I have a referee in my league that had his helmet refinished because he's had it for a couple decades and doesn't want to get a new one. It looked super polished and better than new. I can ask him next time what he paid to have it done.

The ref told me his friend owns an auto body shop. Not exactly sure what he used but the finish came out extra glossy.

Now we have to change uniform colors lol

Been trying to find a pair in those colors for my men's league uniforms. They're not easy to track down!

https://sidelineswap...e=knyventura741

"Ovi authentic" https://sidelineswap...rip-49-1-4-long

Show my kids and grandkids putting this in the trash

One workaround I’ve found is just use your own label so it’s in your control and you can still use priority.

You can also manually input an astronomical amount for international shipping to avoid having to deal with that.

Agreed. I have been using pirateship.com to make sure items get there faster.

I just use an old coat hanger, has 8 hooks and I can get everything in there

Dang man. Is your wife single?

Calm down Reverend

I ended up picking up a Bauer shirt with a Kevlar neck guard this month. In my men’s league about 2 weeks later, a player on the other team lost their balance on a stick check (the kind you see 100 times every men’s league game), and the players rear leg and skate came flying up at me. Luckily I wound up with just a bruised rip and some skin burn from the skate hitting my ribs. If I were about 3 inches further back that was my neck and head. Looking at the LiveBarn afterwards I had zero reaction time on it as the stick check left my side entirely exposed.

Overall, the neck guard was a bit hot the first few times I wore it. I admit that I never wore them back in the 90s when playing youth and high school hockey as no one did except for goalies. I have gotten used to it and don’t really notice the heat anymore. It did take a few skates to figure out how tight or loose to set it.

As for recommending it to others; it is really up to you. I have a family and kids, and I’d hate to say personal preference is why I wound up in the hospital or dead. I already lost all my front teeth during the 12 years I played with a half shield so I wear a cage now. After many shoulder injuries (AC Joint, separations, torn labrum) I wear shoulder pads even though it’s non-check.

I have two pairs of 14” from Bergeron that fit closer to a 13”. Agree they are nice gloves but there is nothing special with those specs in general as 4 rolls.

I had to go to a cage...my wife said if I got any uglier she couldn't go on..

I couldn't afford the divorce..
It took me about 4 weeks to adjust..

I switched to a cage about 9 years ago after I took a one timer to the teeth.  I found the Re-Akt cages worked best for me and I hardly notice the difference now.  I may have to check out this new oreo cage from Bauer.

Guys on our team (I skate with novahands) still show up to games just for the showers and parking lot beers

We had secret skates during the pandemic, too.
We still talk about it to this day.

It was during the summer months, and I'd bring a 5 gallon jug of water to rinse off in the parking lot because we had no showers.
Those were actually some of the best pickup skates I've been a part of.

White whale set.

Moby Dick that’s a nice setup