never got one done. just through years of trial and error.. I have felt the msot comfortable with a 75 flex, and a lie 5 - 5.5

depends how often you play, the type of ice you play on, and what freak accidents ruin the edges

Not very often... whenever I lose a noticeable edge. Might go one game or last 10. Probably every 7 ice sessions on average.

It was going for $150 at the beginning of this year. Not sure if they raised the price since I heard they raised the price of their sticks.


Figure about 5-8 hrs of play per sharpening, but you can do the nail test to check for sharpness. Scrape the face of your nail against the edge of the blade and when it doesn't shave your nail, that's when it should be sharpened. Buy those cleaning stones to keep the edge profile straight and free of nicks and burrs in between sharpenings but stay away from those stupid tools that claim to sharpen your skates. Those things cause more harm than good.

When they first opened up it was free or it was a 50 dollar credit used towards a stick. That went away quickly when they realized how popular they were becoming. I think it may still be about 150. The sticks went from 149 to 154 in about 2 or 3 years that they have been around which isn't that bad. They claim the price increase was due to canada post

I sharpen mine every 3-4 skates.
It works out to about 6 hrs of use on good ice, or 4 hrs of use on the POS 3on3 rinks.

Dull skates suck ballz when you're trying to get the best performance. Plus regular sharpening means they only need a shave every time.

Do you play at Excellent Ice on 152nd and hwy 10 as well? When do you play there? I'm usually there monday nights 9:15. And I agree, the ice there is so bad...might as well play on a frozen pond.

I sharpen my skates every 8-12 games

I've heard about that ice. It tore the hell out of my buddies ankle one day while he was out skating with his son. Gnarly!

I mostly play at Sportsplex and Twin Rinks in Langley. A few times a month I'll head out to the half ice at NTR for some 3on3 target practice. It seems like the smaller rinks have really bad ice, because I get 2-3 hours at NTR ice before I start to notice my skates are dull. That's with R30 stainless blades too.
:(


Got my new replacement blades yesterday.
http://hockeygalore.com/images/produ...StepGoalie.jpg

I just got the standard blades which added about 5mm to my overall height. That's pretty substantial with angles for b-fly pushes and slides. The Extreme add about 8-10mm which is like skating on stilts, but damn does the ground game ever get better.

Can't wait to try them out.
:fullofwin:

wheres the cheapest place i can grab an apx stick at?

http://www.revscene.net/forums/676287-sportchek-private-shopping-event.html#post8075561
After 25% off their retail price
Should be pretty cheap
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What exactly are you looking for? I can sell you a used P88, flex is around 85. $100

what can i do to improve my backwards skating? Its still not to the point where it feels like second nature and i look wobbly when i skate. any tips? or is it just simple....keep practicing.

also, when i carry the puck at high speed, my balance gets wobbly and i cant shoot the puck how i want, any drills/tips/exercises to help?

My advice would be just to keep playing. You'll eventually get comfortable both skating and stick-handling. If you want to improve quicker I suggest power skating lessons. A few of those and a ton of playing will improve your skating in no time.

As for stick-handling, buy an off-ice aid like a flypuck or one of those hard balls to practice your handling when you're bored. You'll eventually learn to put them together as you continue to play.
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Take power skating at Britannia

ok i'll look into it. btw, how long of a stick do you guys use? With skates on

i'm like 5'6-5'7 without skates and my stick length is equal to the old warrior int sizes

its personal preference.. if you are D you will tend to use a longer stick.. but it is all relative. What is "long" to you may not be for another person the same height as you. 1 of 2 things will happen. You will either get used to the length of a stick, or hate it and make it longer/short accordingly.

As for skating backwards, it's all about practice and muscle memory. you feel wobby because you are not confident/your muscles aren't trained to stabilized you in that specific stance. I agree with the others regarding lessons though. This way at least your form will be proper.

Keep practicing and like Nhan suggested, take some power skating lessons..then go to stick and puck and practice what you learned. If your getting wobbly, you're either using a size too big in skates or your sharpening is not correct for you(IE too sharp for your skill level). Playing more scrimmages/league games isn't going to improve you, cause you never get the chance to try something and not worry about screwing up. Only practicing will improve your skill set

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With skates on the stick should come up between your mouth and nose. You can adjust accordingly from there, but that is the norm for stick length

There's only so much you can do in a practice when it comes to improving. There's a reason players prefer playing to practicing on your own.

Once you're comfortable with skating and have some semblance of stick-handling, the only way to get used to playing the game is to actually play the game. You're bound to make mistakes when you're learning a game as difficult as ice hockey, but you learn from them.

Things that you can seriously improve off-ice is your conditioning/strength, and your shot. If you have a big yard, a net, and a bucket of pucks, that's what I would be doing when not playing. Against pretty much all beer-league goalies, if you have a good shot, you'll score a ton even if you can't skate and just hang out in the vicinity of the net.

so many people just play once a week (their league games) and wonder why they haven't improved in years... also, it isn't just phsyical skill.. it's reading play's, and anticipating what your next move/your opponents next moves are.

Anybody take a look at Sportchek's recent flyer? They had an RBK pro stock Ai for $119 that looked interesting. Didn't say Ai9 but I'd assume it'd be based on that. Anyone use one? Any info Skiipi?
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I haven't looked but if its the all black one then its an ai9 according to identification sticker on the shaft. In terms of looks its pretty nice having almost no graphics. Personally I feel is too heavy but to each their own.
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But...if you havent looked at it yet, how do you know what it says on the shaft? :suspicious:

Sorry I should have stated that I haven't looked at the current flyer yet. I unpacked the sticks at my store when we first got them in.

Ya that's the one I'm referring to pinke. I looked it up on Sportchek's website and it said they didn't come with a warranty. Not particularly a selling point lol.