New CCM Premier P2.5 Senior Goalie Leg Pads

Brand new for 2018, CCM has overhauled their flagship Premier line and brought out the CCM Premier P2.5 Senior Goalie Leg Pads. Building off of the already successful Premier R1.5 line, the Premier P2.5 Senior has new specs and pieces of technology sure to turn heads. Starting with the internal core of the pad, the Premier P2.5 pad has close to a 20% weight reduction across each pad that has a specifically balanced and reengineered core designed for the butterfly goalie. Also contributing to saving weight, there are specific reductions in the actual strapping and leg channel shapes. Moving onto the backside of the pad, you will notice the lack of leather straps. This is due to CCM utilizing a full elastic and nylon style setup to keep the pad connected on the leg while reducing weight. Keeping similar designs from previous generations, there is a 2 inch wide elastic strap which comes out of the knee block and can attach directly across the knee or angled down to the calf. The attachment on the outside of the knee is still removable, which is perfect for those who wish to experiment with strapping options or different knee pad sizes. Building off of the same technology put into the Premier R1.5, the top calf strap is still noted as the most important and integral to a pads successful rotation. You will now find this technology named the Quick Motion Strap System. This is a large “Y” style setup inside the pads sliding edge and the goalies calf, which goes into a 2 inch elastic strap which attaches via a Velcro on the outside of the goalies calf. This strap will help anchor the pad and keep the goaltenders leg firmly planted in the pad. There is some give in the elastic strap which will allow for a faster drop velocity and recovery in and out of butterfly movements. Following the same build pattern as the Quick Motion top calf strap, there is a larger nylon strap which closes off the entire leg channel. This strap begins on the inside of the calf and double through a loop on the outside of the leg channel and Velcro’s back onto itself. This strap can be adjusted as tight or as loose as desired, but it is recommended to keep it tighter as it will help pull the calf of the pad tight to the inside of the leg. A large difference between the CCM Premier R1.5 and Premier P2.5 is within the boot angle. On the R1.5, the boot angle was at such a stiff and straight angle that it caused goalies to have to drop down in the knee sizing to achieve the proper fit, but that is changed on the Premier II. Now, there is a similar sizing between the ExtremeFlex and Premier lines. This is due to a slight change in boot angle which is not too soft or stiff, but has a spring-like feel which allows for deep pushes but will not break down or settle. The newer boot angle is a 60 degree boot shape whereas the ExtremeFlex is a 90 degree boot angle.