Look at some of the new gear for 2012-2013 Part 1

(Edit: I’ve had an issue with WordPress and the HTML code, where the formatting looks pretty messy right now, I’m going to attempt to tweak it tomorrow)

I’ve been wanting to do a post about the latest hockey gear that’s come out. There’s always been a part of me that’s been really interested in the different makes out there and how the kit differs from one another. Before I go any further, I must stress that this is only based on information and marketing collateral, rather than my own opinion. I would absolutely love to review these products properly, so if any of the manufacturers read this are into the idea, drop me a line.

We start off with Bauer. Bauer has been a staple of the hockey world for, probably as long as hockey has been around. Since getting rid of the Nike Bauer brand, the company has brought out some of the most preferred equipment we see the NHL Pros use.

Skates:
Bauer has brought out the Bauer Supreme Total One NXG to accompany the APX to its flagship range of skates. The Total One NXG features a new TUUK fusion blade, which has been designed to reduce the weight of the runner by 27%. As with most skates today, a lot of attention is being paid to the fit. The emphasis is on getting the skate as comfortable as possible and the Total ONE NXG features a new insole that supposedly gives a better fit and more responsive skate.

Helmet:
The one big thing that Bauer has brought out is the RE-AKT helmet. The helmet takes its look from the HH4500 helmet. Rather annoyingly I’ve seen some adverts and sites advertise the helmet with the ‘passes the mirror test’ tag, which is just a personal pet peeve of mine. The RE-AKT has been designed to reduce the risk of concussion from direct impact to the head. At impact, the helmet’s SUSPEND-TECH free floating liner should move independently from the VERTEX FOAM liner to should reduce excessive intra-cranial movement.  Phew, don’t you just love these terms SUSPEND-TECH, VERTEX FOAM. Wow

Sticks:

While during the playoffs, I have seen many players use a new-ish TotalOne stick I haven’t seen further details of it emerge as yet so I don’t know what to say about it. However, the Bauer Vapor APX stick has been around for a while, but I thought that I’d include it in the round up anyways. Bauer claims that it is the smartest stick in the history of the game. The stick supposedly fits all types of shots and combines the Intelli-Sense Shot Technology and Bauer TotalOne’s blade to give it that soft feel.

CCM:

CCM has been a brand I’ve been using ever since Koho was swallowed up by the Hockey Company. I used Koho sticks/blades nearly my whole life. For the roundup, CCM doesn’t have a new skate to include as it is going with its U+ CL skate. Perhaps the biggest additions to the range is in the field of the protective equipment.

CCM has expanded its U+ CL range to the protective equipment and should a player wear CL shoulder pads, CL elbow pads, CL shin guards, CL skates, CL gloves (introduced last year) and use a CL stick, the overall equipment weight would be reduced by 25% compared to other manufacturers. Impressive, but my main question is: If it’s that light, will it be any good at protecting the body. There is also the CS, or Crazy Strong, variant of the equipment line available as well.

Shoulder pads

The CL pads feature CCM’s U-foam caps and molded floating ventilated sternum. The U-Foam has also been utilised in the body of the body of the shoulder pads. The pads look pretty decent, but I’d have to get my hands on them to see what they are really like. There isn’t much else to report on the pad and its features apart from the fact that it contains a lot of U-Foam.

Elbow pads

The CL elbow pads feature a 3-piece construction and reinforced caps. The pads come with a neoprene wrap in the liner and also features neoprene in the elbow bed for improved fit. For the forearm and bicep there is U-Foam protection.

Shin guards:

The CL shinguards feature vented caps and an anatomical shell design. The thigh guard can be removed for a bit of customisation. I personally don’t like the thigh guard in my pads so it’s good to see that it continues to be a removable feature. The knee bed is segmented with neoprene lock zone, which should ensure that the pads stay in place and provide additional comfort. The pads are attached with cross strapped in the back, which allows for the calf wrap to provide protection to the back of the leg.

Sticks

The CL stick hasn’t really changed much since the last re-vamp of it. It now carries the name of CCM CL Midnight. Otherwise the features of the stick looks the same. The biggest improvements as far as I can see on paper are in the construction. CCM has introduced something it calls True Spear technology which is supposed to ensure optimal energy transfer for shots.

The other stick is the U+ Pro, which comes weighing in at 455 grams. Like the CL Midnight, it uses aerial grade carbon to make it a lightweight stick. The blade uses PRB Graphite technology to create a similar sweet spot for an accurate shot. Like the CL the stick also includes the true spear technology.

Perhaps the most interesting stick from the CCM Staple is the RBZ, which is set to come out in Fall 2012. We’ve seen pictures of it and know it’s been used by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Gabriel Landesgok and that it’s been designed in partnership with the golf company TaylorMade. That’s all I’ve managed to dig out on the stick so far.

 

 

 

For great deals on top of the range hockey equipment, please click on the image below:

IIHF World Championships: Canada Plays Hard… In Helsinki Nightlife

When Canada last won the world championship in ice hockey, I read an article where it said that Canada had turned a new leaf in its approach to the world championships. In all the hegemony, the Canadians were saying that they no longer viewed the games as a guys holiday, with a chance to play some hockey in between and that every player there was playing to make their country proud.
The same could not be said of some of the Canadian players at the 2012 team. Three days into the games and what has Canada done? Played a sluggish game against Slovakia  and then lost to the USA in overtime. Before the Slovakia game it was reported that Canada cancelled its morning skate and a short while after it emerged that the Canadian players had been sampling the wares at Henry’s Pub in Helsinki.

After the USA game reports emerged that the Canadians were parting until 3am at Circus in Helsinki. There were a few tweets that suggested that there would’ve been fisticuffs involved at the end of the night as well, but no official word on the fight have emerged.

(EDIT 11:14BST 08/05/12) There have been further updates on what has supposedly been said and I thought that I’d update the story. Getzlaf reportedly shook his fist and said “You don’t want any of this” and reportedly said that he would “knock everyone out in three minutes.” It would appear that the initial reports of the scuffle weren’t as bad as first thought, but there was some shouting. Some outlets have also reported that Getzlaf also shouted he was the captain of the Anaheim Ducks. Maybe not the smartest thing to shout at the heat of the moment, given that Finns follow the Ducks closely because of one Teemu Selanne. The original text that appeared in this blog can now be read at the bottom of the story.

IF the Canadians keep going like they are they will be one of the biggest disappointments of the games. There are two players on that roster that have looked like they actually want to be there and play for their country and that’s Jeff Skinner and John Tavares. All the Getzlaf’s, Corey Perry’s and the like are in summer holiday mode. Getzlaf even admitted that he did not play or get on the ice for a month before the tournament. Is this the type of player you want wearing the C for your team? Is this a good example of leadership? The only thing Getzlaf is capable of leading at the moment is the off ice activities for Canada. I think he picked out a few favourite joints to hang out in during the NHL opener in Helsinki.

I tweeted last night saying that Ducks should seek to trade Getzlaf. He is on the final year of his contract, but I don’t think the Ducks should commit their long term future to a player who is good when he wants to be. Getzlaf can be a great player when he wants to be, but most of the time he looks like he doesn’t want to be.

As for Canada for the rest of the tournament? You can never count them out, that’s for sure, but will all the off ice activities and enjoying a roadie with the boys lead to the teams’ demise and out of the medal games. It’s OK to party to get the game out of your system, but when you are playing for your country, make sure that you do it in the off season, not the night before the game.

 

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Original excerpt from above:

More details have emerged from the Canadian players’ night out on town. There was a bit of a scuffle at the bar when Ryan Getzlaf took exception to a group of Finnish men at the bar. There had been some back and forth verbalisation before slight pushing and shoving. Getzlaf reportedly shoke hist fist vigorously and said “Don’t make me use this, I will strike you all down.” The bouncers broke up the blossoming brawl, and moved the players out of the club, but there was more shouting outside.

IIHF Announces World Championships Will Be Streamed Live via YouTube

EDIT: Please see post here about recent developments: http://pushforpros.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/iihf-world-championships-iihf-bins-live-youtube-streams/

The news has literally just broken on Twitter with the IIHF announcing that all of the games from the 2012 Ice Hockey World Championships will be streamed live via YouTube.

In a move that resembles the KHL’s startegy of showing games free of charge on YouTube, is bound to attract more fans to look at the games and watch the videos. However, it is still expected that the IIHF will offer paid for packages for the games where you can buy rights to watch the games of your chosen team.

However, the offer is not available to all as some countries have been geo-blocked. The list of Geo-Blocked countries includes: Belarus, Denmark, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine and the USA. EDIT: It has now emerged (at 14:46 GMT) that the games will also be geo-blocked in Finland.

(Edit: I have deleted the paragraph about the Finnish TV rights for the games) I can only suspect that the YouTube streaming would’ve hurt the TV and media partners of the games, though I doubt that the decision to stream the games came from the Helsinki/Stockholm organising committee but from the IIHF itself. However, it is a welcome move to offer the games via YouTube.

I for one (based on my geographic location) applaud the IIHF’s decision to move. It is a bold new strategy and will expose the sport to a wider fan base, which will be great for the sport.

The YouTube channel can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/icehockey.

The schedule for the games is here: http://www.iihf.com/competition/272/home-oc/tournament-info/game-schedule.html Please note that the game times are in Swedish and Finnish times respectively.

Your move NHL!

Spring is the best time for a hockey player; but where’s my playoffs

As I’ve now been doing my off ice and off season training for two weeks, it has suddenly hit me that my body actually has a lot more to give in terms of being on the ice.

As I’m writing this, I am watching the last game for the Canadiens in the regular season. Earlier today I intensely followed the Finnish elite league play-offs and read odd bits and pieces on Facebook and twitter about the English Elite League playoff weekend (which is a dumb format by the way, but more about that later)

As the saying goes, spring is the best time for a hockey player. The sun is coming out and the dark of the winter is gone and you feel energised. I’ve always looked forward to this time of the year as a player; it used to be the time for playoffs if you were that lucky, or when I was playing rec hockey, it was the start of the season. But now the season is over for me, but with the team finishing in a playoff position (in most leagues anyways) I feel sort of hollow.

Don’t get me wrong. I am proud of what we achieved this season, but I feel we could’ve done a lot more. I guess this feeling has it’s roots in a twitter conversation I had with Boone Jenner, a Columbus Blue Jackets prospect. He asked me what do we play for if we don’t have playoffs?

Well in honesty I love playing hockey, but not having playoffs is a real downer to the season. You play your heart out, but at the end of the day its like soccer where the team that finishes first gets crowned champions.

Seriously what is the point in that? I know there are probably hundred and one issues around it like money and ice time and blah blah blah, but let’s look at it from this point of view: nearly all European leagues, pro or not, have playoffs in place. And I don’t mean stupid playoff weekends, but proper playoff series, best of seven series’ etc. The main argument I’ve heard for playoffs is that the hickey teams don’t own the rinks, I’m going to be using Finland as an example here, but back home only one team owns it’s own rink, well sort of. The team is Jokerit. If a professional league where teams don’t own their own rinks can arrange playoffs can arrange and schedule playoffs it surely can’t be that difficult to arrange them. Hell, even the rec league I played in had playoffs (Cue stuff about summer leagues and more ice time available blah blah blah).

Maybe I’m just bitter that I’m not playing playoff hockey or at least have the chance to play for a playoff spot. How ever, I can’t change the league and the way they manage things, but o think it’s a high time for them to wake up and stop treating hockey like it’s soccer. It ruins the game.

Mikael Granlund and that damn airhook goal

Disclaimer: I am a huge fan of Granlund’s and this article is not to criticise him, but rather look at how he has coped since rising to stardom in his native Finland.

 

Mikael Granlund, the supremely talented Finnish forward, has seen more column inches than any Finnish hockey player not playing in the NHL in recent years, or dare I say it decades. Granlund was known as a promising player and had garnered some international attention prior to his 9^th overall draft pick by the Minnesota Wild.

 

It wasn’t until the 2011 World Championships that Mikael Granlund played himself to the knowledge of the entire hockey world and at the same time cursed himself with the amazing air-hook goal he scored against Russia in the semi-finals. I write cursed himself, only because it seems to be the only thing the Finnish media has been asking him for the past year and every time someone somewhere scores a similar goal and it goes viral, the press and in particular the tabloid press, pick up on it and say “Better airhook goal than Granlund’s.”

 

Yes Mikael Granlund is a super talent, and one like Finland has not had in a long while. He is a legitimate player that can bring something to the table at Minnesota right off the bat. Where he is not (yet) physically the size of some of the other players he will be playing against, he showed his fearlessness and determination in the Russia game in the World Championships when he finished hits against players such as Alex Ovechkin and Ilya Kovalchuck. The only downside I can see with Granlud’s stature is that whether he will be able to take the hits in the NHL.

 

I’m not taking anything away from the professionals in the Finnish league, but I’m going to stick my neck out there and say that the NHL is far more physical and the hits far harder than they are in the SM-Liiga and how Granlund will cope with that remains to be seen. Let’s not forget that he has a history of concussion and missed significant amount of time last year when he mistimed a hit and crashed into the boards head first.

 

The latest topic of discussion around Granlund around the SM-Liiga playoffs has been whether or not he is tired. The young man has been used for PR duties and he has also played the world juniors, where he got a lot of criticism of his missed penalty shot at the crucial time. Hero one minute, villain the next. As a captain of the team, Granlund shouldered the responsibility of the loss, but it looked like it was all becoming too much for him.

 

Granlund has also missed a lot of time with the flu and as a result missed almost the latter part of the regular season and has only returned for the playoffs. After such a long time off with a persistent disease, Granlund has not been at his optimal level as has been pointed out by many hockey journalists in Finland.

 

After the playoffs eventually come to an end for HIFK, Granlund who was second in the point scoring race in the league, will likely be chosen to play for Team Finland in the World Championships. There’s nothing wrong with being chosen for the team, its just that the games are in Finland. After last years’ triumph I can expect that the media will be on the players like piranhas and every move will be scrutinised on the ice by respectable journalists and those who are only looking for stories on how drunk the players got and what Miss Finland contestant they are dating. My advice to the latter would be not to bother. You’ll do a bigger favour to the team by staying at home and let the team do what they are there to do; play hockey.

 

In nearly every video interview I’ve seen of Granlund of late, he is visibly agitated by the interviews as he has to answer same questions over and over again “Something something about airhook goal?” “How tired are you?” “How much fun is it to play hockey”. I can only expect that the media interest will get higher as the games get closer and Granlund is already losing some amount of sleep over it. The kid is under huge pressure, specially if he is chosen for the World Championships team. The coach Jukka Jalonen has been good on the front that he hasn’t overloaded Granlund with the (in my view) insignificant Euro Hockey Tour games.

 

Which actually leaves Jalonen with a tricky call. Name Granlund to the team even if he is tired and still recovering from the flu bug and not at peak condition, or leave him out and give him time to rest. If the latter, Jalonen might be crucified by the fans and if MG is not at 100% shape, will the fans and so on crucify him for playing sub par?

Granlund has always been a level headed player and is so much fun to watch on the ice. In fact, looking at pictures or videos of him on the ice, show that he is truly happy to be out there. There are no outside distractions and its just pure enjoyment for hockey. To me there are more brilliant plays than the airhook goal. Granted some of the moves/plays have not lead to a goal, but the kid is not afraid to try something new. He is super creative on the ice.

 

As and when he does make the move to the NHL, and if the Minnesota Wild website is anything to go by, he will be in the show next season. There will be media interest from the local press as well as that on a national scale, but Granlund, to a greater extent is an unknown in the league. Sure people have seen what he is capable of, but he is still a rookie in the league.

 

For some reason, I have a feeling that Granlund will actually relish the move across the pond, if for nothing else, he wouldn’t have to answer any more inane questions about the damn airhook goal.

The Silent Sufferers: Concussion and its effect on family life

I recently tweeted saying that I would have a guest contributor on the blog as I have been talking about my ‘journey’ through concussion. I wanted to lift the lid on the other aspect that we harldy ever get to hear about; It’s effect on families and family life.

The below is an open and honest account from my wife – Libby – and her story through my concussion and how it affected us. You can follow Libby on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/littlered_libby

Thank you for agreeing to share the story. I know it hasn’t been an easy ride.

I hope you find her story of interest:

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I don’t normally do this kind of stuff so please bare with me while I try and explain my side of things.

As you all know Janne suffered a major concussion in March last year and it has had a major impact on his hockey career, but more importantly, on his personal life. The following is the impact the concussion, had on me his, girlfriend/wife of seven and half years.

I was watching the game when Janne got hurt. The hit that changed our lives didn’t seem that out of the ordinary for a hockey game. I didn’t really think too much beyond my normal “please get up, don’t be hurt.” However, I had no idea how badly injured he was and how drastically our lives would change as Janne got up and finished the game.

After the game, we were due to go to my uncle’s house in Ebbw Vale, Wales. I tried insisting on driving, but Janne being stubborn he was adamant to drive the distance. By this stage, he had mentioned that he didn’t feel quite right. It wasn’t until the next morning  that the symptoms became apparent. I was only slightly worried at first, as I’ve grown up around sportsmen (mainly rugby players whose mentality is similar to hockey players) my whole life, I’ve even had a couple of concussions myself.

As the morning went on, I realised it wasn’t like any other concussions I had experienced before. Janne’s eyes weren’t responding and it was like he was totally spaced, I had to talk very slow and simply for him to understand anything I asked. The uncle who we stayed at had just had a baby girl who to this date Janne will call Faith, despite it not being her name. Further to that, today he has to pause and place faces to my uncles’ names as he struggles to remember which is which.

He had no idea where he was or what he was doing but he refused to go to the hospital. I was panicked and scared. My whole family was gathered at Ebbw Vale for my cousins christening and the advice we kept getting was to take him to the hospital, which got Janne incredibly irate. This made me worry even more and we left the christening early to drive home. During the drive back Janne dosed in and out the whole time. When we eventually got home he kept asking me the same things over and over again. I found this very frustrating as Janne couldn’t remember anything from a few moments before and I could see how confused Janne was with my reactions. I wasn’t angry but having to repeat myself over and over made me have anxiety attacks.

Following from the injury and as the PCS  symptoms persisted, life got difficult at home. Janne was having trouble remembering anything that he was told or asked, which made me feel ignored, even though I kept telling myself it’s the concussion and I knew I had to be patient with him. However, I started to get increasingly worried as I started to notice Janne’s personality change. He wasn’t happy with the way he looked. He grew a beard and grew his hair, which was really out of character for him. He also said that he hated the person he saw in the mirror every morning.

When I offered to help him and speak to him, Janne refused it. He was constantly going through mood swings, which would make him happy at one minute and completely reduced to tears the next. His moods would be anything and everything between those two extremes. I was afraid to speak to my husband, because I wasn’t sure if what I said was going to be greeted with smiles or with shouting.

Janne put himself into a shell and started to shut down. He found solace in blogging. At one stage I felt I found out more what he was going through by reading his blog, than from his own mouth. Janne said that he didn’t want to worry me or his family over nothing and that is why he was turning to the blog and to social media to air his feelings. However, it made things worse as he wouldn’t  talk to me or the rest of his family about the issues. Janne’s parents and my parents were just as much in the dark about his state as I was.

Janne always had a sparkle in his eye, which showed his love and affection as well as his cheeky 5-yearold boyish side. With the concussion and as the symptoms worsened, the sparkle was gone. I was afraid that I was losing my husband and I started to feel unwanted and lonely. It wasn’t till after he recovered that Janne admitted that he felt like he had shut down emotionally.

I don’t want to sound needy, but at times I got so lonely and upset I would cry myself to sleep and Janne wouldn’t even notice, I didn’t tell him as I was scared that he would snap at me or worse leave me. His moods were getting worse. One time when we were in town, Janne was visibly suffering. He was pale, he was sweating and his eyes had, what can be called the 1,000 yard stare. I asked him if he was OK and if he needed to go home, but my suggestion and concern for his wellbeing was met with anger and shouting.

Sometimes I would try and force him to pay attention to me by jumping on his lap and kissing him with all my passion I felt inside for him, but the reaction back was on the verge of repulsion, which was so hurtful that after awhile I couldn’t cope with what felt like rejection, so I stopped trying.

As things moved on and Janne seemed to distance himself more from me and the outside world, I became worried. While he was still going to training, which in hindsight I should’ve stopped him from doing, Janne wasn’t really interested in engaging in social situations. We started to argue more as Janne’s moods changed. I insisted that he was keeping things from me, while he didn’t see it the same way and kept saying he wanted to protect me and not burden me with all his issues.

As months went by, Janne was starting to feel better. He was still suffering from constant headaches, mood swings, light sensitivity and he was constantly frustrated as he was not as fit as he wanted and kept blaming people (me, doctors etc.) for holding him back. In fact every time we went to see the doctors for a control visit and when the answer was “It is going to take a lot of time” Janne would get really angry and depressed about it. I think deep down, where he kept saying he felt lost, he longed for normality again.

Our relationship also suffered. Yes we loved each other, but we were on autopilot mode. We would go through the motions but not really spend any quality time with each other. Janne kept saying he felt so lethargic and that he felt like he had lost himself.

I tried my best to support him the whole time, but I felt like I had no one to talk to about it. It almost felt like the concussion was stigma as others kept saying Janne looks fine, if maybe a bit depressed. I was too proud to admit to other people I was struggling with it as well. I just kept plodding along and kept telling myself things will get better and that the sparkle in his eyes I had fallen in love with would come back.

It has been a gruelling year marred with ups and downs. We have had to face up to the problems that the concussion caused on the long term. It wasn’t just a knock that would’ve healed in a couple of weeks time, it took good 6-8 months for us to really get our lives back. During the time of the concussion and PCS we were drifting apart and we have had to work hard on our relationship to make sure that we are fine. We almost lost each other, but we have come out a lot stronger from it, so in a way it has had a positive impact on life, but it is something that I would never want to go through again.

However, every time Janne steps onto the ice, I’m scared that he will be seriously injured again and that we would have to endure the hell again. I was scared after his car accident that the concussion he suffered would set him back, but at least we both have learned valuable lessons from the last experience to better manage it. Where it doesn’t seem as bad as the last one, I still have this constant worry over it.

I hope this helps people to realise that concussions and PCS have a major impact not just on the person but everyone around them. It’s hard to cope with all the changes, but as long as you deal with them and don’t ignore the “illness” you can get through it.

Opinion: Tretiak suggests NHL move to bigger rinks to reduce concussions

The legendary goalie, Vladislav Tretiak, suggested to allhockey.ru that the NHL moves to larger rinks, such as the ones played on in Europe. According to Tretiak, this would reduce the number of concussions in the sport as the playing surface is bigger and there would be not as much chance of high speed/forceful contacts.

 

Tretiak says that concussions are not a daily concern or an epidemic in the KHL or in Russian hockey as they are in the NHL. I would agree that in any European league the issue of concussion isn’t as big as it is in the KHL. However, it is not to say that they do not happen in the European sized rinks. We’ve seen a few nasty hits that have lead to a concussion in the Swedish leagues.

 

I have a few issues with Tretiak’s statement and a few things I would like to see before I could back the decision. The KHL hasn’t made a big play of the injuries that players suffer. In-fact the only time I find out about an injured player is if it is a Finnish player and it has been reported in the Finnish media. The KHL is pretty well covered in Finland in that it has games shown with Finnish commentary on the TV, but beyond the Scandinavia, does anyone actually care about the KHL or follow the league with same intensity as they would do their native leagues or the NHL? There are people who do, don’t get me wrong, but I think reporting of injuries and finding out about the types of injuries is pretty difficult due to the language barrier in place and the navigation of some of the team websites is, well, tricky at the best of times.

 

Then there is the issue of the game itself. The NHL has always prided itself on being the toughest league in the world and it is THE league any hockey playing kid wants to play in. Even if you are just playing street hockey with your friends, the chances are you are playing the dying seconds of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. I haven’t yet met a hockey player who says that the dream for their career would be to hoist the KHL winners’ trophy. And I don’t mean that in the sense that players in the KHL wouldn’t want to win, but that the Stanley Cup is the ultimate prize of hockey.

 

The few games of KHL hockey I’ve seen and in fact European hockey, the lack of hitting is noticeable. Not saying there isn’t any hits, but the number of hits is not as high as in the NHL. Sure there is more space to create plays and play skilful hockey, but I think European hockey, for the most parts lacks in the physicality. I tweeted about an experience in a Finnish league game saying that there was hardly any hitting.

 

Whether I have gotten so used to the physicality of the NHL games and I genuinely enjoy watching that, or that the European brand of hockey is more based on skills and creativity rather than the brute physical strength. A case and point of this would be the U-20 world championships. When Finland played against Canada the Finns were unable to meet the Canadians in physicality and rather sprayed snow on the opponent rather than hit them. I don’t mean that as ‘euro players are soft’ but kids playing in European leagues need to learn to finish their hits if they want to play in North America where the physicality is one of the key aspects of the game.

 

I doubt any fans of the NHL would like to see the league move towards larger rinks. Not only would it change the game and alienate fans, but it would also come at a huge cost to teams and rinks as they would need some serious renovation to accommodate the bigger space, which would ultimately lead to lesser seats in arenas. Where I think Tretiak’s idea in general is good and has the right idea, I don’t see it happening. If anything, I’d personally like to see the European leagues move to a smaller ice size to make the games just slightly more physical.

Bristol Ice Rink Set To Close; Help us Save It

I was imagining that my first post of 2012 would have been a cheerier one. However, we were told on Thursday at training that our barn is going to be closing down and we, the Pitbulls (and the junior teams, the rec team, the university team and ice skating club) would become homeless at the end of the season.

 

The lease on the rink is running out and the rink is set to be converted into student accommodation. Not that I have anything against students or further education, but the situation is far from ideal. In fact thinking it purely from the hockey point of view, I feel like the people who have put the Pitbulls together and ran the team have had a severe kick to the teeth due to the decision.

 

As I’ve had a chance to reflect on the news for a few days, I have come to realise that the biggest loss of the rink closure is not the loss of hockey, but it is the loss of a place that has become a second home to myself and all my team mates. It could potentially also mean the loss of a group of guys who have become like a second family. We have all sweated and bled on to the ice to provide our fans and supporters with an entertaining night out and we as players have relied on each other. We have experienced highs and lows every week that we turn up for training and suit up, ready to hit the ice. Like I’ve said many times before on this blog, being on the ice is one of the best feelings I can imagine.

 

Beyond hockey  however, I have read and recanted numerous tales from Facebook and Twitter on people’s memories of the rink. I have come to know stories of people who have met the love of their life on the ice, memories of nights spent with friends and most of all, people lamenting the loss of a place to meet up and spend time.

 

As I’m not a native to Bristol and I have only spent two seasons with the Pitbulls, I have only a handful of memories compared to most of the other guys on the team who took their first strides on the ice at the facility. However, the situation sounds all too familiar; when I first arrived in the UK in Southampton to study I was told that the town used to house a rink, but it was torn down (now what stands in its place is a Range Rover and Jaguar dealership) and a new rink was promised by the council. Given that I have been in the UK for 8 years and there’s no new rink in sight (OK the Southampoton rink has been shut for nearly 30 years now) one can understand why the loss of a ice facility is a BIG deal to everyone who uses the facility.

 

In what is the Olympic year for the UK, there has been a lot of discussion about the state of British sports. How can the UK nurture the next sporting talents if facilities for sports of all kinds are being cut down. In a broader scale, the economic downturn has cut funding from many sports and leisure centres that provide both the young and old the opportunity to partake in sports, be it hockey, skating, soccer or boxing. Sports is an enabler. If I didn’t do sports in my youth I wouldn’t have learned valuable social skills and I probably would’ve spent more time than I did out in town partaking in teenage debauchery. Sports taught me a great deal of self discipline and respect to others.

 

However, as I’m trying to look for a silver lining in the news of the rink closing down, I am hopeful that it will not mean the demise of hockey in Bristol. I am hopeful that the powers that be build a new rink that is suitable for hockey and figure skating. Hockey is a growing sport in the UK and I’m sure that all our opponents would agree that there needs to be a team in Bristol. Say what you want about the state of the facility, it’s more fun to play more games than have fewer games on the schedule.

 

As my parting thoughts, I would like to see as many of you readers sign this petition to show your support for the rink. It only takes 30 seconds of your time and we (the people who use the rink) would really appreciate the support: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-the-ice-rink/

Be sure to also check out the following Facebook Groups and websites: https://www.facebook.com/BristolNeedsARink,

http://www.bristolneedsarink.com

Review: Beaster RockNRolla Stick

Choosing a hockey stick can be difficult at times. If you are anything like me, it can take hours and hours of trying out different sticks and checking out blade patterns. The staple of stick manufacturers that are known to all in the hockey community include the likes of CCM, Reebok, Easton, Bauer, Warrior and so on.

 

About Beaster:

Though in the recent years many new manufacturers have cropped up and began manufacturing their line of sticks to compete with the big boys. But how do we know if the sticks these ‘smaller’ players are making are any good? Well, one such company has given us a stick to test to find out just how good their wares are. The company in question is Beater Hockey, from Latvia. Latvia has produced many hockey talents, like Arturs Irbe and the late Karlis Skrastins its obvious that hockey is a big deal to Latvians. Beaster is the only manufacturer of hockey equipment from Latvia that I have heard of.

 

‘The Kings of Badassery!’ it proclaims on its website. Beaster hockey was established in 2008 and has been producing a line of sticks since then. It has grown to a global brand with dealers and distributors in Canada, USA, Germany, Slovakia, UK, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Latvia, Russia, and Kazakhstan. The full list can be found here: http://www.beasterhockey.net/#!page-7

Beaster hockey has recently also opened its own first retail store in Latvia and has also done so in the UK. The UK specific site can be found at www.hockeybeast.co.uk The site is currently being built but you can already order the RockNRolla stick from there.

 

Aesthetics & Look and feel:

The stick we are testing is Beaster’s RockNRolla range. The stick is 80 flex with MOD blade pattern and with grip surface. The stick is preferred by many KHL players and is used quite a bit by the Avangard OMSK team.

The first thing that we noticed from the stick is that it is incredibly light! Out of the wrappings, the stick weighs only 410grams, a whole 15grams lighter that the CCM CrazyLight. In fact, Beaster’s top of the range stick, the B1, weighs in at staggering 365grams. That is incredibly light for a stick!

The RockNRolla is not a mid range stick, far from it. It is one of the staples to the Beaster brand and is used by professional players across the globe. When looking at the design of the stick, Beaster have gone out to create a stick that is recognizable on the ice. The use of mirrored/reflective text for it’s own brand name and the name of the stick is recognizable off the ice. A lot of the time when looking at different stick manufacturers it is difficult to distinguish which stick the pros are using. And lets face it, the pros have a huge influence in the purchasing decision on the stick us mere mortals are buying

Durability:

One of the concerns that I had in the first instance of getting the stick in my hands was that of durability. The stick is so light that I worried whether it would be durable enough on the ice. Having said that, I had similar concerns with my CCM CrazyLight stick as well and that’s held up well.

In the hack and slash kind of environment that hockey can sometimes be the RockNRolla has held up really well. In fact you get the same durability that you would normally associate with some of the bigger and established brands in the market, so you are safe in the knowledge that your hard earned cash hasn’t gone into a stick that looks great and doesn’t last for more than a training session.

Normally with sticks the first bit that I notice wear and tear in is the blade area. It’s happened to sticks I’ve used from Easton, CCM and Reebok. The construction of the blade area on the RockNRolla is slightly different and the blade hasn’t started to come apart at the toe or at the heel. As part of the review I have been giving the stick a really rough and tumble ride to check out how well it has lasted.

The end result is that despite abusing the stick it is still in one piece. I’ve had other players slash at it during games and it has held in one piece.

Sure I haven’t gone to the lengths that ended my CCM U+ Pro stick, where I beat it against the bench in frustration and turned the stick into saw dust. But please do bare in mind that sticks do break in hockey and I’ve yet come across an indestructible stick.

Performance:

When I first got the RockNRolla it took me some time to get used to the feel of the stick, simply because I’ve been using CCM sticks for such a long time and I had to get used to the feel and contours of the shaft.

When I first used it on the ice, I had to get used to the sticks flex pattern (similar to Bauer TotalONE) as I noticed that at first my wrist shots weren’t coming off well and I couldn’t get a good enough feel for the stick. However, the more I’ve used it the better it has gotten.

With slap shots and one timers the stick is a beast of its own. I’ve noticed that my slapshots are still as heavy as with other sticks but this time there’s more control of the direction and height. The shaft is easy to load for a slapper and provides enough ‘pop’ for a one timer, without losing the feel of toughness in the shaft.

The only thing where I think the RockNRolla falls a bit behind on is the blade. I’ve been testing a MOD pattern on the stick and normally I prefer a curve similar to CCM’s Lecavalier or Thornton or Easton’s Sakic or Bauer’s Toews. The MOD pattern isn’t most ideal for me, but that is just my personal preference.

However, I think that the overall feel of the blade is not as good as it is on a CCM stick. Again this might be my long term use of CCM sticks, but with the CL I get a better feel of the puck. The RockNRolla does give you a good enough feel of the puck, but at times I found I had to pay increased attention to it and check to make sure the puck was still on the blade.

That again could be my personal preference from using a long line of CCM blades, but it is the ONLY thing I can really mark the stick down on.

Overall:

The Beaster RockNRolla is a nice piece of work. The stick looks flashy and means business. I know for many guys, buying a stick is a personal thing and there are a lot of factors that play into the decision, so it’s difficult for me to give it an overall grade apart from my own experience with it. I would thoroughly recommend the RockNRolla and would recommend that players take a look at the Beaster line of products to find a stick suitable to their needs. I think with Beaster the quality of the product and price are well matched and you are not paying for the name on the shaft or what players the company has to market it’s wares.

The RockNRolla is ideal for players who prefer lighter sticks that do not sacrifice durability and affordability. If you are still thinking about what hockey stick to ask from Santa or what stick to spend your Christmas money on, give Beaster a serious look.

Overall I’d give this stick a 4 out of 5 grade purely due to the issues I had with the blade pattern and the feel of it. Otherwise the stick stacks up well against the top of the range offers from Easton, CCM, Bauer and Reebok.

Concussion: Six Months On

As this blog has documented in detail my struggles with concussion, I thought it would be a good idea to give you an update on what the after effects have been. You tend to read a lot about the symptoms of concussions, but once a player/person has gotten over the symptoms it is presumed that you carry on as normal.

Please do bear in mind that concussions vary from individual to individual and what I have experienced might not be applicable to some.

It has now been over six months since the concussion and I am symptom free from the actual concussion, but there have been several things that have not been the same. If you hear people who have suffered from concussions say that they have good and bad days, it is true. I have days when I feel normal and days when I still have to lock myself in a dark room due to intense migraine like headaches that have become more frequent since the concussion. When the headaches come they are pretty bad. It feels like someone is yanking at the inside of my eyeballs and I literally cannot move my head or I feel nauseous. There isn’t a set thing that I’ve noticed what would set it off, but sometimes it can be certain smells or even things like flashing lights.

The flashing lights is another thing that I can’t deal with. If I’m in a nightclub (rarely) I can’t be in for a long time as the lights they have really get to me and make me feel dizzy and that’s before I would’ve drank anything. The worse are strobe lights, if there is a strobe light that’s going off, I feel like I’m going to be sick. Other lights, what you normally see in clubs or at parties, give me a headache and ultimately ruin my night. Then again, I wasn’t that big on the club scene anyways so I’m perfectly happy to sit down at a bar or a pub.

The strobe light issue doesn’t have to be in clubs or on nights out. It’s also in films or TV when there are flashing lights or scenes that flash back and forth. Like in the movie Black Swan, the night club scene really made me turn away. Also I have trouble watching shows like the X-Factor (apart from the terrible singing and the mundane judges) due to the light show/screens they use.

The third biggest thing that I have noticed are short term memory problems. I still have a trouble remembering things that I have done or what I’ve been asked to do. A good example of this is from a few weeks ago when I left training and I could not remember where I had parked my car. I was wandering around the parking garage with a couple of teammates not being able to remember what level I had parked my car or where on the level I had parked it.

Then there is head banging or sudden jolts of the head i.e. if I sneeze. The head banging to music has stopped as I can visibly feel my brain move around in my head and it is an uncomfortable feeling. Similarly if I have a cold/flu and I sneeze and my head jerks because of it, it feels doubly bad.

So despite being over the main issues of the concussions it has had a profound effect on my life and the things that I do. Most of the time I don’t think about the concussion, but I still get reminders that I have suffered a blow that has altered things. I guess the lesson I have learnt from all of this is to listen to my body more. I am more in tune with myself than I was before and I take injuries more seriously than I did in the past, specially after any contact/jolts to the head. In the past I always thought “It’s just a dinger, it’ll be fine” where as now I make sure that if I do feel uncomfortable or feel un-easy about something I evaluate it, before it becomes a problem.

 

Despite this, I still love to play and I am thankful that I am able to carry on playing, but most of all, I’m grateful that I can lead a normal life most of the time.