Hockey Trash Talk & BS thread

Yeah, I was a huge Graf supporter but switched to Bauers basically just for the new Tuuk. Once you are used to the way Bauer builds their platforms they are a better skate overall too, I have to admit that. I'm on a pair of S190's. They have all of the features of the S1 that matter but at a cheaper cost, a lot of NHL/CHL linesmen use them for that reason.

 

I wear Graf currently. Never had an issue in 3 years playing year round a couple of games per week. Yes the screw I have tightened once at the back of the holder, but that is hardly an inconvenience. My Grafs have been great, will be sad when they have run their course. I understand Graf has closed its doors so it will be the last pair I own.

 

Yup, they gone. From my understanding they shuttered the doors on the Calgary facility, which made the only skates from Graf worth mentioning, and they will now import skates from their other facilities which I've heard are garbage. This all coming from several local stores that dropped their accounts with Graf shortly before the closure, this was a long time coming. While Graf did a lot of things right a decade ago their quality had gone down quite a bit and the dealers were having problems with them refusing returns for BS reasons. I have to say even though I skated on a lot of their products it was time for them to go.

Grafs defining feature was their initial comfort, which just isn't remarkable now in a market with molded skates.

I had tons of issues with my last pair of Grafs. The stitching was coming out that held the lace leather to the boot, the tendon guard was coming apart, and the blade holder was always loose after every game about a year after I bought them. I can't remember the model but they had the screw in the rear that was supposed to be the best for Graf blade retention. Lost a blade once and that was it for me. I constantly tightened them for a year while I saved up for my Bauers.

 

I have the G5, wide boot. I really like them.

I tried Reebok briefly before them. They were dreamy for about 1 week and then shredded my feet.

 

If you like wide skates try some Bauer Nexus. The biggest problem with Bauer is that they make their lines to fit specific feet but big chain stores like sportschek just recommend whatever is in stock. I once watched a sportschek associate recommend to a parent who was looking for a wider skate the Vapor lineup the kid wanted even though they are the narrowest skate Bauer makes. That leads to bad fits and a bad rep even though Bauer makes a skate to fit almost any foot.

 

Go Preds

 

Weren't they just victims/pawns of the Canuck teaching system ?

 

+1

 

Incredible ... Ducks fall behind 1st again. Home ice eh ? :/

 

... and another. 0-2

 

Go preds

 

Looks like the ducks are fighting back ... and good thing too because if they lose both at home this series will be a sweep. Let's be honest, this isn't an inexperienced oiler squad they're facing.


...Wow, Gibson just got bailed out by his best friend Mr. Rite Post.

 

I know the feeling ... need to find a cheap league with decent times.

 

The Duck bandwagon is silent lately ?!

 

Pretty good game so far

 

http://thehockeywriters.com/p-k-punishment-nhl-embarrassment/

 

Did Rinne just duck out of the way of that goal?

 

Damn straight he did. He should have saved it with his head