Wonder35

What a friggin' surprise. https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/senators-fire-senior-vice-president-of-player-development-pierre-mcguire/

I was at Greg Harrison's shop when he got a call from Andy Moog who had decided to play for Team Canada in the IHF World Championship Tournament. Moog's Harrison mask was deemed illegal due to its cat's eye cage. Greg whipped up a few hand made cages, drove them to nearby Toronto International Airport (YYZ) and had them shipped to Team Canada, already at the tournament. They were a tad out of alignment but the bars were close enough to satisfy the officials of the IIHF. On all of his traditional cages Greg had a jig set up but these ones were all slightly different, each one an original hand made item. The following season my Harrison mask, complete with its cats eye cage, was deemed illegal in the league where I was playing. I phoned Greg and he provided me with one of his "legal" cages ($30). Within a few months the league rescinded the ban and I immediately reverted to my Harrison cats eye. The bummer part to this tale - I lost track of the hand made, rare and slightly out of proportion Harrison cage. I'm wondering if Andy used the shield in the above photo whilst his Harrison cage was in transit. Another goaltender related hockey story from the past provided by this 72 year old goalie, too ornery to quit playing in the nets.

What a wonderful long ago memory for me. I so wanted one of these units but made do with my Cooper 2 piece Chest and Arm.

I was around in the bare faced goalie days. I tried using a catcher’s mask but it was too heavy, especially for outdoor hockey (difficult to keep your toque from sliding over your eyes). Many of us experimented with home made face protection but usually they were I’ll fitting and didn’t offer much protection. Remember, none of our goalie heroes wore masks. Over the years I acquired some of the attempts at goalie head protection, some offering better results than others. It became a macho man attitude at the highest levels. Who wants to be the first? It took a nasty facial injury to Jacques Plante which forced the issue.

FWIW, I weighed my 1980’s Harrison. It came in at 4.37 lbs. This includes the backplate and all straps. Around 5 years ago I replaced the interior padding using the original pieces as templates. The foam material was from Nash and said to be identical to what Greg used when he resprayed my mask in 1991 and replaced the original interior.

The only time I made decent money was when 12" pads were outlawed. I bought many sets of pads and some gloves, refurbished and put back on the market for those of us who didn't need to conform.

I recall asking Greg Harrison why he never got a CSA (Canadian Safety Seal of Approval) for his masks (late 1980's). He said that they wanted 3 complete masks which they planned on destroying in the process of testing. " NFW I am making 3 masks for them to wreck" was his reply to me. His clients did not require that certification on their gear. Greg also made his own cages on a jig in his shop. Every once in a while he brought one to the University of Toronto where he must have had a contact in the Engineering Program. They would test its strength and durability.

I just used a Permanent Magic Marker on the previous owner's name. It no longer reads" Eat Me". The embroidery was on the side panels of V3's, fabric stitching on fabric material.

Stretching, a physiotherapist put together a yoga based stretching routine for me, a quickie 15 minute one and a 30 minute program. Every morning I am on my yoga mat and it's legs up against the wall. In the dressing room I go through a pre-game stretch in full gear, as much to confirm that all gear is in place and strapped accordingly. We begin play when everyone has completed his on ice routine, some more extensive than others. I will take maybe 3-4 minutes of warm-up shots. The guys know better than to attempt a deke or slap a high hard one. It's shoot for the gloves, hit the pads and let me feel the puck, my skates and the condition of my crease. This may seem like an extensive routine but really isn't. What it does is allow me to play decent hockey at the age of 72.

Hi folks. Today I broke down and purchased a new pair of goalie pants. I got tired of repairing my beatalltohell V3’s. Whilst waiting for a skate sharpening, I began to gaze at the gear. “Just looking thanks.” The shop had a rack of Bauer, Warrior and CCM pants on display. I probably tried on close to 10 pairs. The Bauer 2SPRO’s came home with me. Dang, I thought that the link was copied, oh well. Honestly, I had no intention or even given any thought to buying some gear today. Honestly dear……… That 45 minute wait for sharpening, evil stuff. If you’re interested in looking them up or already have some knowledge or experience with this model - feel free to spill, or not. I’ve got to get back to the Leafs/Sabres outdoor match

Thanks Willy, but when you’re older than dirt there tends to be a few photographic memories.

Did you find that the kids enjoyed shooting against an adult goalie? If they seemed to love it, that would sway me I think. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated ! I used to play goal with my sons' teams, an annual Players Vs Parents game. We did this until the kids were 10 years old. After that age it became too competitive. I would dress with the children's team and keep this light and fun. One year I grabbed a roll of white tape and made everyone a Captain, big C taped to their jerseys. The children shot on their own goalie whilst the parents fired on me. In the warm up I would "coach" each of the kids to try real hard to score on me, even allowing them to come at me two on one. I felt that it would be inappropriate for me to shower post game so I had a bit of hockey aura about me at the post game pizza party at the rink. I still receive positive comments from the players, now in their 40's, about what a great memory it was to play against their Moms and Dads with a 'real" goalie in the nets. Here is a photo from one of those games. My older son joined his brother’s team for the event.

Sound plan Bunnyman. But being a stand up goalie I don't always have my body backing up my glove. Envision a scarecrow with a trapper on the end of his arm. I have always backed up my blocker with my trapper against my chest snagging those blocker rebounds whenever possible. I suspect that pop outs are the product of my hand's slow response in closing the pocket. But, still, ain't it fun?

I suspect that my second leather Battram Trapper was made as a practise glove. With arthritis now beginning to distort my fingers along with 60+ years of catching pucks, I do enjoy the extra padding in the pocket. But the offshoot is that I am dropping pucks and creating soft rebounds. I have loosened the pocket with various adjustments but need to deal with these pop outs.

The initial application of SnoSeal to my leather pads. Notice how much they darken the leather. I was OK with that as back in the day we used to bathe our leather gear in Dubbin and some other liquid potions which also darkened the leather. Eventually these products destroyed the felt liner in our gear. I'm OK with SnoSeal.

I bought my set of all leather pads and gloves about 12 years ago. A few months later this other Trapper (no Canada logo) appeared on eBay. I paid $100 for it. After comparison usage I settled on it as my go to glove. Some GSBB people may recall a graphic artist from New England (Sports Nics). He did this cartoon of me.

This 10+ year old leather beauty is my #1 Trapper. It is huge.

FTFY........

I believe that these are the same guys who offered me $400 for my 80's Harrison which is not for sale. "Hey man, we would have to do a full respray." If I am wrong ...................... tough shit.

I have had a hip replacement in 2007 and a full knee in 2019. I don't recall my progressive steps from the hip rehab. The walker was gone after a few days. It was winter and I was cautioned that a slip and fall could be nasty so I was extra careful not to test the new hip immediately. I was in physiotherapy 3 mornings a week for about 6 weeks, loads of stretching, stationary bike and lift leg weights. My operation was the old style, cut through the muscles from the side. We had access to a therapeutic swimming pool at the local hospital, one where you walk onto the platform, hang onto the rail and the floor descends into a 5' deep pool. For both my hip and knee rehabs I made extensive use of this apparatus. The water provides some resistance to your exercise movements yet the buoyancy cushions the full weight of your body whilst you move about.. I had a follow up appointment with my surgeon the summer after my hip replacement. He asked me to perform a couple of movements, no problem. I was 57, healthy and pain free. He told me to enjoy my hockey season but stop if it hurts. Now the knee .................... a whole different kettle of fish. All the best in your rehab. Steve

I was fortunate to watch Kirk play with my, then, home town Oshawa Generals of the OHL. Even then he was a stylish, smooth goaltender.

Y'all are so far behind the curve. I am 5' 7", wear 12" wide pads, a vastly oversized Trapper, slightly, only slightly illegal Blocker, a V6 2200 Pro XL C/A, XL Vaughn Pants but here's the clincher .................. I have a 48 inch chest and I stand up to stop shots! It just ain't fair when playing against you skinny giraffes, you're hooped.

Her Majesty is preoccupied with her Fucked Up son(s)

Nice Save Brody

Good Memory Willy. Exactly 3 years ago I had full knee replacement surgery at age 69. My surgeon strongly suggested that I retire from goaltending. So, I sold my nearly new BROWN gear, pads, gloves, pants and hit the bike, aquafit classes, yoga, shed some tonnage and one year later got back between the pipes. Smart is not one of my redeeming qualities. My all leather , 10+ year old Battram set of pads and gloves had been relegated to the wall hangers. They became my go to gear, beautiful, well made equipment but on the heavy side. A few weeks ago these V3's became available, cost free. I cleaned them, replace the toe ties with buckles and was off to the races. The Vaughns are 1/3 the weight and fit well. The Battrams will go back on the wall and are promised to my grandson. See below, Battrams and Browns, same pose.