Advice on skating and playing hockey

[darksabre]

You just summed up the scouting report on me for volleyball.

:lol:

[bob_sauve28]

Never let someone piss in your hockey bag.

19 year old cat wakes up in the night, not strong enough to pry the door open that use to be easy for him, so there's a stinky hockey bag sitting there, he thinks, what's the difference? pisssssss

[darksabre]

19 year old cat wakes up in the night, not strong enough to pry the door open that use to be easy for him, so there's a stinky hockey bag sitting there, he thinks, what's the difference? pisssssss

I'm convinced they like the sound of piss hitting vinyl.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

19 year old cat wakes up in the night, not strong enough to pry the door open that use to be easy for him, so there's a stinky hockey bag sitting there, he thinks, what's the difference? pisssssss

 

:flirt:

[PromoTheRobot]

Let me guess. This is the guy who isn't that great, but his lack of skill is what makes him difficult to play against because you never know what's going to happen when he touches the puck.

His shot is like a golf swing.

[josie]

His shot is like a golf swing.

Oh my god, my favorite.

 

Guy i know, who mercifully is now a goalie, did that. He managed to rocket a puck into my ankle and it resulted in a deep bone bruise and my first stint on crutches! 

 

Man, I miss playing, hopefully I can avoid getting hurt so damn much when I get back to it... 

[ubkev]

You guys have inspired me.

 

I haven't been able to play in about 2 years. I just went down to the basement to check my gear. My bag is actually covered in a thin layer of mold. Yummy! I'm actually afraid to open it and see my gear. I know I fabreezed it and dried it all out before I put it away, but yeesh. This is pretty gross.

[darksabre]

His shot is like a golf swing.

:lol: I hate that guy.

You guys have inspired me.

 

I haven't been able to play in about 2 years. I just went down to the basement to check my gear. My bag is actually covered in a thin layer of mold. Yummy! I'm actually afraid to open it and see my gear. I know I fabreezed it and dried it all out before I put it away, but yeesh. This is pretty gross.

I'm desperate to get back on the ice but this pneumonia recovery is really dragging. I want to start getting to weeknight skates with Anytime Hockey but I need to be able to breathe at full capacity first. I'm annoyingly close. :angry: Edited November 10, 2016 by d4rksabre

[ubkev]

:lol: I hate that guy.

I'm desperate to get back on the ice but this pneumonia recovery is really dragging. I want to start getting to weeknight skates with Anytime Hockey but I need to be able to breathe at full capacity first. I'm annoyingly close. :angry:

My league is Sunday nights. I don't have Sundays off anymore, so I can't play until I go back to grave shift. But I can't wait. Hopefully I can play in our session starting in January. We'll see if I'm still the best skater who can't handle a puck to save his life, or if someone else has taken my title.

[Stoner]

We lost in the finals Tuesday 4-3 mainly because of a long shot that was knuckling toward me. It bounced right before my stick and hopped over. Ruined an otherwise decent game in goal by me.

I could swear we had a little WTF waver emoji dude.

[PromoTheRobot]

On a side note re: equipment. I have huge feet. Size 16. (They don't even make goalie skates bigger than 13.) So finding skates that fit is tough. My skates have been in use for over 20 years and the boot is starting to separate from the blade up near the toe. (Not surprising since so much goaltending is focused on the balls of your feet.) My favorite skate shop said there was no repair possible.

 

But the other day I was in Home Depot and saw some hose clamps, those round ones that have a screw that tightens a metal strap.  I bought a 3.5" dia. clamp and wrapped it around the blade truck and over the hard toe of the skate. Wouldn't you know it worked! Kept the blade stable all game.

[darksabre]

On a side note re: equipment. I have huge feet. Size 16. (They don't even make goalie skates bigger than 13.) So finding skates that fit is tough. My skates have been in use for over 20 years and the boot is starting to separate from the blade up near the toe. (Not surprising since so much goaltending is focused on the balls of your feet.) My favorite skate shop said there was no repair possible.

 

But the other day I was in Home Depot and saw some hose clamps, those round ones that have a screw that tightens a metal strap. I bought a 3.5" dia. clamp and wrapped it around the blade truck and over the hard toe of the skate. Wouldn't you know it worked! Kept the blade stable all game.

Love it!

[ubkev]

On a side note re: equipment. I have huge feet. Size 16. (They don't even make goalie skates bigger than 13.) So finding skates that fit is tough. My skates have been in use for over 20 years and the boot is starting to separate from the blade up near the toe. (Not surprising since so much goaltending is focused on the balls of your feet.) My favorite skate shop said there was no repair possible.

 

But the other day I was in Home Depot and saw some hose clamps, those round ones that have a screw that tightens a metal strap. I bought a 3.5" dia. clamp and wrapped it around the blade truck and over the hard toe of the skate. Wouldn't you know it worked! Kept the blade stable all game.

You can't have skates specifically made for your huge clown feet?

[SwampD]

On a side note re: equipment. I have huge feet. Size 16. (They don't even make goalie skates bigger than 13.) So finding skates that fit is tough. My skates have been in use for over 20 years and the boot is starting to separate from the blade up near the toe. (Not surprising since so much goaltending is focused on the balls of your feet.) My favorite skate shop said there was no repair possible.

 

But the other day I was in Home Depot and saw some hose clamps, those round ones that have a screw that tightens a metal strap.  I bought a 3.5" dia. clamp and wrapped it around the blade truck and over the hard toe of the skate. Wouldn't you know it worked! Kept the blade stable all game.

Have you tried taking it to a shoe repair place. I know they are harder and harder to find, but some of those guys that still barely speak English have some old world tricks that can work some magic on skates.

[darksabre]

You can't have skates specifically made for your huge clown feet?

VH hockey might be his only option at this point. They make a custom one-piece skate, but it's not cheap. 

 

Also, I would bet that compared to his trusty old broken in skates he would absolutely HATE modern goalie skates. 

[PromoTheRobot]

VH hockey might be his only option at this point. They make a custom one-piece skate, but it's not cheap. 

 

Also, I would bet that compared to his trusty old broken in skates he would absolutely HATE modern goalie skates. 

Their one-piece goalie skates only go to size 11.5. :(

You can't have skates specifically made for your huge clown feet?

Back in the 80's Reidell in Red Wing MN made custom skates for goalies. In fact I bought a pair made by, supposedly, the guy who did Gump Worsley's skates. They had the original thick leather scabbards dipped in epoxy. That is what goalie skates were before injection molding. After a few years the leather shell wore down. I called Reidell for another set but the old guy had passed away and no one else knew how to make those skates any more.

 

A friend suggested I take those old skates to my local Line-X pickup truck bed spray place. They taped up the skate so only the scabbard was showing and sprayed a thick layer of Line-X on them. The result was a skate that weighs about 5 pounds each but able to take a slap shot.  The Line-X guys said they never sprayed a pair of ice skates before.

 

Anyway I still have those skates but I prefer playing in my old Bauer 1000 Supremes because of the high boot. Goalies wear low boots that require a lot more ankle strength. After years of wearing the high boot skate my ankles got a little lazy. I'm not sure if I could even play in a low boot now. But I may have to if the Bauers ever fail fully.

Edited November 11, 2016 by PromoTheRobot

[pastajoe]

You can't have skates specifically made for your huge clown feet?

[darksabre]

So speaking of skates, I've discovered that I think I have a problem. My last pair of skates were Bauer Vapor X20's in a 10EE. Nothing great but for the level of hockey I play they're fine. So I decided to upgrade last summer and went to some new Vapor X70's in a 10.5EE. I'd always felt like my toes didn't have enough room in the 10, so I figured going up a half size made sense. They didn't feel too big when I bought them, and they still don't really feel too big, but I'm having trouble with the longer blade. When I skate I feel like I'm not getting all of my stride, and sometimes I feel like my control is off. I've had to dial back my intensity a bit when I skate because I'm afraid I won't catch my edge right. It's like I don't have enough control over the tip of the blade.

 

So I think I'm going to have to go back to a size 10 and put my new skates on eBay. I like them, they seem to fit fine, and my toes aren't as crunched, but I think I'd rather have my toes right up on the toe cap and get my control back.

 

No matter how long you're in the game, you can still screw up with gear. It appears I've learned a lesson about what I like in a skate.

[ubkev]

D4rk, what size shoes do you wear?

[darksabre]

D4rk, what size shoes do you wear?

Depends. Typically a 12.

[ubkev]

I was just wondering. I wear a 10, typically. My skates are 7.5 and 8.

[darksabre]

I was just wondering. I wear a 10, typically. My skates are 7.5 and 8.

Yeah, I'm in the right range for size, but man, the different blade holder/blade length just isn't working for me. I never suspected it would be an issue, but here we are.

[North Buffalo]

CCM I think are about 2 sizes smaller than your shoe size and Bauer 1.5 sizes smaller.... Not sure about Mission and Grafs but it makes sense.  I wear 10.5-11 shoe size and play in size 9 Bauers right now, but thinking about going back to CCMs.  The blades are a little longer and flatter which I like.

[ubkev]

Yeah, I'm in the right range for size, but man, the different blade holder/blade length just isn't working for me. I never suspected it would be an issue, but here we are.

Yeah, both of my blade setups are the same(272mm). I'm pretty picky about my skates. I wanted to get the new CCM Tacks when they came out again(when was that? Last year? Year before?) anyway, I didn't like them on the ice. Went right back to my bauers.

 

Might I inquire, how come you don't just switch out the holder and blade?

[darksabre]

Yeah, both of my blade setups are the same(272mm). I'm pretty picky about my skates. I wanted to get the new CCM Tacks when they came out again(when was that? Last year? Year before?) anyway, I didn't like them on the ice. Went right back to my bauers.

 

Might I inquire, how come you don't just switch out the holder and blade?

I believe the mounting holes for the rivets wouldn't line up.