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Well, unless you're gonna be buying goalie gear, I can't really offer much advice. But the general rule of trying something on before you buy it still holds. Unless you know what you like, I'd shy away from buying used gear on ebay. For the fit, I dunno. I guess if it's comfortable without feeling overly cumbersome and restricting, you're good to go.
It'll probably take some getting used to. I don't imagine most shoulder pads to be comfortable the first time you put them on. Just understand that all these pieces of equipment will break in over time just like your skates and to get something that fits like a glove right off the bat is pretty rare.
Much like your skates, I'd suggest not getting top of the line gear until you know what your preferences are. Better to spend $20 on used gloves and not like them than buying $95 gloves and not liking them either. Check for a local Play It Again Sports. If you're here in the Valley, there's one across from Trader Joes near Ventura and Laurel Canyon. And of course the two hockey meccas of Hockey Giant and Hockey Monkey down the 5 fwy.
To be fair, most of my posts came from the "Ask KJ anything thread..." which at the time was my sole reason.Originally Posted by HOCKEYAHOLIC
Ok, fine...this thread is my primary reason to come to LGK.
I miss the SB too.
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I contacted a couple of dudes off craigslist. Most people are selling ENTIRE sets for a hundred (without skates). But I don;t want to buy a helmet yet, nor used socks (nasty).
SP, I will contact you soon.
Regardless I am going to try everything on before I buy.
If you factor in:
* the cost of your time & the cost of gas to drive to every corner of SoCal looking for "bargains"
* the cost of your time & health if some of the "bargain" used gear turns out to induce skin infections/rashes (this is no joke)
.... you may find that it's a better real bargain to simply make the commitment ("I AM going to become a hockey player!") and make one trip down to Hawk Hockey and buy a low-priced set of gear. If you tell the Hawk Hockey people your budget, they can help you get the best bang for your buck (they are shockingly honest people, which is why so many of us recommend them).
To help your skating I recommend a book by Laura Stamm.
http://www.amazon.com/Laura-Stamms-P.../dp/0880113316
The book explains how the edges on your skates work etc. It is very important to understand this if you want to learn to power skate.
In order to use this book you have to have some ability to read and learn from books. The book is sort of technical when it comes to technique but if you are able to understand this sort of instruction, it will help you.
For buying equipment to play hockey, I am going to recommend that you spend your money with some sense of priority. You should spend more on things that provide more impact (or less lol)
1 Skates - do not be frugal. Get the best you can afford
2 Shin Pads - you get hit a lot on these, pucks and sticks
3 Gloves - getting hit on the hands hurt and most of us have to use our hands at work
4 Shield or cage - Getting cut on the fact sucks. Trying to explain why you have a black eye or a ton of bandaids while at work is worse.
5 Helmet - I have never fallen and hit my head. I have been hit in the face by sticks and pucks but nothing ever serious
6 Elbow pads - you will fall and it is a natural fall breaker. These also protect you from sticks
7 Pants - These mostly protect you from the pucks but occasionally from sticks.
8 Shoulder pads - I have only been hit in the upper body once and this was last week. I have had a bruise for 2 weeks now. I played without shoulder pads for years, it is mostly to protect you from the puck but a little from sticks.
There are miscellaneos things you need:
Cup/Jock - I have only ever been hit in the groin once and it was a guy who did it on purpose in front of the net (Hi Brian you prick). I have never been hit by the puck in the groin. They have shorts that hold your cup in place and also hold your socks up using velcro.
Socks - you will need a pair or 2
Tape - You need tape for your stick but some use it for their socks/pads to keep things in place
Jerseys - you need a dark and a white jersey. A kings Jersey works fine.
To get your skates to fit all the time:
use very thin socks (or skate without socks). Use the waxed laces. They don't move around on their own but the skates are harder to take off or put on.
To get your foot correctly in the skate:
Put the skate on your foot and then
bang your heal back into the skate
+
bang your foot down onto the blade.
When you start tightening the laces, you want to push your foot down and back.
The heal should be locked into place in your skate. Your toes can move freely but your heel is your base. If you foot is sliding around at the heel, you need to re-tie your skates as instructed above.
Skating tips:
It is important to understand your 4 edges (2 per skate) and your flat.
Your weight should always be OVER your skate. Watch when Kopitar is skating, his but is down so his body mass if over his skates. Knees bent, but down, head and chest up.
When turning, lean your upper body over your skates. This seems to be impossible but it is not. If you are turning to the left (counter-clockwise) your skates are leaning to the left (like a motorcycle) while at your hips, your upperbody is leaning to the right. You are putting your weight on top of your skates.
Good luck.
Another note on skating speed.
You see that people discuss "power skating" because that is what skating speed is. Skating speed is NOT how fast you move your feet, it is the power in your stride. (Stride is not he right word either, it is the power in your push off)
The physical motion used to move your body on the ice is a power movement, and the stronger you can push yourself, the faster you will glide on the ice.
If you remember the bodies of the great speed skaters, they have huge thighs and butts. These are the muscles that make you a powerful and fast skater.
Running is you putting one foot in front of the other. Your speed based on how fast you can put your foot in front of the other.
Skating is you pushing the weight of your body against 1 (one!) edge of your skate. Your speed is based on the power of that push.
The better you understand this and how to translate your strength to the edges of your blades, the better a skater you will be.
Saw some good comments and just thought I'd add...
Whether you're gonna buy new or used equipment, your best bet might be to go to a hockey store and have them fit you with gear, just so you get an idea for exactly how it should fit. When you're in full hockey gear, it's going to feel a little uncomfortable until you get used to it. And whenever you get new gear, even years later, you'll still notice a different feel until it's broken in (the last time I bought shinpads, it felt like they were huge, like Modano's, even though they were normal size - kinda like one time when I bought white tennis shoes and kept seeing them in my peripheral vision).
Incidentally, some stores might have sales around the next couple of months, as hockey seasons wind down for the summer. Between now and the beginning of the autumn, you might find some things for cheap (as come the new season, new lines of products will come out, so the old stuff is sometimes on sale).
Even your own gear should be cleaned or dried... I dry my gloves out and still got a staph infection. Yikes! The thing with used gear is knowing exactly how much life it's got left in it (and obviously disinfecting it). For instance, you don't want to get a pair of shinpads and they fall apart on you a week later. I recommend you take BBO with you. He knows his stuff!
Most of the stick times will require you to wear most of that gear. By the way, Pkd, I'll never go out without a cup! I've been hit in junk with a puck twice, off dump-ins or clearing attempts, not even shots. Even with the cup, talk about pain! And the occasional cup-check.
As for skates, I'd say hold off on the top of the line, $450 skates until you've played a while. As a beginner, you won't be in danger of putting so much stress on your skates that they break. You can find reasonably good skates for a little less.
This is simply a great piece of advice, and very well stated. The skating clinics will emphasize this, hopefully. I went to a few up in San Jose - they really made it a point of working with you on your stride, as described above. The comparison to running is a good one. You don't want to be taking a lot of short strides in an effort to skate fast. You won't skate as fast as you could, it'll take longer to accelerate, and you'll be wasting way too much energy which you'll find is needed for other aspects of the game.
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