Product Review: Vaughn V7 Pro XR Nut Cup
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.
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Awesome. I used to have the Brian’s leopard print goal cup as well. My fiancee bought it for me for Christmas back in 2000 if I remember right. I still have it. Yeah man, it was always a topic of conversation in the locker room.
Bro, its a lil scary how close your story is to mine. I used to play Rat Hockey at Southwest, I bought my leopard jock from Jerry’s Hockey Warehouse. I mainly played during the 1998/1999 summers. I had to replace my old D&R jock after a guy (who had supposedly played semi-pro) blasted me with a slap shot that hit right off my stick and hit me in the gooch. I thought that cup was bulletproof but its Achilles heel it was a regular cup and there was just a tiny bit of foam there. I was on the ground for a while. After that I went a got the Leopard jock, with banana cup to protect my taint. Im from Hammond, IN and I mainly played at Omni (roller hockey) until the St John Ice Arena opened and I played in a league there as Hammond doesnt have any high school teams (Bishop Noll does, but thats a private Catholic school). That ice arena had a lot of problems financially. We would have a practice on Saturday, then a game on Sunday. One time we went there and all the lights are off, the door is padlocked, and no ones there – no notice, no anything. So after that, the only time I d get to play ice hockey (all my friends stuck with roller hockey) was when my mom would drop me off for rat hockey and she would go to the stores around there while I played (goalies play free, I guess thats the consolation prize for spending $2000plus dollars for equipment). I remember playing Mortal Kombat 4 for the first time there, just kinda random memory I have. I wish I still played. Now Im fat and my back hurts. I think I can list all my old equipment – I dont have it now, unfortunately.
Vaughn Vision 1500 Leg Pads
Vaughn Legacy 2500 goalie pants and chest protector
Koho Felix Potvin glove and blocker (with the blue “scratch marks” or whatever you’d call them) which replaced:
Vic glove and blocker – the one with the curve on the top corner on it, the glove matched the blocker, I cant remember if it had a proper name.
ReidiC Goalie mask with the foam you’d put in the oven on a low temp for a few mins and it would form to your head. W/clear lexan throat protector (like Roy would wear)
Cooper or Bauer 4000 goalie skates.
I had a bunch of goalie sticks:
The dark blue Koho stick (F.Potvin model)
The Christian “Curtis Curve” stick
A Heaton stick.
I had that giant Brians goalie bag, which was always like 25 lbs heavier after the game/practice.
And, of course, the Brian’s Leopard goalie jock.
Sorry for rambling. It just blew my mind when I started reading your post. Cant believe I remember all that stuff that well.