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Hockey!  And more than that: goalie!

At the core of this trip is the challenge of playing ice hockey as a goalie in every state and province.  The other parts of the adventure are trivial by comparison; how hard is it to drive a bunch and go hiking every once in a while?  The goaltending complicates matters greatly.

There are two main factors to deal with.  First, the size, and second, the smell.

Were it not for the goalie gear, I could probably do this trip in a sports car.  Maybe even in a Lambo.  Instead, I needed a car with some room.  The Subaru Outback is perfect — not for no reason is it a popular choice for goalies.

Dealing with the smell is a matter of discipline and modern chemistry.  I am not at all a fan of super-stinky hockey gear, and I’ve played enough games to know how bad it can get if not confronted.  That’s why I always, always, always make sure to unpack my gear and set it out to dry after games.  Then I give it a healthy dose of Febreze, which is a powerful antagonist to eau-de-goalie.

With that one-two punch, things come out smelling like roses. Or at least, not like death.

Of course, hockey bags are vented, and few things can entirely eliminate the smell, so I ended up not stowing the bag in the passenger cabin.  Instead, it rides in a nifty cargo box attached to Sam’s receiver hitch.

The gear itself is a fairly standard setup.

My mask and pads when they were new

The list:

1. Bauer Supreme One80 Composite Stick
2. Vaughn Velocity 7400 Leg Pads
3. Vaughn Velocity V4 7600 Goalie Pants
4. Hackva 2608 mask — carbon fiber and Kevlar!
5. Vaughn Velocity Blocker
6. Vaughn Velocity Catcher
7. Vaughn Velocity V4 7600 Chest Protector
8. Bauer Supreme skates
9. Rbk goalie neck protector, plus Vaughn Lexan dangler
10. Everything else: Reebok Premier 2 Pro Knee Protectors, Under Armour Heatgear shirt, Eagle goalie cup, Sham Sweatband, and so on.

Back when I started playing, I went with top-of-the-line, pro-spec everything.  Those pads were durable, but the trade-offs were an agonizingly lengthy break-in period and decreased mobility.  This time around, I went with lower-spec, lighter-weight gear.  It boasts significantly improved mobility at the expense of slightly inferior protection.  Even so, I don’t feel I’m putting myself at risk of injury.  I just feel the puck more.