This may sound weird, but this was a big purchase for me. You see, it was the first new piece of equipment I bought myself since the 2001 season. The fact that it was my nut cup I was replacing was even more monumental since I bought the old one when I was in high school, I estimate in 1996 when I was a freshman.
I loved my old nut cup. It was a Brian’s leopard print cup. You can imagine the looks I got in the locker room when I debuted that thing, or joined a new team, or played rat hockey (I grew up in Chicago, that’s what we call shinny or pick-up hockey there). It was an easy choice for me though. I remember going to Jerry’s Hockey Warehouse in Crestwood, IL, to buy it with money I earned shoveling snow. There were two goalie cups available – the one I bought, and the classic Brian’s cup with the bullseye on it. I had real issues with putting a bullseye there, so I only had one choice.
After getting the leopard print nut cup I did threaten my teammates that I’d use a lacy garter like Nuke LaLoosh in Bull Durham. I never did, but they thought I’d be crazy enough to do it.
Back to buying a new nut cup. The elastic strap on my old cup was shot. It had been for the last few years, but I was able to MacGyver it so it worked. Last season though the stitching started to go, and it was simply falling apart after 20+ years. I couldn’t be mad, but I needed to replace it. Just before Christmas last year I got that first new piece of equipment in almost 20 years (sticks not included).
I looked around at different cups, but nothing seemed to have the same fit/feel as my old one. I looked at different options, and the closest I found at the stores near me was the Vaughn V7 Pro XR nut cup. It was nice to have a waste band that was functional again. One thing I noticed right away though was that it wasn’t as easy to adjust. The Velcro straps are hidden behind some padding. It can be adjusted, just not as easy. Not a big deal, in fact I like that it is protected so that it doesn’t somehow catch something during play, and get opened up.
In terms of fit, it fit great, but it’s a nut cup – not hard to find a good fit there as they’re all pretty much the same with elastic bands for the waste, then the cup. One thing this new cup, and pretty much all cups these days has is some padding that overlaps the cup, and extends along the front. I’m not a fan of this padding, the lower part (highlighted in the photo) tends to dig into my legs when sitting, or sometimes when playing. It’s not so much of a discomfort that I’m going to replace the cup, but I have considered taking it to be altered to remove this part. I think this alteration would make the nut cup pretty much perfect.
In all, it was a good purchase. The price was reasonable, and the protection is what I need.
