[SumAznGuy]

Well, Noir, it finally happened. I finally noticed the difference between my old skates and new skates, and thus it is not hype nor marketing.
I've always played with mid upper end skates when I was younger. The last pair of skates that I bought were from Sport Chek, thus they were on the lower end of the spectrum. The pair of skates that I bought this year, is also of a mid lower model. I thought I could save a bit of money over spending the big bucks on a higher end boot.

Well, consistenly playing 2 - 3 games a week, and tonight's 2 games straight, I finally realized for me, the lower end boot just doesn't have enough support given my stature. By the end of the first game, I could feel the boot twisting as I was pushing off, thus making me use more energy to try to get away or chase down a player. By the middle of the second game, the boot flexed so much, that it was causing blisters on the lower portion of my heels. I could no longer skate with as much power as I could at the begining of the game.