Gear changes and its impact in today's game

[RichMan]

I realized something today while trying on gloves and blockers of different brands at PHL that has me concerned and saddened, even if my playing years are numbered. 

The chances of you finding the perfect gear for your game, style, level is getting more and more rare. Unless you're one of the lucky ones that can purchase a few quantities knowing that it won't be readily available once the next season comes around.

Some gear you can get away with in retrospect but for myself for example, skates, catch glove, chest protector are the one pieces that once they're gone, that's it. Finding aftermarket ones or even good condition used ones is a challenge in itself. 

Looking at what is on the shelves at the moment, the new stiffer materials is getting further away from my comfort zone. I don't have the kind of butterfly that can take advantage of the stiffer foams and thigh rises. The gloves don't feel like that used first baseman glove, more aggressive angles instead. Skates have narrow toe boxes and 3mm blades only. Chest protectors have so much velcro adjustments it just gets too complicated. 

I realized that my current gear might probably be the last one I ever wear for the remainder of my playing career. Don't get me wrong,  I'm not a gear slut but it is nice to know that if i have to replace something, I'll be able to find a suitable replacement, which I don't feel possible at the moment. 

I'm cool with evolution and I have been riding the train for a bit but at 55, I think I've reached the extent of what my body can do with today's gear.

[bildeer]

I hear you on that. If I were forced to start over with the new stuff, I could more than likely do it, but probably wouldn't particularly enjoy it. This may (most definitely) sound rich coming from someone my age, but I used to joke to myself that if/when Vaughn tells me no more new velocity 4s (my most recent pair is 3 years old now, the oldest is 14), that would be the day I'd take up some other activity. Save for my 2016 spec v4 pants and factory mad knee pads, everything else looks like what you would have found if you had raided a locker room back in 2012. 

I hope I get a less jacked up class schedule next semester so I can actually get ice time during the week. I haven't been out since January or something like that. I got so bored that aside from putting my rx-7 contraption back together that I now run around with poodles with silly haircuts for fun.

[Fullright]

Great topic @RichMan.

I do not know how younger guys play in today's gear. I agree with you about gloves. Blockers arent much different but the catch gloves at the store are bricks. Impossible to close at least for a while after purchase. I wouldnt even know how to buy skates. Pads? No chance. I have read carefully here all the measurements and their diagrams and I cannot figure it out. Chest and arms are gigantic and how goalies move in them or turn their heads is amazing. Same with pants. 

The gear has helped goalies and the way they are taught to play. The butterfly or "down game" works because the gear permits goalies to play down without fear of significant dents. Same with headgear. Catching one in the melon isnt nearly as risky as it used to be. Teams always have had players who could bomb but now there are more who can bomb. So as a matter of protection and effectiveness, there's no comparison. The modern stuff suits the game better than the gear did in my competitive times. I think, Richman, we have no choice but to keep the stuff we like and learn how to fix it ourselves as best as we can.

[daffy]

I'm totally with you guys on this.  I was lucky enough to have a goalie friend who was going through a bunch of different pads.  I tried warrior G5, Vaughn SLR, Brian's genetics, Passau, etc.  nothing felt as good as my old soft stuff.  Ended up waiting a year for Kenesky to make my V5 specs.  Only way I could get the stuff I wanted.  Glove was made by Wilcox and is an old Sherwood model I believe.  Fits great.  

Skates, I'm still in cowlings so I stock piled steel knowing it will be all gone soon.  

I have friends who are older than me (I'm 47) and love the new stuff.  For me, it just doesn't work.  My goalie days are slowly coming to an end.  I don't want to spend ice times just trying to get used to new stuff.  I want to enjoy the game as much as I can while I can.

Oh I should mention, I have a new project.  My frankenskates are complete.  Konekt boots is ccm cowlings.  Hate the height of new holders so managed to get them into old school cowlings.  We'll see how that works on ice.

[coopaloop1234]

I thought we already made this thread:

 

[RichMan]

4 hours ago, coopaloop1234 said:

I thought we already made this thread:

 

I'm not complaining about getting old. Work (and my gut) reminds of that every day

This is more about how fast and drastically gear is changing for an equal changing game. The new gear is not aimed at the old ones like us, it's more for the new kids. I'm willing and able to try the new stuff but it doesn't mean I'll like it.

I don't have 4$ grand laying around for a custom Vaughn old school set and my GT2 line is now extinct, sooo, that leaves me in a should (can) I or should (can) I not position. 

Edited 6 hours ago by RichMan

[Fullright]

@coopaloop1234: "come on, man"....not old man crap, just how the new stuff is so good and effective. Just look at the bruise thread. not much added to it in a while. you're old enough - I think - to remember when a chest pad was basically a sweat shirt doubled up. Now it's a tool to use. 

....when do we start the prostate thread?

[coopaloop1234]

40 minutes ago, RichMan said:

This is more about how fast and drastically gear is changing for an equal changing game. The new gear is not aimed at the old ones like us, it's more for the new kids. I'm willing and able to try the new stuff but it doesn't mean I'll like it.

I don't have 4$ grand laying around for a custom Vaughn old school set and my GT2 line is now extinct, sooo, that leaves me in a should (can) I or should (can) I not position. 

Your GT2 line, for all intents and purposes, is a very modern style pad and was stiffer than the "stiff" option from Warrior at the time. If you did want to transition out of it into a new pad, there's plenty of softer pad options that won't feel too different from what you're currently using. Mostly a flatter channel face and some newer strapping. Getting the SR version of pads will also improve the softer feel you're after too. 

So you're still not SOL. 

And yea, pads have been trending towards stiff for a long time now. Hell, the 1S has been out to the public for almost 9 years. 

This shift has been welcome though. I remember early on I swore up and down that I'd be a soft pad user for life. Go figure I'm rocking my third set of Supreme pads and have zero desire to go back. 

So who knows, maybe stiff pads are your future?  

22 minutes ago, Fullright said:

....when do we start the prostate thread?

In the Old man thread. 

I wanted to check the age of eligibility to the old man thread since today's my birthday, and I sighed a breath of releif knowing I've got 4 more years. 

Still not an old dirty bastard yet. 

Edited 5 hours ago by coopaloop1234

[seagoal]

I've been playing for a minute or two, as you guys know.  I'm early 40s and been playing for about 32 years in (squishy) Vaughn gear for most of my life.  I'm in Bauer Supreme Shadow stuff and I have not looked back in angst at my days in Vaughn not for 2 seconds.  I was slow to change on some stuff over the years, for sure, but eventually gave in and it's been fine: no cowlings, bungee toe ties, for example. 

I keep most of this about leg pads...

This thread got me thinking about a couple of things: what were my motivators for switching out of old gear into new? and what was the most difficult thing to adjust to?

I think my primary, most fundamental motivator that got me out of soft Vaughns and eventually into stiff Bauers was taking a really good, high level goalie clinic and being taught fundamentals of modern goaltending that I struggled with and realizing that I needed to make some changes if I wanted to get better and succeed in higher divisions.  I'd say that was my motivator.  Anyone can play goalie in any gear, sure.  It's always fun.  But my goal was to climb divisions (land in Div. 4) and get better.  So first, I needed sharper skates. Easy fix. But then, I started to hone in on how soft, squishy leg pads of yesteryear were holding me back with their lack of stability, torsional flex, heavy weight, and soft rebounds just to name the most pertinent.  I remembe it just clicking one day for me mentally that if I want to start moving down low like they do on TV I needed to upadate my gear so that those movements and mechanics become more efficient and easier.  So once I had this realization, I spec'd my next Custom Vaughn V9s to be as stiff as they'd allow and then those pads were so damn heavy I couldn't use them.  So then the Bauer light bulb went off in my brain and I just went for it.  Totally loving this switch with zero regrets. I feel faster, more efficient, and more capable than I have felt in many many years of playing and I am only getting older at the same time. 

I'd say the most difficult thing to get used to is the no give in the thigh rise in just casual scenarios.  I've always been a leaner forward, I rest my elbows on my thigh rises and on Vaughns, they just squish down until they hit your leg.  Well with Bauers, they don't move so that honestly feels pretty awkward still and I've used Bauer for 1.5 years now. But honesly, that's just 32 years of muscle memory telling my brain "these are not Vaughns" and while that doesn't affect my game or goaltending at all (quite the opposite, actually), it does feel weird when I'm resting or before face offs, etc.  

Anyway, just wanted to share my experience with what you guys are talking about.  As an older goalie myself, I totally get it.  But, at the same time, I think there is something very substantial to the idea that something can be a much bigger deal in your head than it is in reality and I'll say that sure, while different gear will feel different because well, it's different, it is most likely 100% true that A) adjusting to it is much easier than you think it will be and B) there will be some benefits to those differences. 

The majority of any changes you'll notice will, after a couple of weeks, be not a big deal in the end.