******* 994 Review - First Impressions

[vinny]

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.

[cujo312]

those look nice. how tall are these? and what size were you wearing in the ul2s? thanks.

[vinny]

34+1 UL2's and 34+2 994's
So much taller or maybe black is indeed slimming.

[Tekkaman]

Nice pads my man....your outdoor pic's look like they were computer generated, maybe it's just the glare in the pads. I have ultra4's right now, i've always wanted to try the 993/994, make sure to have a detail difference going from the ultra to the 994's for me.

[GoalieF]

Are the graphics/stripes painted or sewed on?

[vinny]

Originally Posted by Tekkaman

Nice pads my man....your outdoor pic's look like they were computer generated, maybe it's just the glare in the pads. I have ultra4's right now, i've always wanted to try the 993/994, make sure to have a detail difference going from the ultra to the 994's for me.

I know I took a couple indoors and the outdoor ones were so much better. I'm not much of a photographer. Always on Auto and alwasy with the flash on.
That leg calf area (whatever they call it) it's so different than the UL line. I'm already wondering if they're gonna feel weird or it will just take a while to adjust. Can do, I'll throw up a review as soon as I can... Probably next week though I'm playing D in a tourney this weekend

Originally Posted by GoalieF

Are the graphics/stripes painted or sewed on?

Not painted on. They're stitched on. Up close thery look first rate. I'm always checking out gear at Cyclone and The Hockey Shop here and the craftsmanship on these rivals it but it doesn't break the bank.

Originally Posted by cujo312

those look nice. how tall are these? and what size were you wearing in the ul2s? thanks.

Here's a pic of the height difference in pad. Notice the first break from one pad to another is identical.

[Jim]

nice pads! i saw that special, great deal on them..
Please let us know how they play..

congrats

Jim

[vinny]

Originally Posted by Jim

nice pads! i saw that special, great deal on them..
Please let us know how they play..

congrats

Jim

Had to do it. We have a one income family over here and just bought a new place but I just couldn't say no to the deal.

Jim,
I hear you're in a Brown C\A now? Was that you?
Which one and what do you think of it. I haven;t seen a review yet... Did I miss it?

[Goalieguy_1]

Those pads look SO nice. IM condisering these or the UL5s for my nxt pad and seeing reviews and pics like these helps me in my choice

[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!

[Mattchu]

i might of missed it but how much do these cost?

[vinny]

$699
Like I said... Deals pop up all the time.
$765 approx to my door step after GST, shipping and handling.
I live in Vancouver.

Speaking of deals there is a raffle over at the GEW for a new set of 994's
$10 per

Also at Goalie Life Scott Battram is giving away a free set as well. All you have to do is sign up on the Board to enter the draw.

[Beazil]

Scott's giving away a set of Mark's pads? Or do you mean that Scott is raffling away one of HIS (Battram) sets? *confused*

[vinny]

The two are spearate.

Mark at *******-GEW is having a raffle for a set of custom pads.
Just looked at it again... and the grand prize is a set of either custom UL5's or 994's. There are other prizes also like a 994 C\A and sticks and stuff
All proceeds goes to a good cause: The Buffalo Regals Pee-Wee AA hockey team.
Mostly single mom's that need the help.

On the other hand over at Goalie Life Battram is giving a set away. By simply signing up you are entered into the draw.

Hope that makes sense sorry for any confusion.
Posting this from work and people keep bothering me.

[jrbill30]

I like the RX's but i'm not sure if i want to break the bank to buy some. Which ******* pad is the closest to the rx9?