes. Reimer, Luongo, Giggy, Enroth, Hiller. Probably a few more current guys that I'm unaware of.

I have a pair of these KOHO 589 Pro Swiss knee guards. They are amazing. I have an open knee cradle set, so the bulk works for me in my CCM pads. I've been wearing them for about 2 years now. Love them!

I wear them too. For me best knee pads ever. Originaly designed to fit in  KOHO 589 pads. These knee pads sold by goaliemonkey are copy of custom pads made in Swiss for pros Hiller or Giguere (if I remember originaly about §1000 for pair).  

On 4/10/2021 at 4:43 AM, AdamL said:

I haven't skated in these yet, although I have put strapped them up with my skates and knee pads on and practiced some crease movements.  Most of my impressions will be pretty surface-level so far.  We had twins back in March of last year and that, combined with the pandemic, forced me to sit out the first session back that started in the fall of 2020.  I'd planned to rejoin the league this spring, but every goaltender opted to return and so I didn't have a spot.  I'm hoping to sub a few times during this shortened spring session before the summer league starts, but I may not have too many opportunities to skate in the next few weeks; fingers crossed.

Glove

I went with the 2-piece glove simply because I found it the most natural to catch with.  When I went to my local store to try on a few gloves I took a lacrosse ball with me to throw off the cinderblock walls outside to see which felt most comfortable to catch with.  I was flat-out stunned the way every single time the ball ended up in the pocket with the 2-piece V9 glove.  The best way to describe why I think I catch well with this glove is probably to show a picture of Mrazek, who holds the glove just like I do.  You can see the break of the glove is 90* with the ice, so as shots rise off the stick they naturally funnel up into the pocket. 

Contrast that with how Price presents his 590, which is also how I found myself holding the glove instinctively.  The break actually angles down and to his left as it did with me, and so unless I was able to catch a puck cleanly in the pocket, it would hit the thumb side, roll across the palm, and pop out.  My 590 is absolutely littered with black marks on the thumb side.  User error?  Definitely.  But it's just not the glove for me.

On to my actual glove.  I went with the pro palm and reinforced T on both sides.  It's not particularly snappy out of the box, but it's also not super stiff.  Given Matt's (hockeyreviews.ca) complaints of Vaughn's gloves without pro palms being pretty thin I figured I should opt for it.  My XLT is a pro palm as well and broke in nicely, I have no doubts this one will do the same.  I also opted for skate lace on the outsides of the pocket and nylon in the middle, mostly to be able to track pucks through the pocket if they're coming at my face.

Backhand shot.  Looks like a Velocity glove.  One thing I do think may cause some issue is the aerospacer portion of the cuff.  It contacts my forearm some when I present the glove even without my C&A on, I do worry it might be slightly restricting, but time will tell.

The pocket is absolutely huge compared to my 590.  

It's much deeper too, even though this picture doesn't look as dramatic as I think it does in person.

 

 

Blocker

I went with the full carbon face, which is an option on the customizer.  Vaughn blockers aren't known for having the biggest pop, but this thing feels extremely firm on the face.  I'm not expecting Bauer-like rebounds but I'm hoping they'll still find their way to the corners easily.  I custom-specced a firm & rigid side board.  I'm unsure exactly what material Vaughn used, but it's solid and square, unlike what I've seen in some other social media posts with the stock side board.  Very happy with it so far.

 

A comparison of the board angles.  Pretty similar in feel from the back of the hand down, but the V9 is steeper above the hand.  When I think about box control I believe this should add some additional coverage toward the top of the net, especially in close.  

Interestingly it's slightly taller than my XLT blocker despite the more aggressive angle.

I was somewhat worried about the wrist mobility of the V9 blocker after trying on the offshore version in store, but I'm pleased to say the mobility in this one is excellent.  The padding on the back of the hand is thick and keeps the blocker firmly connected to my hand, unlike the XLT which is pretty loose.  

The biggest improvement from the XLT to the V9 blocker for me, though, is the left/right balance.  It's probably tough to see in this photo, but the XLT has a really thick pad between the blocker board and the thumb side running the entire length, whereas on the V9 it's only over the thumb.   The weight on the inside of the XLT blocker is extremely noticeable when turning the board over as if deflecting a shot to the corner, whereas the V9 is much more balanced, with less weight on the inside.

 

Pads

I'm 5'10" and 18" ATK, and I went with 33+2.  I specced:

• Stiff option thigh rise
• Stock boot stiffness
• SLR2 RRC strap
• SLR2 knee stack
• Layer the pad like the SLR2 with carbon in the face for the biggest rebound Vaughn offers
• HD foams on the landing side, including the calf stabilizer
• Leather strap at the bottom of the knee block
• Changed aerospacer on the back of the pad to nylon for durability
• Added 1" to the Y-strap elastic

The thigh rise is indeed stiff.  When I first filled out the customizer I selected "extra stiff" and was flatly told even the pros don't do the extra stiff option - they've literally never built a pad with it.  I don't know what to best compare the thigh rise to, but it's at least as rigid as the EF4, if not more.  Not at all your typical Velocity feel in the thigh rise.

The SLR2 RRC strap - 

I found the stock Velocity RRC strap a bit of a pain to put on and also too tight.  The elastic used is twice the width of what's used for the SLR2 strap and the pad feels 100% stuck to your leg.  I'm sure some people prefer that feel, but I thought the SLR2 version gives the control and reaction you want from a professor strap while still allowing the pad to move and rotate as it should.  Plus the buckle is trick.

Here you can see the calf pillows Vaughn added to the V9 and the nylon instead of the aerospacer on the back.  Aerospacer works fine in some places, IMO, but in an area that will see as much wear as the back of the pad will I wanted a material that should last longer.  Here unfortunately we can also see where Vaughn made a mistake on my order.  They used the regular V9 knee stack instead of the SLR2, and they put the knee strap in the middle of the knee stack instead of at the bottom.  Turns out I'm okay with the knee stack - the pad still feels like it responds well with the stock one - but I'm shipping them back to have the knee strap moved to the bottom of the stack and have the buckle moved down as well.  In its current location it cuts into the back of my knee too much if the strap is tight enough to actually aid in securing the knee block to the pad.

 

The stiff calf stabilizer seems to make a big difference in how stable the pad feels on the landing side.  

Profile shot

Boot underside.  Not as flat as some other pads on the market today (20.1 for example), but still much flatter than what I'm used to.  The boot is pretty soft but not "deep ultra soft" like the EF4.  I can easily flex at the ankles in them unlike in my terrible X28s, no need for it to be any softer for me.

I'll finish with one relatively significant disappointment I have in the pads (other than having to send them back to fix the knee strap), and that's the weight.  I knew doing the stiff thigh rise would add some weight, I also figured doing the HD foams on the landing side would add a small amount of weight as well given HD foams simply weigh more than low density foams.  Turns out, layering the pad like the SLR2 also added a small amount of weight, although Dennis said it should have been extremely small.  I didn't think it should add any considering the SLR2 is the lighter of the two pads, but I digress.  The pads came in at 5 pounds 5 ounces each.  I didn't expect super light pads, but I was hoping they'd be about 5 even or slightly less, especially because they're little 33+2s.  That said, my X28s are 5 pounds 13 ounces each, and most of that weight feels like it's in the boot.  If I balance the V9s on my hand, it's quickly apparent the bulk of the weight is in the thigh rise now with that stiffer option.  If you imagine trying to do anything athletic with 5 pounds strapped around your ankle or 5 pounds strapped just above your knee, it'd be much easier to move with that weight up higher, which is exactly what I feel when I put these on.  No, they're not as light as I expected them to be, but the weight is distributed in a way that makes them feel noticeably lighter than my old pads when they're actually on my legs.   

Regardless, I'm super happy with the set overall and can't wait to get it out on the ice.  

Good info and photos, thanks. Looking forvard on on-ice review. 

btw. great colours!

23 hours ago, Wrbsti15 said:

New gnetik 4 Halak inspired set. The Goalie Crease and Brian’s killed it! 36+1.5, stock breaks, blue line flag embroidery, full primo skate landing area, 1” deeper anchor t with skate lace and pro palm, primo on high wear area on blocker fingers. Bummed they got cut my 2nd game wearing them tho. 

I am fan of black sets!

It just happens . But looks to me it is not deep, more scratch than cut. Will be easy to repair - I would use very thin brush and cover it carefuly with black paint used for leather. Personaly done that many times on black equipment, (it is way harder to make it invisible on white).  This is not on slide area, that is good.

On 3/26/2021 at 2:21 PM, ThatCarGuy said:

Picked this set up for $750

I’ve been wanting to try out a JRZ set for a good while and after yesterday’s ice time with them I’m a huge fan of every piece except the glove. There’s a very high chance I order one of these sets after the new gloves are released 

Nice set for good price .

But...still can´t see Mighty Ducks colours - don´t tell me you go Ron Tugnutt style, I think you can´t remember him .

On 3/21/2021 at 2:30 PM, ThatCarGuy said:

Personally I think our jerseys look better than Anaheim’s 

Not sure why I look insanely tall I’m not that tall I swear

Great jersey! Now you just need to add some Mighty Ducks colours to your gear .   

On 2/12/2021 at 10:57 PM, bildeer said:

I do that so the knee block and the rest of the calf piece don't move as much, and when the do move around, they move as one piece. I have also found that it prevents my knee from slipping in between the block and calf area if I miss it when dropping down.

This is sometimes called "Jonas Hiller mod" - he had it on all of his pads (customized by him with simple skate lace, not in the factory). 

And nice iceberg pads of course . 

John Gibson still in "unbranded" Lefebvre pads and CCM gloves, Ryan Miller in Iceberg Vaughns and CCM blocker

On 11/12/2020 at 8:13 PM, court31sierra said:

Nice colours, looks fantastic! Reminds me one of my sets years ago.. 

From summer camp - back in the Lefebvre pads and looks like it was good move for me.

On ‎7‎/‎27‎/‎2020 at 12:57 AM, ThatCarGuy said:

My favorite photographer finally made it out to one of the games and took some shots

I was considering wrapping a simple design of these but I may stick with the solid black

Solid black looks great, no need for wrapping.  

14 hours ago, indykrap said:

Yeah, for some reason both my league game and pickup both continued throughout the christmas break! While I love to play, I was definitely hoping for at least one of those off.

When you still love to play, but start thinking like "I wish we had Christmas break"  then it is time to take a rest. It will definitely help your game, both physicaly and mentaly.

I used to play the whole year, even in summer, without any breaks...now I don´t play games minimaly two months in the summer. I still go to ice practices with friends or some team, but only when I´m in mood to do so, e.g. once per week. 

btw. When I´m off for more than week, I usualy go to train with some team, to be on ice and catch some pucks. Just to not feel rusty before game.. 

7 hours ago, Naz said:

In December of 1989, the Junior Team I was playing for played against a Touring Junior team from Czechoslovakia.  After the game, I traded my Hextall Vic stick with their goalie.  30 years later, I still have the stick.

Wow, this is the stick of our childhood here in Czech republic (former Czechoslovakia). I think that this brand doesn´t make goalie sticks anymore,but it still exists. Legend! 

9 hours ago, coopaloop1234 said:

I think he's poking fun at how unmarked your set is.

Oh ok, sometimes I completely miss jokes in English language . Just for your information, I'm a very fast goalkeeper, hardly any puck hits me .

1 hour ago, Chester said:

Love the signatures on all 4 pieces.  Puckless practice i take it.  

Thank you, I like that set, older model, but realy good.

Btw. This is not puckless practice, there is player shoting trough screen  :-D. 

Summer Camp 2019:

On ‎4‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 7:08 PM, motowngoalie said:

Not "action" per see, but played some blueline 3 on 3 this morning with some buddies. Little guys skated at the other end. My 5 y/o's first time in a big rink

Fantastic set! I´m usualy not fan of yellow gear at all, but this is just fantastic!

On ‎5‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 3:14 AM, A.YOUNGoalie13 said:

Why would you use Hiller’s pads that he signed???!!!

But why not ? Great pads for sure, one of the best I ever played in...