Hockey Tech: Slapshot Your Phone, and Get Your Popcorn Delivered To Your Seats

Hi folks!

Some interesting hockey related tech that was sent my way. Thought you might enjoy.

-Dave

============================================================================================================

Taap.it is a mobile app that allows you to order concessions at your favorite sporting event directly from your phone, and it’s coming to an arena near you.

They are working with teams like the New York Islanders to help them make their patrons experience more enjoyable by using our app.

Game Changer: Order concessions at your favorite sporting event directly from your smart phone and more.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY Feb 7, 2012 – Taap.it Live Local plans on revolutionizing the way fans experience sporting events. One of the most arduous, but accepted parts of going to a sports game is waiting on long lines to get something to eat and drink. Fans everywhere have accepted the fact if they want to get something to eat, they will have to miss some of the game. Taap.it has now solved that problem. Through Taap.it’s highly successful mobile application, fans will now be able to order food and beverages straight from their smart phones and have it delivered to their seats.

“This new feature to our mobile app is something we have been working on for months now, and we are very excited about,” said Andrew Calagna, Director of Event Marketing for Taap.it.  “We are going to enhance the overall experience of sport fans everywhere.” The application will have detailed pictures and descriptions of selected food items in the arena, so the fans will know exactly what they are getting as they order it.

Ordering concessions, isn’t the only feature Taap.it is bringing to the table. Their mobile application will let fans participate in contests, vote for player of the game, and rate player performances and much more.  “We know we aren’t the first ones the come up with the idea of using a smart phone to order food, but we are going to be the first to have a truely interactive experience with the fans.” said Andrew. “While we cannot disclose the franchises we are teaming up with at this time, we can say that we are very excited about these future partnerships. This is going to be a game changer.”

Taap.it Live Local is a mobile platform that allows users to quickly connect with other individuals or businesses in their area to buy and sell anything from laptops and clothing to apartments and food. Heralded by Technoverse as “a blockbuster”, Taap.it has already sparked partnerships with over 5,000 businesses in New York City, since it launched its beta at TechCrunch Disrupt in May 2011, including real estate brokerages Bond New York and Exit Kingdom Reality, retailer Harlem’s Heaven Hat Boutique, and restaurants T.S. Ma and Mellie’s Seafood Restaurant. TheNextWeb.com reported that in its first two months Taap.it “crossed an impressive $2.4 million”. With close to 20,000 downloads and an average of 15 new members each day Taap.it is quickly rising in the ranks of mobile platforms that combine community and commerce in a local setting. Taap.it is currently available for a FREE download in the apple app store.www.taap.it (Contact: Matthew James, 240-472-4624, matthew@taap.it)

****************************

And also…

if you were wondering whether your iPhone case is strong enough to protect your iPhone from being destroyed after being slapshotted, G-Form’s cases can:

Personally, I don’t know that I need a battletank of a phone case, but I also really do not want a cracked screen or broken phone. Some of you clutzo’s out there know you indeed need a battletank of a case, so this is probably for you.

check out http://g-form.com/ for more info.

Product Review: SPATS Skate Armour

Hi folks!

I was recently sent a product to review from the fine folks at SPATS — they make hockey skate foot shields to prevent injuries to players’ feet. As a former shot-blocker that was lucky to escape without any foot injuries, I wish these were available to me when I was playing hockey at a level where blocking shots was worth the bodily sacrifice and injury potential.

After installing them, and trying them out for a couple of games, here’s what I thought:

1. Installation – The process to install these onto your skates is moderately labor intense. You have to unlace your skates (if you have old laces with frayed ends that won’t fit back through the eyelets, you may want to pick up a new pair of laces), and then re-lace them through the plastic attachment. This moves two of your skate’s lace points closer to the middle, but did not seem to affect the tightness of my skate. You also have to nut and bolt the shield into your original eyelets — if you’re not all that handy with two screwdrivers at once, you may need an assistant. After that, all you have to do is stick the velcro piece on the bottom of your skate for the shield to clasp onto and lock. Once installed, the shields then easily open and close for skate tightening and loosening.

2. Game Play – My fear was these shields were somehow going to affect my stride, or my ankle flexion and extension. In all honestly, they did not in any way. I skated just the same as I did without them. I didn’t notice them to be a distraction in any matter. I barely noticed them at all, in fact.

3. Injury Prevention – Fortunately (I guess unfortunately, for the sake of testing), I did not receive any direct blows to my feet — that I was aware of. I can’t say definitively whether they prevented a foot injury for me, but as they say, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, right?

4. Aesthetics – Let’s be honest, many hockey players are concerned for their style on the ice, and how an supplemental additive outside of the standard 8 pieces of hockey equipment all  players wear like this will alter their look. The pair I demo’ed was clear, and were barely noticeable, visually. Other players noticed I had them on, and asked about them, so it’s not like they’re invisible. Personally, I wouldn’t choose to put on a colored pair, but they are available, and teams looking to match can take adavantage of that.

5. Price – SPATS are sold for $50.

All in all, this is a solid product. Its advantages far outweigh its disadvantages. Any hockey players looking to prevent future potential foot injuries, or any players who have suffered them in the past, and are looking for a way to beef up their foot protection would be smart to pick themselves up a pair of these.

Read below for some further reading on SPATS and foot injuries and hockey. Also, check out their website http://www.spats.ca/  , “Like” their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter .

-Dave

========================================================================================================================

Spats.ca is trying to prevent foot injuries and spread awareness by attaching a feather light guard directly over the skate laces. Spats are a revolutionary piece of ice hockey gear designed to stop foot injury. This lightweight armour attaches easily to the skate and allows for quick access to the laces. The high density polyethylene shield can absorb any impact directed at the laces or the inside of the skate boot. In a game where pucks can easily be moving upwards of 80 mph (108.8 if you’re in front of Zdeno Chara’s cannon fire), foot injuries are common.  The art of blocking shots is being taught at all levels. Spats will give you the confidence to make that game saving block.

Every year teams lose the services of players due to foot injuries, injuries that are now largely preventable. Many of today’s foot injuries in hockey could have been prevented with skate protectors. A recent list of NHL players missing games due to foot injuries includes:

James Neal – Pittsburgh Penguins (out for a number of weeks)
Devante Smith-Pelly – Anaheim Ducks (out 4-6 weeks)

Ville Leino – Buffalo Sabres (Missed a month)

Jay Pandolfo – New York Islanders (Missed 17 games)

Richard Park – Pittsburgh Penguins (Missed five weeks)

Colby Armstrong – Toronto Maple Leafs (Missed 23 games)

Bryan Little – Winnipeg Jets (Missed eight games)

Jeff Carter – Columbus Blue Jackets

Chris Pronger – Philadelphia Flyers

Hockey Foot Injury Statistics:

•     95% of hockey players have had an injury to their foot from a shot or a slash.
•     78% of players who reported a foot injury experienced bruising and 15% suffered a fracture.
•     23% who have had a foot injury have missed one or more weeks due to their injury.

“Injuries to the foot during hockey are often long standing with symptoms years after,” says Dr. Michael Ball, a leading Manitoban podiatrist. “In my practice, many of my patients who sustained injuries to the feet as children or young adults still complain of symptoms from these injuries to different degrees later in life. Unlike a fracture of the arm, you place two-and-a-half times your weight on your feet to walk and skate. I think that in order to prevent long term problems, any protection from injuries is very important.”

“You wouldn’t go on the ice without protecting your shin bone, so why do we play with the bones in our feet exposed?” says Lawrence Parrott, the inventor of Spats Skate Armour.

For more information: http://www.spats.ca/ 

“Like” their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter

Product Review: Easton Synergy EQ50

Follow @davecunning  Follow @CunningAthletix

Blogging has always been fun for me, but some days the enjoyment of it kicks up a couple of extra notches.  The day (about a month ago) when a large, rectangular cardboard box showed up at my front door was one of those days.

You see, the packing slip attached to the outside of the box was from a little hockey company called Easton; you know, the inventors of the Easton Aluminum, one-time sponsor of my hockey-hero Wayne Gretzky, and general hockey technology innovators/changers of the hockey stick world’s landscape.  I had been in touch with them via Twitter ( I suggest you follow them too @Easton_Hockey) and at my request, they had agreed to send me a Synergy EQ50 to review on this very blog.  I since have unsheathed it from its cardboard capsulation, and used it a number of times.  And this brings us to now, where I get to tell you what I think of it.

I didn’t want to play only one game and give you an opinion, as hockey players know it takes time to get to know a new stick.  As summer hockey games can be sparse, I took my time and played 4 good games in June with it before offering this assessment, which I believe to be objective in fact, and subjective in feeling.

The first thing I noticed about the Synergy EQ50 was that it is light.  Now I know that’s a pretty obvious thing to say about a composite hockey stick in 2011, but considering that I was coming out of a Bauer Supreme one95, an extremely light stick itself, I think that is saying something.  The adjustable, weighted counterbalance system installed in the removable butt-end is intriguing.  It features 4 removable weights that you can interchange to find your ideal butt-end weight, to assumably balance the added weight in the blade (more on that later).  I never thought this was a point of concern with my sticks before, but they pay smart people good money to come up with ideas like this, so let’s entertain the notion.  My theory was that since my last stick didn’t have such an option, I would keep all four in while I played to see the maximum effect.  Truth is, I can’t say I really knew what the difference/improvement was, other than the stick felt perhaps slightly heavier in my top hand.  All four weights are still in.

Where I did notice a difference however, was in the stick’s blade, which also features afore mentioned counterbalance weights; which are in contrast, permanent fixtures.   In making and receiving passes, the blade feels much thicker than say a Bauer or CCM product (which, from my personal experiences, seem to push thin blade technology).  I’ve heard that a thinner blade helps you “feel” the puck more, but while using the EQ50, I truly felt I could control passes noticeably better (no matter how errant the passer had made them), and in return I could send a much crisper and solid pass right back.  My assessment is that the added blade weight had a lot to do with that.

Shooting-wise, things only seemed to get better.  There is an adjustment period to any new stick, but once I had the EQ50 dialled in, I can truthfully say I was shooting pucks better than I ever have.  I’m not going to lie and say that it increased my shot speed by 20km/h or something insane; that kind of improvement can only be made by the stick’s operator.  The main instance I noticed shot improvement-wise was in my one-timer.  Admittedly, one-tee’s have never been a shot to boast about for me, but in lining a few up with the EQ50 and its thicker blade, I found my stick absorbing the pass like never before, and thusly return cannon-firing them at the net like never before, ala Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion (every action has an equal and opposite reaction).  Where I might have fanned on the same shot before, I felt like the EQ50 was far more forgiving and responsive.  After seeing the results, I was looking and calling for as many one-timers as I could to bomb.  One even managed to sneak over a goalie’s shoulder and go top cheese, which was, to say the least, fun J  I believe the weighted blade lowers the stick’s kickpoint; another plus for noticeably better shooting, in my opinion.  Hey, the NHL/world’’s hardest shooter Zdeno Chara and his 105.9 mph slap-bombing Synergy EQ50 can’t be wrong, can they?

Cosmetically, after 4 games, the EQ50 seems to have the same condition that my previous Synergy had; the outer grip layer seems to be flaking off for some odd reason.  It doesn’t affect the stick’s performance in any way, however.

Now that you’ve read what I think, here’s what Easton’s website says about the EQ50:

============================

EQ50

• Own the puck with the ultimate combination of balance and control
• Visible Focus Weight Technology^™ (15 grams) redistributes weight to the impact area to control hard passes and keep the puck on your blade
• Customizable weighted end cap for optimal balance with adjustable swing weight
• Kevlar^® wrapped shaft for impact protection and vibration dampening
• Multi-Rib^™ and Micro-Bladder^™ blade

FWT- Focus Weight Technology™ is used in the blade to provide an incredible feel for handling the puck and in the shaft to counter balance the stick for added control.
CONTROL: Engineered to keep the puck on your blade to control the game
PASS: Redistributes and focuses weight in the ultra-light blade to catch the toughest passes
SHOOT: Delivers more power and velocity making your shot unstoppable
BALANCE: Weight at the end of the stick counter balances the blade for optimal swing weight
CUSTOMIZABLE: Weighted end cap is adjustable to optimize balance at any length. Fully customizable from 6.5-26.5 grams

============================

I can’t say that I think any of these statements or claims by Easton are at all erroneous.  This stick delivers on its promises, and would be a great investment for any player in the market for a new stick.  I personally saw improvement in my game with it, and I have no reason to think it wouldn’t do the same for you.