[Petey4485]

So, the two days between getting my vk7 gear and using it were the two longest days of my life! Nonetheless, I went to my usual Thursday rat hockey session, only to find out we had 2 goalies and 7 skaters. Kinda crappy, but one of those players happened to be Nikos Tselios - Chris Chelios' cousin who got drafted by the 'Canes in I think 2000, played for them , the Coyotes, AHL, SEL, UHL, etc. Eventually the 3 on 3 wore everyone else out, and I got to stay and have a 45-minute shooting gallery with Tselios - couldn't have asked for a much better way to get these things broken in! So, here is my first on-ice review:

Blocker:
Worked amazingly. I had some great deflections to the corner, and after a few shots to that side, I couldn't tell the difference of the new NHL sizing. When I played around with a stick at home, I was a little concerned with my ability to grip my stick, but once the glove got a little moist it was all good.
One thing I noticed was a semi loose nylon black pillow inside that sits between the board and the back of your hand. I'm assuming this was to prevent the "shock" issue that some have had with flukey shots in the past - nonetheless, it was very comfortable.

Trapper:
There's always been so much hype surrounding this thing, and I can see why. I couldn't tell a difference at all with the new NHL sizing of this glove, and it's lightweight gave me a faster hand. I flashed the leather on so many shots, and this thing sucks the puck up, and holds onto it tight. I felt at the minimum as comfortable with this glove, as I had with the TPS I've been using for 6 years! And the pro palm was amazing - I felt nothing on my palm but the puck rolling into my pocket.
My sticks are both kind of cracked a bit (I use cheap X-Lites) so I wasn't playing the puck too much, but the trapper held this stick pretty well.

Pads:
Got a lot of work to do with these. Definitely lightweight, and comfortable, I just have to work on my b-fly rotation, and get used to bigger pads. I went from a 32" TPS to these 33"+2", so I have to get use to widening my butterfly and stance a bit, as well as keep my stick out a bit more while I'm down.
I took out a knee stack, hoping it would help lower the tops while in the b-fly (see my carpet fly picture near start of thread), and it did a little bit, but I still have that problem. Marc suggested loosening all strapping a bit more, and maybe getting rid of the top strap. I loosened everything, and made the top one as loose as I could, but I'm still not there yet.
Even though I've been working them in, and got the boot nice and flexy, they're still a little stiff. Moving around was a bit weird, and I was getting out of position a lot - but I had also gotten my skates sharpened the other day too, which I hadn't done for a while.
What they did very well was deflect shots away. It seemed like every shot that hit the pads below the knee went straight to the corner, and those above the knee hung around for me to grab and freeze.
Like I've said, I still have a lot of kinks to work out, with the pads, but I am overall very satisfied with their first performance.

Anyone who has experience with this stuff, please feel free to offer suggestions. Thanks!