[FD32]

Hey all,

I was able to get on the ice last night for the first time since receiving my new Vortek pads and glove and blocker. The gloves were great and not much different in feel from my VK5's but I had a lot tougher time with the pads, mainly the strap set up and how tight and/or loose to have the straps.

1. Does the bottom strap go through the bottom of the skate or the back of the skate and I'm assuming this should be pretty loose to allow for some movement of the ankle?

2. The calf straps (three) I had fairly loose and didnt see an issue with this. Is this correct.

3. The nylon straps by the knee lock. Should these be tight or loose? I had them fairly tight which felt ok but I was unsure of how tight to go. The last thing I want is for my knee to miss the knee stacks (which I think is pretty hard given the elastic strap around the knee stacks).

4. The strap that gave me the most problems was the top strap. I originally had it "snug" so it would pull the five hole shut when going down, which it did but then the straps came undone from the pad on the non-buckle side twice so I just tucked them into my pads until the session was over. With the straps done up snug, I felt like Valiquette (i.e. pads were straight) but when they were not used at all I felt a little exposed and sloppy. I'm assuming there should be a happy medium??

Please give me your thoughts on the stap set up for your vk7's. I play mostly a butterfly style of goaltending (ie flop when the shooter winds up).

I won't give a review on the gear as it was only one ice session and since it was my first time on the ice since February it would have felt akward in my old gear too. To make it worse, we usually have a mix of old and middle aged guys so playing my best is not always required but last night there were 4 or 5 junior players and the other tender was a junior goalie (who was really solid). Had to fight it hard last night...some saves weren't pretty at all (and a few of the goals too).

Thanks!