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UnmaskedGremlin posted:Man I wish. Our C league, if you wanna be competitive, you need all good skaters, and probably a few of those high skill guys. In D you can probably get away with one of those mediocre skaters per line, and even then its risky. TrixR4kids posted:Our C league keeps getting better. Team I play for is all college players pretty much. I'm sure it varies based on region and even which rink you're playing at. I have seen the issue you guys are talking about where the level of play in C-league keeps increasing. Some of it is newer players developing and bad players quitting, but I've also seen leagues loosen their standards and let better players in to either balance out for current ringers or to help maximize the number of teams they have in a league. I also wondered with Phoenix in particular if that first big generation of youth hockey players has become old enough for men's leagues and they're starting to fill out the ranks and push up the level of play? After doing well with my lesson this week, I agreed to do a slower skate on Sunday. It will be my first live action since March and it should be a good opportunity for me to get out on the ice and start facing some real shots again. If that goes well, there are some other lower level games that I can do while I am easing my way back. I just want to keep things relatively slow at first before I jump into faster paced games.
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Jan 23, 2015 18:38
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Spookydonut posted:My thumb webbing-area hurts from pistol gripping my stick, would sewing some padding onto my blocker glove help or is it better to tape the stick? I keep it untapped to make extending it easier. It may help some. You could also try wearing a batting glove or something along those lines to add some extra padding, but if you're comfortable sewing some extra padding into your blocker, then that would work too. No reason to be uncomfortable. Has anyone used the new smart toe ties from Brian's? They come with the G-Netik 2's, but you can add them to any pad and they seem like they would be less of a hassle than regular toe ties. I'm probably going to pick some up tomorrow and try them out on my pads. http://www.goaliemonkey.com/accessories/leg-pad-accessories/brians-goalie-accessories-gnetik2-toe-strap-sr.html
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Jan 24, 2015 07:07
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Wooty posted:I hate toe ties. I put them on my skates before I put on the skates - not optimal After one use, I really like the Brian's velcro toe straps. They make putting on your pads faster and easier and they seemed to work at least as well as regular toe ties if not slightly better. I'll need to see how they hold up and perform over time, but they seem worth the $20 so far. My reaction to the chin sling is more mixed. I had some issues with it sliding up my face and blocking my mouth during play, but I did take a hard shot to the chin during warmups and it seemed to do a good job of reducing the impact. I also messed around with adjusting my mask straps today and making them tighter. They ended up being too tight and I had to skate off for about three minutes halfway through to loosen the straps and make it more comfortable, but even when it was strapped tight, I still felt like my mask moved around more than I'd like it to. We're going to try doing some more adjustments tomorrow and likely add some more padding to improve the fit. If we do that, then the chin sling could still work. As for hockey yesterday, it was my first live action in 10-months in an organized scrimmage and I did about how I thought I would. I did well on technical aspects like butterfly slides, redirecting the puck to the corner with my blocker, squeezing my 5-hole shut, and skating, but I did poorly in mental aspects like committing too early, having lapses in concentration (partly due to my mask being too tight), trouble seeing the puck through screens, slow to react on some recoveries, and issues tracking rebounds. Physically, I held up pretty well for the first half and then I had some stamina issues in the second half, which was to be expected since the physical workload of playing goal is hard to replicate off ice. I think that the mental side will take a few sessions for it to start coming back and I figured that would be harder for me than the technical and physical side.
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Jan 26, 2015 08:52
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UnmaskedGremlin posted:Got hit in the throat again lastnight. Still hurts today. I think I finally have to give in and get a dangler. A dangler and/or Maltese combo. The Maltese combo has the additional benefit of giving you extra collar bone protection, which can sometimes be vulnerable even through a C/A.
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Jan 26, 2015 23:26
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Bradf0rd posted:This. I didn't go Maltese, but I do have the CCM throat protector and a dangler after I took a shot in the clavicle and narrowly missed straight trachea (with a dangler on). Having two layers of protection is a good idea. The dangler should get most pucks, but the puck has a way of finding gaps in your protection and a puck to the throat is extremely dangerous. I do have a Maltese, but I should probably put a dangler back on to give myself some extra protection from shots to the chin and neck. Speaking of Maltese, I am ordering a Maltese gel kit for my mask. It should be a bit more protective than standard foam and since I have access to someone who knows how to fit it properly. I've already added some Maltese foam with a chin sling (modified it last night to not block my mouth) and some new padding on my cheeks. I'm also going to replace the screws and possibly the straps and cage, since I have a lead on where to source one for my mask. My mask has a good shell, so it is just a matter of fixing the other parts to get it to where I feel comfortable using it.
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Jan 27, 2015 20:05
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That's awesome that you got to play against Brian Bellows. He was one of my favorite players as a kid and he was never tainted by playing in Dallas.
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Jan 27, 2015 22:05
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I did my first skills session in a long time last night. I wasn't comfortable at all during the individual shooting drills. It felt like the shots were too close together and there were a few guys who were shooting as hard as they could with their head down. There were two times that I felt so uncomfortable that I skated out of the net and took a break. Things got a little better when they started doing two man drills with passes and I only started to feel comfortable during the scrimmage, which I played well in. I am noticing that my skating is a lot better, which showed up more against faster/better players, but I am finding that I am having difficulty watching the release of the shot and tracking rebounds. I think a lot of that is nerves still and will get better as I start feeling more confident, but I need to correct that issue, otherwise I am making things more dangerous for myself than it needs to be. I am trying to get myself ready to play in a league again in March. Though the guy that I had run my team for one season is being weird and it seems like he may be trying to force me out, since he has been talking about how much the team liked the goalie who filled in this past season. The thing is that we had a clear agreement that he was only acting as captain for one season and that I would resume my role as captain and goalie when I was healthy. The league director knows about the agreement, so I'll need to talk to both of them tonight and try to straighten things out. I just hate how everything always ends up being weird, but I can weather through them being babies about if it comes to that. I am also going to check with the league director about seeing if I could move up to a slightly higher league, since I'd actually feel more comfortable playing against guys who are a bit more under control of themselves and would hopefully face a little more even talent level. I could also explore going back to the team I played for on Saturdays, but they haven't been very good since I left and have had trouble getting enough guys to show up, so I'd rather sub for them for the time being.
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Feb 4, 2015 18:54
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Vital Signs posted:Tell me how I improve on this. I've had this issue in the past and while I won't claim to have solved it, my suspicion would be that you are not as square to the puck as you think you are and/or there may be an issue with your depth. Especially, when shooters are moving, it can be easy to align yourself with the shooter and not the puck, which can create a situation where you think you are square, but you are giving them more space on the blocker side than you realize. Secondly, the further you come out, the more angle you will cut off, but if the shooter is moving, then the angle is changing and the further you are out challenging, the more you need to move to stay square to the puck. You want to be anywhere from 6-18" above the crease and you can make small shuffles/center-shifts to stay square with the puck. If you are too far out, then you need to move larger distances to stay square and if you are too deep, then you are giving the shooter a lot of room to work with.
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Feb 9, 2015 20:33
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Zip! posted:2 things; 1 you're probably overcompensating for the angle change and moving too far over to your left, 2 you're probably not square to the shot and are opening up a lane for the puck to travel through (an extreme example of this to help visualize what I mean would be if you lined up for a shot from the left point, but your body is facing the right point - location wise you're in the correct spot but nearly none of your blocking surface is filling the shot lane). That's a much better explanation than mine, particularly the parts about letting the shooter get slightly ahead of you, so that they can't shoot against the grain on you, and that you can physically be in the right spot, but if you're body isn't square, then you are not covering nearly as much net as you think you are. I'm in the process of getting my patience back after being out for a while, so that video was a good review for me to see. I also got almost all of the foam on my mask replaced with Maltese gel. The fit seems to be a lot better, the mask is lighter, and since they use a lot less gel than you would traditional foam, and the airflow in the mask should be much improved. I haven't replaced the foam on the back plate yet with gel and I may do that after I get some new straps for my mask, but we'll see. The gel is supposed to do a better job of dissipating energy than traditional foam, so that along with the better fit should hopefully be more protective. I'm still in the process of deciding what I think of the chin sling, so I need to give that a little more time. I'm skating tonight, so it should be a good chance for me to see what I think of all of the changes.
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Feb 10, 2015 18:22
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BulimicGoat posted:The ToeHooks I bought ended up coming early and I had a chance to install them before my game tonight. I've never played with any type of toe ties, so I can't judge it as an alternative. My pads weren't over rotating and snapped back into place after a butterfly- plus I didn't have to worry about tying laces up beforehand. Overall, I'd recommend them The Brians velcro toe ties are another good option. I've used them about 4 times so far and have been really happy with them. I skated in a pickup game tonight. I felt a bit more comfortable in net, but I was still a little too passive at times and was staying on my feet too much, which led to me giving up some goals that I should have definitely stopped. It's a process, but I need to start pushing myself to be more aggressive on the ice and I think once I do that my results will get a lot better. Not unexpected, but frustrating. I will say that I'm having some issues tracking shots and rebounds, so I might try to arrange a lesson in the next week or two to try and work on those areas. The new padding in my mask worked well tonight. The fit was great and I took one hard shot to the mask with no ill-effects, so at least so far it is doing its job.
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Feb 11, 2015 10:17
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Spookydonut posted:What's this gel stuff you're talking about? I might be looking to do something similar. Maltese gel, I ordered the 3/8" kit. I know a Maltese rep, so I got a bit of a price break, but I used the difference to pay him to install it for me. I can take some pictures tonight to show how it is installed in my mask, but I definitely felt that the fit and airflow were better and my mask feels quite a bit lighter as well. http://maltesesports.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=5
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Feb 11, 2015 17:46
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Attached is a photo of the Maltese gel installed in my mask. The backplate still has regular foam for now and the chin sling was handmade by my friend, which is why it looks rougher than the other pieces. As you can see, he used a lot less gel than you would with standard foam. The fit is very good so far and it is definitely lighter and cooler than the old foam was. Hard to comment on protection since I've only used the chin sling a few times and the full install only once, but I have noticed that the chin sling acts as a bit of a dampener and I added a dangler as a dampener as well, thinking that any shots that hit the dangler would lose some energy by the time they hit my mask. Everything is a bit of a guessing game when it comes to protecting your head, but I know that fit is very important and that certainly seems to be improved.
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Feb 12, 2015 23:06
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ManicJason posted:I'm not sure if we should consider Aniki an expert or an idiot when it comes to head protection. I can't really argue with that. I will say it is one of those subjects that the more I learn about it, the more I realize how much I don't know and from talking to some experts it seems like they don't know yet either.
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Feb 12, 2015 23:42
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I went to an open hockey on Friday. It was the fastest skate that I've done since I've returned and I didn't play very well. I still felt tentative and was staying up on my feet too much. I started fairing a little better once the pace slowed, but it still feels like the biggest thing for me right now is getting my confidence and timing back. On the positive side of things, my stamina is getting a lot better and I made it through the full session without any problems. I am going to go to another open hockey session on Monday and will try to get a lesson in this week, so hopefully I'll start getting more confident in net soon. Aniki fucked around with this message at 22:59 on Feb 14, 2015 |
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Feb 14, 2015 22:54
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I went to open hockey this afternoon and I did a bit better than I did on Friday. I feel like I'm starting to get more confident, my timing got better as the session wore on, and I'm getting a little more comfortable butterflying against live shots. I'm still not where I want to be yet, but it was encouraging to see some signs of progress. I also made a nice glove save through traffic and a couple of athletic saves, though I'm still staying on my feet too much, I'm vulnerable against backdoor passes, and I feel like my body is not square to the puck, so those are issues that I need to address. I do have a goalie lesson scheduled for Wednesday morning before work, so I'll focus on those and some other issues that I've noticed and hopefully that will help me get back on track. I'm also hoping to get on the ice on Friday, but I'm not sure if I'll do open hockey or go to a skills session instead. I'm leaning slightly towards open hockey, since I think that playing against faster players is good for me right now, but it just depends if I can get off of work early enough to get there. Edit: I should dig out my GoPro and get some footage again. It will be ugly right now, but it would still help me figure out how out of position I am on some plays.
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Feb 17, 2015 06:23
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Bradf0rd posted:Glad to see you're getting back out on the ice. That GoPro footage is always a bit disconcerting to watch, but (at least for me) it seems to help on that positioning and such. Do you feel like you're getting back into shape physically? It is good to be back. I agree that filming yourself helps a lot with positioning and I think I'm almost ready to start doing that again, though I want to skate a few more times and feel like I'm over the mental barriers before I start watching myself. It's weird, because the physical transition of getting back on the ice has been pretty easy. I kept active while I was out and I feel stronger than before and my stamina has improved from interval training and some medication changes. However, I still have some lingering fear and confidence issues, which is normal after coming back from an injury and right now I feel a little bit better every time I get out on the ice. It would be nice to have a dramatic change, but I just need to go through the process and accept the incremental changes for now. The biggest physical issues that I have right now is that my body still feels stiff on the ice, so I need to do more work on stretching and I have some breathing issues at one of the rinks for the first 5 minutes or so that I'm out on the ice and I think it has to do with going from heated locker rooms to a cold playing surface. They also don't have electric Zamboni's which may contribute to the issue as well. I already made medication changes, so I need to try getting dressed earlier and giving myself more time to attenuate to the cold environment before being active.
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Feb 17, 2015 19:33
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My goalie lesson this morning went well. We spent a lot of time working on small movements to get me into the proper position to make saves. The big thing that we focused on was doing half-pivots before I slid or T-pushed to a spot, that way I can maintain visual attachment with the puck and make sure that I am sliding to the right spot based on the placement of the shooter. We also worked on varying my slide speed and having me slow down a little bit, so that I hit the right spot and stay square, rather than having me slide too far or twist towards the end and lose my angle. We worked a lot on how to play passes near the net, since I've struggled with those recently. I started out working on going from a standing position, and then half pivoting, and sliding to hit certain spots and then we worked a little bit on doing the same thing from a reverse VH. We finished off working on me challenging shots from different angles and depth. The big thing is he wants me to hold my ground at the top of the crease and then half-pivot and slide or T-push to follow the shooter or the pass if necessary. It was a little slower paced than my previous lesson, but I think it was really helpful to slow things down and work on getting to the right spot, square, on time, and with proper post integration for the depth of the shot.
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Feb 18, 2015 18:23
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Zip! posted:If only the article actually went into any depth as to what it actually is they're talking about I think he may be talking about tracking down, which is demonstrated in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdmMKbN0b1Y
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Feb 19, 2015 19:11
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Martytoof posted:Hey so I've totally been MIA from the scene, and now that I have job where I can make it rain I'm looking to maybe get back into it with some new gear. Nice to have you back in the fold. I'm not too familiar with the current Vaughn offering, but Zip!'s overview was great. Are there any shops near you that you can demo pads from? ManicJason posted:I present beerLeagueDefense.jpg. The yellow team has the puck at the time: That's remarkable. Both D are on the blocker side, one forward is hovering over the circle on the blocker side, and both forwards and the center are hovering by the blue line for a breakout that will never come. Really all you can do in that situation is cover the puck or kick out a big rebound and hope one that one of your teammates somehow gets it.
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Feb 19, 2015 23:30
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I tried out my gen 2 Passau knee pads for the first time on Tuesday night. The good:
The bad:
I'll definitely need a few more sessions to adapt to the knee pads, I do like the extra height that they offer and they should offer great protection, but it will take me time to get used to them. As for the skills session itself. I didn't feel like I played very well. I got spooked during some of the early drills and played poorly during my first shift during the scrimmage, but did rebound and play better during the 2nd shift, even though the side I was facing had an extremely good player that scored a couple goals on me, but honestly, I liked the challenge of facing him and I felt like it got me thinking about playing hockey and not about not getting injured. I'm still a work in progress, but I'm starting to get stretches where I play well, but not consistently yet, which is frustrating. I also lost the goalie spot that I was supposed to have for this season. The guy who filled in for me this past season apparently played well and my now ex-teammates were being dicks about it and it turned into a stupid situation that wasn't worth salvaging. My recovery and where I'm at in that process had nothing to do with it. I still have 3 and 1/2 weeks before the league is supposed to start and while I have a good chance of being picked up by another team, I'm not sure what I want to do now. I may take the season off and may just play open hockey, private games, and eventually do some subbing after I get my game and confidence back. I might look into playing at Oceanside, since I like that league better and I get along with people on a couple teams over there or I may still play up here, but only if it's a situation that I'm comfortable with. I'm leaning towards just giving myself more time to get my game and confidence back on track, since that has been a slower process than I had anticipated. Edit: It looks like the leagues at Oceanside start in 7 weeks, which is probably a better timeline for me to get back on track. Aniki fucked around with this message at 10:02 on Feb 26, 2015 |
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Feb 26, 2015 09:23
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Bradf0rd posted:How many straps do those things have? 4-straps. Two over the quad, which is a bit weird, one behind the knee, and one along the top of the calf. It's sort of funny that my knee pads have more straps than my leg pads. I should be able to get out on the ice on Friday and test them out for a second time. I also ordered some of their leg pad wax, which is supposed to reduce friction on slides, especially when ice conditions get bad, so I'm curious to see how that works. Yeah, it's annoying, because I put a lot of work into setting things up, so that I could return when I got healthy and I got a sense a couple months ago that something stupid was going to happen and sure enough it did. In a way, I'm glad that the situation is over with, so I can at least move on and find a better situation for myself. For now, I am going to focus on getting my game back on track and see what opportunities are out there.
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Feb 27, 2015 08:42
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Bradf0rd posted:Wooooo, more GoPro! I could tell that you were seeing the puck well and had good focus. You play on a weird sized rink, it looks slightly longer than a 3-on-3 rink and maybe almost the size of an inline rink. The hard thing about a smaller surface like that, it requires you to stay focused the whole time, which can be draining. You did give up some goals in the 2nd part of the video, but it seemed like you were being screened a lot and got caught sleeping a bit on the long range goal. Overall, it looks like you played well and move well.
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Feb 27, 2015 08:53
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I went to open hockey yesterday and tried to go in with the attitude that I'm there to have fun and not fixate on trying to not get hurt and it seemed to help. I still didn't play great, but I felt more confident, started butterflying more, and had some stretches where I played alright. I also tried focusing on head trajectory (e.g. moving my head and not my eyes) and while I didn't do it consistently, I found that I was making more glove saves than usual and I even managed to windmill the Finnish guy, which was a good confidence booster. The Passau knee pads felt better the second time around. I did have to skate off briefly to adjust the straps, but I think I'm close to figuring out how I want to have them strapped. The sliding wax did seem to help. I had a few times where I slid faster and further than normal and it seemed like it was easier to get a slide started. I couldn't really utilize it to my advantage much, but that's more because I'm having trouble working the partial turn, then slide into my game, so I'm still throwing my body in the general direction of the play and losing track of the puck, so I'll try to work on that the next time I'm out on the ice. Edit: I need to find my GoPro, so I can get some footage soon. Aniki fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Feb 28, 2015 |
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Feb 28, 2015 22:55
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Bootcha posted:Hey, I remembered to film both ends. You make a lot of pad stack saves. which is unusual. It is a good move to have in your arsenal as a desperation save, but it puts you in a difficult position to recover and play the rebound. You also tend to keep your legs tucked in on butterflies and near the post. There was a goal that you let in around 13:50, where you slide to the post to follow a wraparound, but you tuck in your trailing and get stuck in awkward position that you couldn't recover from. If you had slid to the post and gone into a VH, then you would have been in a much better position, to slide across the crease and have a good chance of stopping the rebound. Overall, you have nice athleticism and made some good plays, especially some sprawling saves, but I think you're making things a bit harder for yourself than they need to be. I got invited to play with a private group that organizes a bunch of games per month and I was able to sign up for 3 or 4 games this month. It should be a good source of extra ice time. I also may have a chance to go back to my old team at Oceanside. No issues with the guys on that team, though my only concern is that they tend to only have 6 skaters more often than not, which is probably why there current goalie is likely leaving. I don't mind short benches from time to time, but dealing with that nearly every week would suck, since those games normally end up being hanging tight for 2 periods before we run out of gas and end up losing, though at least my stamina is better than it was back then.
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Mar 3, 2015 01:01
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Bootcha posted:Welp, my gear got stolen. gently caress. poo poo, that really sucks. Was it stolen from your car/truck or at the rink? Any chance that they got video of the fucker who did it? We've had a rash of locker room thefts in Phoenix lately. One guy has hit locker rooms in Chandler twice and they have clear images of him and he was spotted at Oceanside at a learn to skate program, but no thefts were reported there. Hopefully, they catch him soon. http://www.fox10phoenix.com/story/28543266/2015/03/17/chandler-police-search-for-ice-den-burglary-suspect
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Mar 22, 2015 08:46
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Bootcha posted:Stolen from the truck at a local bar. No idea if the parking lot has cameras. I had another goalie set stolen from my apartment 4-5 years ago. I have the shittiest luck it seems. Any chance that your car or home/renters insurance would cover the theft? That's horrible that you've had two sets lifted. You should check Play It Again Sports if they have those in your area, since a lot of stolen equipment is dumped off there. I can understand the internal debate of should you continue playing or not. I've had that debate because of injuries, but there's just something unique about playing goalie that you can't find elsewhere and it is very difficult to give that up. I've been playing with a private group lately and just found out that I was apparently registered to skate with them today and missed the skate. I've never missed a session before where I haven't found a replacement, but in this case I legitimately thought that I was registered for next week and had no idea I was supposed to skate today. It was an honest mistake, but I'm still annoyed with myself.
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Mar 22, 2015 20:23
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Getting good instruction helps a lot and if you're lucky, then maybe he can put you in touch with someone local to work with. Also, I'm not sure about the shipping gear to Australia, but I know that they changed their import duties relatively recently, so anything at or under $1,000 AUD can be imported free of import duties, so that may make getting new gear a little easier to stomach. I played goalie for 3 hours on Saturday, which is a lot of ice time. I started out really well and held the other side scoreless for the first 45 minutes and made a couple nice glove saves and then stayed for a second 90-minute season since one of their goalies had cancelled. I didn't play nearly as well the second session, which was a little faster and I was tired, but I was happy with my play and it was nice to have that 45 minute stretch where I played really well to boost my confidence. Still not sure what I'm going to do about leagues. I was offered a goalie spot at the league near my house, but I ended up turning that down and I've been working on trying to get a spot in another league that fits my schedule better and I should hear something about that in the next week or two. Either way, I'm not too concerned, because I'm getting enough ice time right now from other sources and I've run into issues with my knees due to overtraining, so I've had to ease back on my level of activity and change my stretching routine, so I'm kind of weary of adding any weekly commitments right now. While I'm not big on milestones, I have passed one year since my last concussion, so hopefully I can keep that streak going.
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Mar 31, 2015 01:07
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I played my first league game in 14-months tonight. Now to be fair, I have been playing hockey, just mainly organized scrimmages and open hockey, though I didn't skate at all in April. I was really nervous about playing a league game. I went into the game with the goal of not embarrassing myself and I actually ended up playing really well and getting compliments from players on both teams, so it was nice to go out there and prove to myself that I’m still good. The three goals that I gave up were all off of rebounds. I did come close to making saves on all three of those goals, but it’s clear that rebound control is something that I need to work on. I also made some a couple really athletic saves. The one that I was most proud of was on a play where I made the initial save at the top right corner of the crease. The rebound went left towards the bottom of the circle. There was a wide open shooter waiting for the puck and I reflexively, turned my head and slide towards the post. I ended up sliding about a foot in front of the post and I robbed the shooter of what they thought was a sure goal and managed to cover the puck. I also made a crazy paddle save that is hard to describe, but it was impressive. The other goalie did hurt his groin late into the 2nd period. He actually managed to play pretty well while hurt, but I personally thought that he was taking a stupid risk by staying in the game. I get that there’s only one goalie on the team, so you feel compelled to stay in and finish the game, but I’ve tried playing hurt and all you end up doing is aggravating your injury. That did take a little luster off of my win, but at the same time, my goal was to not embarrass myself and I ended up impressing both teams, so I am really happy right now. I’ve been through a lot with injuries and having my former team be lovely to me, so it meant a lot for me to go out there and prove that I can win, still play at a high level, and have fun again.
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May 14, 2015 10:37
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I won a free goalie stick from Bauer at the Behind the Mask goalie day raffle. I have my choice between a Bauer Supreme Total One NXG and a Bauer Reactor 6000, but Bauer's website is an abortion and the promo code that the Bauer rep gave me isn't working. Hoping to hear back from him soon, but it amazes me how lovely websites are even for big companies.
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May 22, 2015 06:31
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Bradf0rd posted:Now I want to get a FitBit and check out the data compared to the GoPro stuff. Speaking of, have some video to watch and laugh at! I went with the Total One NXG. They're making it custom, so it may be a few more weeks before I get it. I've never used a full composite stick before, so it should be interesting to try. I've been skating once or twice a week recently. Still mainly doing private games and some skills sessions, though I'll eventually join a league again, but I'm kind of enjoying not dealing with the pressure, sense of obligation, and team drama that comes with leagues. I actually played really well last Sunday and shut out the other side for 40-45 minutes and played well until the very end of the 90-minute session. I'm going to a free goalie clinic on Sunday morning and will play in a private game in the afternoon. As the temperatures increase, the ice is starting to get worse at the rinks here, especially at Oceanside where they had a compressor break and won't be replacing it until their usual maintenance at the beginning of the July. I went there with freshly sharpened 1/2" skates and the soft ice absolutely destroyed my edges. I got my skates sharpened again today, but went with 5/8", so my blades hopefully won't catch on the soft ice as much.
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Jun 12, 2015 10:10
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Bradf0rd posted:I've been using composite sticks for a good five years now and love them. The light weight of the stick is great and never feel any reverberations. It's good to be back out there playing again. The goalie clinic on Sunday went well, though the skating wore me out a lot more than I expected, so I didn't play very well in the afternoon, though that was part tired and part really unbalanced teams. Once I switched to the other side, I played well again. Overall, I am seeing the puck much better on initial shots, but my rebound tracking hasn't really come back yet and I'm still hesitating a bit too much on plays right around the net. As for league drama, it seems like it is inevitable and random. Be thankful that you've managed to avoid it. It's really aggravating when people try to ruin things you enjoy. I did find that 5/8" worked really well for me with the softer ice. I was able to get better grip and I wasn't digging in too deep to the ice and messing up my edges. Going longer between sharpenings isn't a bad idea, I just think that the first skate with really sharp blades can go really badly with soft ice. I actually need to replace my blades soon, I may just get another set of Bauer blades, but some part of me still wants to try Step Steel, though not the crazy tall blades. It's good to know that you've had good experience with composite sticks. I really liked the semi-composite sticks that I had before and it will be fun using a full composite stick. Hopefully, they'll ship it out soon. Aniki fucked around with this message at 07:28 on Jun 18, 2015 |
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Jun 18, 2015 07:23
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I'm heading to Minneapolis for a few days next week, I won't be bringing my gear, but I would like to stop by a hockey shop or two. Is Stauber's the best one to visit or are there any other shops that I should consider?
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Aug 5, 2015 10:02
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titanium posted:Stauber's is good, sadly we've lost most of our non-chain hockey shops with goalie gear. Total hockey is pretty stocked up, theres a small shop in Fridley called Dave's Sport shop I grew up going to but they're pretty limited and their pricing isnt always the best. I just got out of a crazy work situation and I have a week off before my new job starts, so I wanted to get away from the craziness for a few days. I'll be there from Thursday - Saturday. On Thursday, I'm heading down to Mankato for training camp, I'll be running around Minneapolis and going to the Twins game on Friday, and then I'm going to visit some family near Aitkin on Saturday. The good thing is that I got a much better job, so I should be able to go back to Minnesota more frequently now. I'll be staying in Maple Grove. Aniki fucked around with this message at 07:50 on Aug 11, 2015 |
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Aug 11, 2015 07:47
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titanium posted:I actually ended up at Staubers this weekend too, got a new cateye since I was refurbishing my mask. Did you see the new Vaughn skates there? They actually look pretty decent, like a mix between a graph and a ccm. I ended up not being able to make it to Staubers this trip, but I should be back out there again in the next couple months and will definitely make sure to go then. I've seen some Vaughn skates before, but I haven't seen the latest ones. If they fit anywhere near Graf's, then they could be a really nice skate. I am extremely happy with the Maltese foam in my mask. It improved the airflow through my mask a lot, it decreased the weight of the mask, and more importantly, I feel that it improved the fit and protectiveness of the mask. The fit will obviously depend on the installation, but it does seem like the gel does a much better job of dissipating energy than standard foam does. I highly recommend that everyone use Maltese gel or similar products in their mask.
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Aug 18, 2015 07:42
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Bootcha posted:So one of my buddies had a go pro up while we were fooling around at a late night stick'n'puck, and I managed to do this: Nice series of saves. It feels great when you can move back and forth across the crease and keep making plays.
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Oct 4, 2015 07:46
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real_scud posted:Welp it finally happened, felt my knee pop when I went down awkwardly today. That's scary, but it was a good decision to pull yourself out of the game and not make things worse. It was also nice that you had an orthopedist on the team that could do a preliminary examination. Your best bet is to get into an orthopedist tomorrow, they'll likely do an X-ray and then order an MRI depending on the physical examination. Hopefully you dodged a bullet, but it is good that you are being cautious. It's way too easy to be stubborn and try to keep playing, but it is better to miss one game and be safe than press your luck and miss a couple months. I haven't been skating much recently. Hopefully, that will change soon, but I've been busy with my new job and tennis is keeping me active for now. I enjoy it, but it's definitely not the same as playing net. Though at least I am under a lot less stress now and don't need to depend on hockey as a release like I did before.
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Dec 21, 2015 03:09
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real_scud posted:Good news everyone! Great to hear! Did he say if it was a grade 1 or a grade 2 MCL tear? Did he give you a hinged knee brace? Just remember that playing in net requires your MCL being stable at an extreme range of motion, so don't be disheartened if it takes you longer than the recommended time frame to recover. It took me in the range of 8-12 weeks to recover from both of mine (both grade 2), though 12 weeks was because I also dislocated my knee cap and tore some supporting tissue, which complicated my recovery (2nd injury, 1st injury was MCL only). Other than some occasional soreness, I haven't had any lingering issues, but I did physical therapy and worked hard to build up the supporting muscles, which helped a lot. Though every injury and person is different, so my recovery timeline is far from gospel. Aniki fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Dec 21, 2015 |
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Dec 21, 2015 18:42
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Hockles posted:Worth a shot in here... but does anybody have an extra pair of goalie skates in size 7D or 7.5D that they are willing to let go for really cheap? Also, a set of goalie knee pads and/or goalie pants in size Medium? I've got an old pair of Graf G50s in that size and may have an extra set of knee pads. Send me a PM if you can.
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Feb 3, 2016 05:39
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| # ¿ May 21, 2024 00:48 |
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I'm starting to get back on the ice again, but after an extended break, I really feel like I've lost a lot of ground. Things like my strength, skating, and butterfly sliding are still there, but my ability to read plays has really eroded, my angles are off, and I'm not putting myself in good positions to recover. Some of it will come back as I start playing more, but I really feel like I need to get some lesson and iron some of these issues out. I don't think I want to do leagues again, but I'd still like to play a couple times per month and not make an rear end out of myself, just been really hard to find the time lately.
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Mar 14, 2016 07:16
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