[vinny]

WOW! Just got home from the rink. Keep in mind I hadn't had a chance to get out to play much goal in the last month. My team that I play D for won Division 7 which meant a alot of games playing D and not goal over the last month. Because we won our Div we qualified for the Kelowna Planet Ice "provincial" tournament. Man was that a blast. My first road hockey trip. Still recovering... Lost my voice.

Anyhow the point is I've maybe played goal once or twice in the last month as a result.
So when I stepped out on the ice with my new 994's my goalie skates felt wonky for about the first 10 minutes. Within that 10 minutes though I did some quick adjustments and even though my pants which I wear low were jamming the tension strap... the 994's were rotating and shutting the five hole so much better than on my UL2's. For my next session I'll tighten the suspenders so the pants ride higher.... The clearance will\should allow the pads to slam right down and seal the ice...

These pads are so light, comfortable and very easy to use even though I was very rusty at certain points of the game and my balance and timing were off? There were moments that I noticed how much better the design of these pads were.

That tension strap along with the position and angle of the rest of the strapping system truly make the 994's idiot proof. There isn't any other way to put it. I wouldn't say I doubted it but I was surprised how effortless I was shutting the 5 on breakaways. I just didn't believe it would be easy to this extent.

One other thing... It felt like the thigh rise area had some higher density foam but the rest of the pad was very flexible. So soft that when I got into a low crouch the pads flexed very nicely. No need for break in. But one thing to note is they didn't seem like were too soft either.
What it feels like to me? It feels like they have come up with a combination of foams that make this pad very comfortable to use (soft enough) yet provide some rigidity where needed to keep the pad stable (the landing calf knee area)

I have another game next Tuesday. I may play before then... regardless I'll have a write up on the new adjustments.

These are so nice!