Being a Hockey Parent

Sick, only 18 more spots to jump! :P

[E.J.]

Huge loss for the Murray Hockey Community.

[Ahbroody]

Sent you a pm. Just tragic. I can't imagine what the family is experiencing given the time of year, the suddenness, and having children. I prayed for him and his family last night. Spent a moment doing my talk to the lord. His family has my prayers.

[357]

Originally Posted by Ahbroody

Sent you a pm. Just tragic. I can't imagine what the family is experiencing given the time of year, the suddenness, and having children. I prayed for him and his family last night. Spent a moment doing my talk to the lord. His family has my prayers.

My prayers are with them too. Very sad to hear he didn't make it.

[Ahbroody]

Well today was an odd day. I am writting this to kind of call myself out and laugh at myself. I was not going to write this but felt I should as a reminder.

The last 2 saturday games Micah scored 3 goals each day. Today he scored only one. Its funny I was kind of bummed. I praised him for skating hard and explained to him sometimes its not that easy. He was a little upset. He skated hard made some smart clearing dumps, but just didn't have it. My wife, bless her, smacked some sense into me when I got home. Reminding me majority of the kids in the league have not even scored and I am sad because he had just a good day. So yeah today I was "that dad" and my wife smacked me around.

Side note we have a retired Sgt. from another city in our beat. My Lt. Met this guy a few days ago over some concearns he had and the guy showed him his mancave and stogie collection. Today my Lt had us do a little community policing and meet the guy. We start talking and I get a permanent invite to his mancave anytime. Also find out his boy now with the Sheriffs Office played travel hockey for the Santa Clara Blackhawks and SJ jr Sharks till age 20. We talked hockey for a while.

[E.J.]

Just back from the rink....

Originally Posted by Ahbroody

Side note we have a retired Sgt. from another city in our beat. My Lt. Met this guy a few days ago over some concearns he had and the guy showed him his mancave and stogie collection. Today my Lt had us do a little community policing and meet the guy. We start talking and I get a permanent invite to his mancave anytime. Also find out his boy now with the Sheriffs Office played travel hockey for the Santa Clara Blackhawks and SJ jr Sharks till age 20. We talked hockey for a while.

That is a win all day long!

[E.J.]

Looks like we are skate shopping again.... Went in yesterday, though with the LM having BIG feet, we have a limited selection to even try on.

They did have a size 11 in the 11K's....and he was fairly enamored with the skatelock/lacelock thingy. In a perfect world, he will stay in Graf's... They are going to call Graf Canada on Monday morning and call me back with info as to if they have some 11W G5's in stock....if not...???

Quick look, would not be difficult to order online, Majer Hockey actually has leftover(new) G5 Limited's, same skate he is wearing now(in his size) for a great price.... Though I really hate to not use the local shop... I am sure we'd make up the savings in skate sharpens alone.... Though probably wouldn't make a difference, sure they'd still take care of us... Which is my point I guess....

It would be nice to be in a little more hockey friendly area.... I am sure there are worse places, maybe I should feel fortunate that I actually have a decent shop within walking distance(it would be a good walk) from home.....

[E.J.]

Oh...and he tried on some X60's and they were terribly tight... He has WIDE feet, much like his dad, which also make it difficult to shop. RBK's seem to be a bit wider.

We have gone with Bauer EE's in the past with success.....

One of the guys at the shop, who actually helps out/coaches the LM w/ the HS team also seemed to be VERY high on the new CCM Crazy Light's.... Though again, nothing to try on and I am not big on having something shipped that we have never worn....

Total One's....$800...WTF... I am fairly liberal with the funds on the LM's gear...but $800 for skates....really....

Good guys win 5. 3. Mitch had a good game. Gonna miss watchin him play when he goes to college. .

[Eleven]

My kid moved up to size 7 a few weeks ago, he had X50s but actually liked the fit of the X40s better (which is awesome, saved me like $150). Perani's in Detroit had the 40's for $320. $469 for the 50s. And yea they had those Total Ones for $800 too!

A week or so after that (less than 2 weeks ago I think?) we bought him a new stick while in St. Louis. He always tore up the one piece sticks so we went 2 piece this time. Guess what? Yea that thing got snapped today. He said a kid stepped on that joint during a play.

Luckily the blade snapped off right where it goes into the shaft, so all he needs is a new blade.

It's always something!

On a side note, please forgive my shameless plug, but his team took 2 out of 3 this weekend against the #5 team in the country, the Pittsburgh Aviators. On a side-side note, we'll be in Pittsburgh the weekend of Jan 29-30 playing them again, who wants to smoke a cigar!?!??!?!

Graf skates are the way to go. I am on my second set of player skates for Graf and have had my pair of goalie Graf skates for at least 5 years. I have tried on other boots and just cant feel the same comfort as the Graf. One of the rare companies still using solid material in all price ranges too. And like mentioned, a great WIDE skate for my fat feet.

My peewee team was in another tourney on the weekend and made it to the finals again. Unfortuantely we lost this one as we were clearly gassed. OH well, win some, lose some, have a cigar either way!

[Ahbroody]

Scott nothing wrong with that. If yoy can't hype your kid here I will stop posting. That's what this thread is all about. Congrats to you.

Congrats also Al. Nice to see you post.

Mike atleast they got there right. Better to get to the dance then not have a ticket.

As to the Grafs

If you have big feet or a foot issue you can't go wrong. What I love about the boys skates are while they cost a few bucks more then the ccms, the build quality and comfort is so worth it. Micah can't wear easton or bauer do to boot depth and width issues.

EJ just order them. I had to order Micahs. No local shop even wanted to order them. Funny after I took them in to get sharpened one dayat one of the shops that refused we bad a talk about what a nicw boot it is.

Graf is huge here in Ottawa, and mostly where ever I go in Canada. You are guaranteed to see a good portion of people who are playing competitive hockey and higher wearing them. After my first bottom line pair with them, I got an $800.00 pair 2 years ago for just around $500.00 and my feet have been in heaven since.
The only issue I have ever had with Graf, is that the boot is almost too high quality. The leather they use and material on the boot is so good that my eyelits for my laces pop out very often. I also use them almost daily so that helps...
Wouldnt trade my grafs for anything.

[Ahbroody]

Agreed mike. The only pair he has had that was near as good was a pair of 892 tacks. When he out grew them I had him pick and he wanted the white Grafs. . Hes got a little flash in him. After confirming the build quality I ordered and couldnt be happier. Having had foot pain with most skates its really nice not dealing with it. My wife says I turned my son into a premadonna with his foot comfort and gear preferences. What ever. Hes happy, fast and comfortable. His foot is wide,fat, and tall. This or the CCM/Reebok's are the only option. I thought about the flexlites, but...... well Grafs won the cool factor. Hes the only kid with them in his league which I think is weird.

I always try to explain to parents of kids in our league if your feet hurt you dont want to skate or you cant stop thinking about it. If you cant skate you cant play. I never understand how parents will spend all this money for their kids to play then buy the wrong skate for the kid and make the kid miserable.

I completely agree. I have had the privilege to coach with the Ottawa Sens skating coach and he is also Team Canada National Womens Skating coach, and he couldn't emphasize more to our parents and kids to stop spending money on sticks, and save some of that for a great pair of skates. If you cant skate, your stick will do nothing!

[357]

Anyone make a size 14 skate, preferably in a wide (E) width?

I found some Hospeller's years ago in a 13 and they were the only 13 that didn't smash the hell out of my toes. They do however kill my arches and heel. I still have them but, they are not wide enough I don't think. Not sure, I've only ice skated 5-6 times in my life, but I would like to get a pair that work for me. I really want my son to get into it so I'd like to take him to the rink or on a nearby pond.

[Ahbroody]

Mike what size shoe do you wear. Generally skates sizes run a size(bauer/Easton) to 1.5 (ccm/reebok) smaller then shoe size. Graf really seems to vary from model to model.
What you may have experienced is the different boot designs effect the way the skate feels.
CCM Reebok have a deeper and wider boot with a low to non existant arch.
Bauer has the shallowest and narrowest boot with a well defined arch.
Easton is in the middle of Bauer and CCM/Reebok. Some arch not a ton a little wider and deeper then Bauer but not as much as CCM/Reebok.

When you add in arch width and deepth it all effects what you are percieving in your mind as to fit. A Bauer and CCM of same sizes fit me very different. The Bauer will cause me great pain and I need an E width, the Reebok is usually pretty good standard width.

Given the size of your foot you need to find a vendor with Grafs and a vendor with CCMs and start their.

http://www.brunoshockeyshop.com Think he is in your neck of the woods. Great customer service. Or maybe some others can recommend a place. SHould be a lot of good vendors in your area. You need to get sized by a competent person and start their. Buying boots blind on the web will be a waste as your odds of getting the right boot for your foot are slim.

Mitch loved Grafs (my wallet didn't). I told him for years they were too heavy. He gave me the look of "right". Anyway, when it came time for new skates last year he said, "I want Bauers, Grafs are too heavy".

Now why didn't I think of that!?

When you figure kids out let me know.

[357]

I wear a 14E shoe size. My right foot is almost a half size smaller though, but I can't even get my right foot into any size 13s I've seen at stores.

I've checked most shops around and find nothing higher than 13s.

Looks like Graf makes a Supra 705 that goes up to a 15 wide, but Bruno lists them at $480
http://www.brunoshockeyshop.com/coll...graf-supra-705

Bauer Vapor X40 comes up to a 15 too for around $330
http://www.hockeyworld.com/index/pag...Skates-+Senior

Any thoughts on these two skates?

I will check out Brunos. maybe they have some of those Supra 750s in stock that will fit. Perani's isn't too far from my work either. That is where I got the ice hockey equipent I have. I bought it and played one game as a fill in for a friend's team. Broke my thumb thanks to a slash I got in a "no checking league". I didn't know it until after the game. All I knew was that it hurt. I wouldn't mind playing ice hockey, problem is there aren't too many 31 yr old beginners. I have some stick skills and I have even played goalie a little, but it was all street, floor, and/or roller hockey. Ice is different.

Thanks again Mike

[Ahbroody]

I think the bauer will be shallow. You really really got to try on the skates. Given your size you may end up paying a few extra bucks. The thing is as we mentioned above it doesnt matter how nice yoyr stick and gloves are. If you cant skate you are a plug.

As for league check for an over 35 league. We have one out here if I play again i am going over 35. I am 35 now and have no interest in playing against mr. Game 7 rec leaguer. I need to work for a living. A lot of rinks will have beginer skills classes start there.

Al you are crushing my dreams right now of having micah stay in grafs.