Amateur Hockey Thread

[shoeshine boy]

I'll take my chances. I have Bauer Vapor x40R inline skates which were $120 and they've exceeded expectations. I'm hoping a few more years of development and going up the ladder a few rungs in the X500 will be adequate. If I actually join a league again and play multiple times a week I'd look at the top of the line, after these wear out. I'll be shocked if they're a 'bad' pair of skates.

inline skates are an entirely different animal. they are always cheaper because they don't need to be protective like ice hockey skates do. it largely depends on what level and how many times a week you're playing. if you're playing shinny at the neighborhood pond or beginner league once a week a cheaper pair of skates is fine but if you're playing college or even mid to high level beer league multiple times a week you're going to regret cheaper skates. not only will they not last as long (you can get around this a little by removing the footbeds after each skate and airing them out properly) but when you take a slapshot off the boot all that money you saved (& more) by buying cheap skates will now go to your ER bills for a broken foot.

[dodint]

Somehow I feel like my college playing days are behind me. Way behind me.

If Bauer's midrange skate can't hold up to my basic needs then I'm switching brands anyway. Will probably look at Graf's for the arch support that was mentioned.

[mikey]

Certain Grafs make a really weird sound when you skate...you can hear them from a mile away it feels like...

[meow]

Certain Grafs make a really weird sound when you skate...you can hear them from a mile away it feels like...

I don't think they make those anymore. What were they called..? T blades?

A former teammate of mine would take Grafs and put Tuuks on them. After a season or two, a bunch of guys in the Coast followed him. It was pretty popular for a couple years.

[mikey]

Not sure if they still do. One of my guys had them...stood out above the other ice carvers...

[MR25]

Seidenberg still wears them, as far as I can tell.

[meow]

He's German. It's written into all their contracts that they have to wear Grafs.

[dodint]

This T-blade conversation is like a comet. Comes around every two years.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

Those look so gimmicky

[shoeshine boy]

Somehow I feel like my college playing days are behind me. Way behind me.

If Bauer's midrange skate can't hold up to my basic needs then I'm switching brands anyway. Will probably look at Graf's for the arch support that was mentioned.

yes, but your beer league career is ahead of you for decades!
midrange level is fine for beer league but cheap skates, I'm talking $150 when they were first offered will not last no matter what manufacturer.
Grafs however are excellent skates and can be bought on clearance for very reasonable prices

[shoeshine boy]

He's German. It's written into all their contracts that they have to wear Grafs.

the T blades are German not the skates. Graf is a Canadian company. as you can see from the picture Seidenberg is wearing Bauer skates.
T Blades can be put on any skate. most Graf skates come with the Cobra holder though most pros have them removed in favor of the more traditional Tuuk holder.

[dodint]

Source of the post es, but your beer league career is ahead of you for decades!

If I actually play consistently for a few years I'll upgrade. For now I'm happy with these.

My wife ended up with Bauer Supreme 140's if you want to see what the bottom of the line looks like.

[meow]

Are those the ones that strap to your shoes? Woof

[dodint]

The base I'm working at is having a 3v3 pond tournament next month. The other two guys that work in my office decided to join with me. I haven't played in 17 years, the only other guy with ice experience hasn't played in probably 20+ years, and the third is an inline hockey guy that has never played competitive ice hockey. This is going to be a blast.

The pond is 100x55ft which is about the same size as the inline sportcourt I used to screw around on.

The fun thing though is since we've been planning it we've done some investigation of the local area and found that the city has flooded the basketball court and it's frozen over for pond skating. So I have a 85ftx95ft skating surface 2 minutes from my house that I can skate on for free whenever I want. Since I have a day off every other week on Friday I should have it to myself that afternoon before school lets out.

This is in addition to the pond I have at work and the local rinks that do indoor skate. Finally found something to do in the winter.

[columbia]

I'm jealous.

[dodint]

Coming from living in the swamp in NC for the last 8 years I can tell you that I very much appreciate this opportunity. Inline skating is fun but it's a different beast.

My motorcycle is less thrilled with the move, fwiw.

[Craig]

I bought a new pair of ice skates a few years ago and never got them sharpened. I havent even skated at all since then. Its pretty sad actually.

[dodint]

This one is a straight up brag at columbia's expense, but really this is one of the coolest things I've ever done in life in terms of hockey.

The rink in our town is really unreliable. It's called the Youth Skating Rink and is really hard to get them to stick to times for public skate and adult leagues, etc. The rink in the next town over has a calendar with dedicated Saturday night sticks/pucks open skate. So a buddy of mine and I decided to take just our sticks, gloves, shins, and elbow pads and see if we can shoot around if it wasn't too busy.
We get there and there is a sign on the door that says "free skate", we open the door and it's pitch black inside. We find a box of electrical switches and flip them all on and the lights fire up. It turns out they lock all of the interior doors (offices, snack bar, etc) and leave the main door open for anyone that wants to skate. There is literally no one there to take money even if we could pay them.

We spent 2.5hrs alone on the ice skating around like 8 year olds. Absolutely amazing night, literally ticked off a item on my personal bucket list. I've always wanted to have the ice to myself, in high school I would day dream about buying an hour of ice time and just screwing around. I can't believe it became a reality 17 years later, and for free.

We're going to try and make it a weekly thing, next week bringing his kids so they can skate one half while we work on passing and shooting on the other.



Amazing night. Honestly it's actually altered my feelings about moving to Wisconsin, it's that much fun. If we're able to do this on even a semi-regular basis through the winter I'm going to send in a donation to the town's youth hockey program who actually operate the rink.

[shoeshine boy]

very cool of them to do this. the rinks in my town could never do this since as soon as the local teenagers found out they'd be drinking in the locker rooms and vandalizing stuff just because they can and their rich parents will pay for whatever damage they do.

[columbia]

This one is a straight up brag at columbia's expense, but really this is one of the coolest things I've ever done in life in terms of hockey.
:

lol Sounds like a great event.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

We spent 2.5hrs alone on the ice skating around like 8 year olds.

[King Colby]

I used to go to a twice a week stick time with my brother at Neville Island at around 7:00am on summer week days. He and I used to take an hour lesson with a guy, then spend the rest of the stick time doing drills together. I think it ran from like 7-8:30.

There were quite a few times where it was just us, Recchi, and Caufield on the ice. Caufield was training Recchi in the off-season... he was with Philly at the time.

[MR25]

Anyone know anything about the Pittsburgh Ice Arena in New Ken? I saw they have a low level draft league starting in March, so I signed up.

[Craig]

Im thinking about getting into an inline league at neville in the summer. I havent used ice or inline skates nor a hockey stick in years.

[dodint]

I have a pond tournament on Saturday. Forecast is 48F and Sunny. THANKS WISCONSIN.