994 ******* Review – Custom Colors
Ordered – Tuesday morning Arrived – Monday morning in Vancouver
Wanted a new set with the NHL spec, Toe bridge, No stripes, Extra Thigh rise and had to pick these up because the price was awesome. For those that don’t know ******* constantly has great deals that they cycle through for GEW members. It’s crazy the price I got these for, actually ridiculous. There are year old, used pads that cost more on the classifieds of various goalie forums.
Friendly courteous service as usual from *******. Surprised to receive them in 4 business days.
First thought was “Man are these tall…” Weight seems OK. Seems a little lighter than my old 12” UL2’s.
The leg channel is so cushy. There is this extra padding that is laced in that you could remove easily but I’m gonna leave it in.
Also the pad seems stiffer torsionally (twisting) than my UL2’s
I’m guessing it’s either because the 994’s are new or it’s to accommodate for the thinner profile style of pad (stiffer foams)?
BUT these 994’s are super flexible at the knee break. The pad squishes right down with minimal effort\weight.
I’m coming from a UL2 with the tiger stripes and had no issues with sliding across the crease in the bfly even with snow buildup on the cloth material. I expect without the cloth material I’ll be overshooting my target on the slide for a couple games.
The pads come with one thick knee stack that’s velcroed in and there is this nice cushy (nash?) padding for what appears to be a more supportive knee cradle. I have an issue with my right knee popping out so I’m hoping the cushiness and larger landing area will help.
994’s come with a thigh wrap attached to the top of the knee. Gonna rock these without the thigh wrap first. Nothing wrong with them… they appear to have ample protection but I’m gonna ease into the pads with my RBK kneepads and try the thigh wraps later. Thinking being I can feel the difference from one pad to the next with one change at a time.
The whole toe bridge thing is new for me so that may take some time to get used. I currently have the knot on my toe ties at ¾ and may go down to ½ or even ¼ inch. Probably ½ first. Any advice on this would be appreciated.
Gonna take some time to get used too… but I’m sure the extra thigh rise is gonna be a huge difference going from a plus 1 to plus 2 but it’s gotta be more than that with how tall the 994’s are. I’ll measure it out from the top of my knee to the top of the pad and update this review.
Also… it will be very cool to see the diff from 2 breaks to one.
Some of the straps are angled too and the one strap on the thigh rise has a more “aggressive” angle. This is done to aid in pad rotation? Will try this out also and provide feedback.
More to come after I hit the ice with these.
Any questions feel free to let me know.