Yesterday, over a month after I ordered it, my goalie mask finally arrived...the NXi Phantom. I pretty much ran upstairs as soon as the receptionist on the 16th floor let me know it was delivered.

I spent most of last night playing around with the straps, trying it on to get just the right fit. Then I moved my throat guard over from my old, dented, helmet/cage combo to this awesome black mask.

I wore it to the game this morning. It took a while to get used to initially...I can see better through the cat-eye cage, but can't hear as well. It made judging where people out of sight were difficult. I didn't take any direct shots to the head (sob), but I did take a deflected puck right to the cage. No damage.

Since I had the mask shipped with the (non-CSA approved) cat-eye cage, the manufacturer didn't put on CSA/HECC stickers, even though the mask itself is CSA/HECC approved. Kinda sucks, since if I join a league, I need proof that the mask is approved. Assuming that the colours used on the CSA logo aren't weird ones printers can't reproduce, I'm just going to take a picture of the CSA sticker on my old helmet, play around with it until it looks good, print it onto a sticker, and voila.

In related news, I bought a Bauer Reactor 3 blocker and catcher off eBay today for $112USD, to replace my well-worn blocker and catcher. I'm also saving up for pads, maybe the RBK 5K's. Hopefully I can get a decent price when I trade in my current pads.