Ice hockey gear fitting

[suprasian]

^ honestly you dont need them. i bought a pair and i really didnt notice any difference other then the lower stance you get but you can just buy goalie wheels and put them on regular skates and you get the same result in my opinion. if you want i can sell you mine. still in very good condition. PM me if you're interested. if you do wanna go brand new then check out source for sports in surrey

[AzNightmare]

Mugen, do you play in a roller hockey league or something?

[Xnova]

^yea.

thats why im trying to buy some goalie roller blades. but i couldnt find any around here

[AzNightmare]

When holding the stick, should your top hand be holding below the stick knob, or should your palm be on the knob (so your pinky is kinda hanging off and holding nothing) ?

I just read this on a hockey site that said:

"Very Important: Your new knob should rest in the MIDDLE of your palm, NOT above your hand. This handle & grip combination allows for improved puck feel & control. Remember, most of the time, the top hand (the one attached to our new handle) grips the stick comfortably for control, range of motion & flexibility. It is your bottom hand (the POWER hand) that grips the stick firmly. "

I always held my top hand below the knob. Have I been holding my stick wrong all this time?

[Xnova]

not that i think of. i do what u do and its pretty much personal preference and comfortablity

[SumAznGuy]

It's all personal preference. Pay attention to the NHL guys when the tv zooms in on the them. Some of the NHL players have big friggen knobs on the ends. I on the other hand use a smaller knob on the end of the stick. I use a smaller knob because I will shift back and forth from holding the knob in my palm, to gripping the stick just below the knob. But 90% of the time, I will hold the stick just below the knob.

I do it because I am going to lean into a slapshot and I do that to get a little bit more leverage on the stick.

[mickz]

How you want each piece of equipment fitting is personal preference. Any advice you get from current players or from online are only guidelines.

[Gumby]

I hold my hockey stick at the very end (no pinky hanging off and holding nothing!). I use a bit of black hockey tape there so it grips better in my gloves.

[AzNightmare]

Does anyone use the RBK 5K pants? That's the one I got, and I realized there isn't any padding where my butt cheeks are. there's a narrow strip of hard plastic padding down the middle to protect my lower spine/tailbone, and there's padding wrapping around my thighs, but there's like literally nothing where my butt is. Is this for more mobility or something? Many other pants got padding around the whole back area. I can imagine falling on my ass may hurt if my tailbone doesn't catch the fall...

Is this normal, or did RBK really mess up on this pants design?

[Noir]

It's normal. Most paddings in a hockey pants is for the frontal area of your legs. Mine doesn't have paddings on the back either.

I guess RBK is pushing you to face your shooter and not have your back towards him.

[Xnova]

yea, u wont get shot in the butt that much anyway lol

[Noir]

nm. sorry

[m3thods]

Originally Posted by Mugen

yea, u wont get shot in the butt that much anyway lol

lol you'd be surprised how many aerial passes ive received on my bottom.

when you start playing more you'll start to develop tastes and dislikes as to how everything fits. if it feels more comfy or gives you an edge, stick with it and ditch whatever's annoying you. it all comes with experience and like a previous posted said- anything on here you should take as a guideline

[AzNightmare]

Since I can't just go to an ice rink on a daily basis to play hockey or shoot around, if I could play some hockey on rollerblades, I think it could really benefit me since I'm a newbie.

But what stick should I use? Should I buy a spare stick and grind it out on the pavement, or cut off the blade on a spare stick and stick on those plastic blades?

[m3thods]

Originally Posted by AzNightmare

Since I can't just go to an ice rink on a daily basis to play hockey or shoot around, if I could play some hockey on rollerblades, I think it could really benefit me since I'm a newbie.

But what stick should I use? Should I buy a spare stick and grind it out on the pavement, or cut off the blade on a spare stick and stick on those plastic blades?

I probably won't be the last to tell you that although seemingly similar, the skating in roller and ice hockey are different enough to cause problems. They are good to get the hang of pushing off, but rollerblades do not emulate the feel of edges AT ALL. It's easier to move from ice to roller, but not vice versa

Everytime I hit the ice coming from a PICH game the same day I usually bitch and complain on how it takes time to adjust to ice again. Just my two cents, and it's great that you want to learn hockey so bad. But if you are trying to learn ice hockey, try your best to make it out to a few stick n pucks.

however, if you plan on playing both- then just ignore what I just said


As for your question, abs/fiberglass blades are the best for outdoor games. CDN tire also has plastic/wood hybrids which would work great on pavement as well. dont use wood or composite, as they will wear down FAST.

[mickz]

Another suggestion to stay away from roller hockey if you plan to play ice. The skating style is a bit different and it's always easier to make the transition from ice to roller later on, not the other way like the previous poster mentioned.

ABS blades wear just as fast as woods and composites but ABS will wear evenly compared to the other two.

If you're just wanting to improve your shot outside I would just find something smooth and flat to use as a pad to shoot on, like a piece of plywood or lexan.

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by mickz

If you're just wanting to improve your shot outside I would just find something smooth and flat to use as a pad to shoot on, like a piece of plywood or lexan.

Not plywood. Plywood is too rough.
Go to a school yard that has some smooth concrete like the parking lot of the T&T on first and renfrew. that smooth surface will be more like ice.

I use to practice stick handling like that.

[AzNightmare]

Ok. I might pick up a hybrid stick from Canadian Tire then. I think I seen it before. It's like pre-curved already, and it's not a separate flat plastic blade that you attach yourself and have to bend later. I think I only found a LH one though.

well anyway, I just wanted to practice shooting and puck handling. I'm not too worried about the skating. I took ice skating lessons when I was like 5, and then transitioned to rollerblades at 8 without ever noticing they were different. Although I would probably say I'm better at roller just because I only had the oppurtunity to go ice skating once a year. (which is probably why I started rollerblading in the first place).

As for playing both, I'm not sure yet. I used to play roller/street but I always played as a goalie. Which is why I'm basically newb at all the elements of shooting. I actually don't skate that well either compared to a hockey player.

But it's always easier to get a rollerblade game going year round.
Too bad in Vancouver, we can't just find a frozen pond and play like how they do in the interior parts of Canada.

I would go to a lot of Stick & Puck sessions but I think most of them are all during mornings or afternoons which I work mon-fri 8-5. And the amount of time you get and price ratio on the weekend is just ridiculous.

So far RIC seems the cheapest and the only one that offers 6 hours. I've heard some places are even free if you go super early. Does anyone have any info about that?

[absolutZERO]

Yeah, don't use plywood, that's way too rough. You could glue sheets of teflon to wood if you really wanted to, though. If you could stick a bunch of those cheap plastic cutting boards together, that might be smooth enough too. If you have your own garage, you could smooth down a section of floor and paint it with garage floor paint or a concrete sealer and varnish to make it smooth too.

IIRC, I think it's only early morning drop-in hockey (not stick and puck) that's free, at least in Richmond.

UBC offers stick and puck at night on Mon/Wed, I think, but I'm assuming it fills up quick and is quite busy. I've never been.

[SumAznGuy]

My recommendation is to use the internet and look up all the ice-time schedules for all the rinks that are close by to you. See when they have drop-in hockey and stick-n-puck sessions. Quickly looking at Brittania, they have stick-n-puck on fridays from 12-1:15 pm, and adult drop-in hockey.

[AzNightmare]

Yeah, pretty much every stick and puck session is only during the day when I'm working.
Only events at night are drop-in hockey, but I have no idea what skill level to expect from those, so I'm avoiding them for the time being.

[AzNightmare]

Do any of you guys recommend these blade tape stuff?


They look kind of weird and I haven't seen any NHL players use them. They are rubber though so it does provide a lot of grip. And since it doesn't wrap around to the bottom of the blade, it will never wear out on the ice. But is it really worth it or is it just a marketing thing? Or should I just stick to the traditional tape and wrap my blade?

I was also thinking of buying a smart hockey ball. I read reviews, and everyone said they are great. Do you guys use a smart hockey ball for off-ice practicing?

[Noir]

Originally Posted by AzNightmare

Do any of you guys recommend these blade tape stuff?


They look kind of weird and I haven't seen any NHL players use them. They are rubber though so it does provide a lot of grip. And since it doesn't wrap around to the bottom of the blade, it will never wear out on the ice. But is it really worth it or is it just a marketing thing? Or should I just stick to the traditional tape and wrap my blade?

I was also thinking of buying a smart hockey ball. I read reviews, and everyone said they are great. Do you guys use a smart hockey ball for off-ice practicing?

Already covered
http://www.revscene.net/forums/showthread.php?t=469648

[SumAznGuy]

Lots of NHLers use it. I know Willie Mitchel uses a different version of that, but it is basically the same idea.
They do not wear out on the bottom of the blade since it doesn't touch the ice, but I do believe they still wear out after a little while.
I believe they are $15 for front and back, so I dunno if you want to spend that much money to try it. I am thinking about it myself. Maybe that will be my christmas present to myself.

As for smart ball, no. Never used it so I dunno if it will work. I think a roller hockey puck would be better for off ice practice, but how good is off-ice practice cause once you go back to ice, it is slightly different.

[RayBot]

Just because this seems to be a topic that seems to be discussed everyday for the last how many days...i might as well ask.

Does anyone have any ice time for this Sunday that could use an extra person???


Thanks