How to break in your new gear!

Think about the dropped popups that come from the stiffness of a new mitt, or the blisters your new soccer cleats gave you last summer.

For me, breaking in new goalie pads is one of the toughest things to do.

I must have been the last of the original goaltenders… well, to a certain degree.

Growing up playing in NDG in the early 90s, I started playing goalie at the age of eight in the old pads and gear the pro shop at Confederation arena used to loan us.

At about 11, my father handed me down his old brown-leather DR pads that weighed a little over 15 pounds each – dry.

That would have been the 1992-93 season when Patrick Roy was introducing the world to the revolutionarily cool Koho Revolution pads, officially marking the end of the brown-leather pad era.

I couldn’t tell you who the last NHL goalie was to wear the old pads, but I can tell you without hesitation that when I was still brandishing the old leathers four years later, I was definitely the last kid in NDG wearing them.

At 15, I got a new pair of DRs, a hybrid of leather and synthetics that weighed about the same thing soaking wet as the old pads dry.

What a difference.

So why the long history of my pad ownership?

Because getting new equipment is one of those things in sport that unites across the board.

A couple of weeks ago, I upgraded once again, from the DRs to a pair of RBK 8k super-lightweight pads that I just can’t get enough of.

The downside, however, is that I got them four days too late; four days after my team won the Concordia Hockey Division III championship, wrapping up the 2007-08 season.

So what’s a boy supposed to do?

Well, I might be 27, but I’m having fun with them like I did when I was 15.

Back in 1996 when I got my new DRs, I was lucky to get them in mid-season and we had a practice the day after I got them.

That first night, however, was fairly magical as my new pads and I curled up on the couch under a blanket and lounged the hours away together – with them never leaving my sight… or my legs.

This time around, seeing me doing anything from watching TV to grabbing a snack with my new RBKs on my legs is a less-than-rare occurrence.

But what’s the right way to break in a new piece of equipment?

A new baseball mitt? Wrap a shoelace around it with a ball inside and throw it under your mattress.

A new pair of skates? Try putting them on as tight as can be over a pair of soaking wet wool socks. Oh, and skate, skate and skate some more.

Soccer cleats? They’re meant to be small, so the only way to make ‘em fit right is to just run them into shape.

But for my current situation, well, until I can actually get my new gear on the ice, don’t be surprised if you see some guy standing in line at the supermarket with a pair of goalie pads on his legs.

That’ll be me. Want to share your break-in stories? Email me at noahsidel@gmail.com.