“At first glance a lot of our new Vaughn line for 2014 might look familiar to goaltenders everywhere, but don’t let that fool you. I have been working on this launch for more than two and a half years, constantly seeking out and testing new materials and suppliers in order to find a way to bring all the benefits of carbon fiber to goaltending. After countless hours of testing on and off the ice, Vaughn has come up with a way to do just that.

“This isn’t carbon fiber the way most might think of it being used in a goalie mask or player stick, but after years of seeing shooters add velocity with their carbon-based rocket launchers, we thought goalies deserved some carbon fiber magic of their own. We found it in a patent-pending flexible resin that allows us to maximize all the durability, impact absorption and weight-saving benefits of this incredible material in a way that improves the puck-stopping properties goalies have come to count on from all our different equipment lines – because at Vaughn, we are a goalie company, and we don’t make changes just for the sake of change.

“Vaughn makes changes to help goalies make big saves at big moments, and the Carbon Enhanced Performance in our new line does just that, whether it’s trimming the weight in every new piece to give goalies enough energy to make that hard push on a 2-on-1 in overtime, or the durability of carbon-fiber reinforcement to ensure the pad stays firm and that last-second shot you just get a piece of at the end of a long season doesn’t squeak into the net.

“We know that one extra save every couple of games can be the difference between good and great. That’s why we constantly strive to improve our product, and while it may look familiar from a distance, the 2014 line is a big improvement for goaltenders everywhere.”

~ Mike Vaughn, President of Vaughn Custom Sports, The Goalie Company

INTRODUCING THE VAUGHN VELOCITY V6 2000

From the outside, the new Vaughn V6 2000 pad doesn’t look a whole lot different from previous versions of the flagship Velocity pad.

Don’t let familiar first impressions fool you.

On the inside, nothing could be further from the truth. The V6 2000 model has several new innovations and performance features.

Not only has Vaughn included a patent-pending layer of carbon fiber – they’re calling it Carbon Enhanced Performance, and it’s present in every new top-end piece of equipment in the 2014 line – but for the first time ever, the Velocity pad also has a solid core top to bottom, including through the boot break, to help maintain its height.

And don’t think Vaughn just stuffed new technology into an old pad either – to maximize the benefits of this new combination of a modern core and traditional stuffing, they changed every pattern on the pad. In fact the only thing cut the same as the V5 7800 model it replaces are the letters used to spell out “Vaughn” on the side of the pad.

“It’s completely new,” Mike Vaughn said.

The best news for goaltenders is the new technology blends perfectly with long-standing expectations for the Velocity, adding durability and consistency to a pad that remains the most flexible on the market.

The new V6 2000 maintains the foam flex stuffing on the inside of the pad and against the goalie’s leg just like its predecessor, the V5 7800. It’s a design that allows the pad to conform to the leg and break-in according to each goalie’s preferred style of play, preserving the more reactive, controlled and connected feeling – and soft, easy-to-control rebounds – the Velocity pad has long been famous for:

The new V6 2000 also maintains full knee roll style construction on the face of the pad, with two breaks on the outer roll – one at and another above the knee – for the flexibility that allows goaltenders to feel like they are in control of the pad as it moves with them.

All of which feels familiar to long-time fans of the Vaughn Velocity.

The biggest differences are on the inside of the pad.

The V6 2000 features a new Pro Pac design, combining a solid core that runs from top to bottom and ensures the pad maintains its height as it breaks in, with a proprietary new carbon fiber recoil plate running from the knee, through the thigh rise, to the top of the pad.

Whereas previous Velocity pads had clean breaks between each section of the core, they are all now connected in a way that will allow it to feel broken in out of the box, without breaking down too fast.

“The beauty is it gives that same flex and feeling that a goalie who has always liked the Vaughn Velocity product wants,” Vaughn said, “But the pad holds its shape better, holds its form better. It will keep that crispness of being newer for longer. In other words you are preserving the performance over a longer period of time.”

The addition of carbon fiber, which Vaughn embedded in the foams with a proprietary process and resin, allows the pad to easily bend and wrap around the front of the knees to close the five hole when a goalie drops to the ice, but spring back to its original shape after.

“It’s like a recoil spring on the inside,” Vaughn said. “It allows it to flex and the carbon fiber allows it to return to its original position.”

The carbon fiber layer runs top to bottom in the V6 2200 pad, which replaces the V5 7990 model, but only from the knee to the top in the V6 2000, That goalies all the benefits that allow the pad to wrap a double-break around in front to close off their five hole in the butterfly while still maintaining the softer, more controllable rebounds off the lower part of the leg long associated with the original Velocity pad.

The use of carbon fiber above the knee in the V6 2000 also helps hold the edges across the face of the pad, supporting the HD foam around it to maintain firm edges along the top and bottom longer.

Goalies can order a double break without fear it will break down. The outer rolls are also reinforced with carbon fiber, which over time can be the difference between getting a piece of a puck and having it still go in, or having a pad still firm enough to keep it out.

“The real secret is a flexible resin that won’t break down over multiple impacts and flexes,” Vaughn said of the carbon fiber. “You strengthen the internal structure of the pad without adding weight to it.”

In other words, the new V6 2000 pad looks like a Velocity and plays like a Velocity. But thanks to a completely new core and two and a half years of innovation, it will do so for longer than ever before.

V6 2000 CATCH GLOVE

So what does Carbon Enhanced Performance do to a glove?

Much like the pads, it helps combine all the performance goalies have come to expect from a Vaughn trapper with improved durability and protection, while at the same time reducing weight. The carbon fiber is 40 per cent lighter than plastic molded parts, and by using it along the edges and perimeter at the tips of the finger, Vaughn has moved more of the balance point of the glove back towards the thumb, making the glove feel even lighter. The carbon fiber also strengthens the outer edge, reducing finger curl while also ensuring any pucks a goalie just gets a piece of don’t bend the edge of the glove back:

The back of the thumb and palm also use carbon fiber components between stitch lines, which allows it to hold its shape better and for longer, providing an improved grip and consistent closure.

As for the glove specs, the thumb angle is higher on the Velocity V6 2000 than it was on the V5 7800, but still not quite as high as the thumb on the Ventus glove. This opens up the hand position to create a wider pocket opening, with an extended T-web to make also make it deeper and reduce the spin that causes pucks to pop out.

Heat moldable for a custom fit and quicker break-in, the inside has a more open internal thumb pocket that allows goaltenders to customize their hand position with a longer thumb loop that includes three tie-down points, and mesh fingerstalls and a “grip rail” at the fingertips gives goalies improved fit, leverage and control.

A new floating cuff makes it easier to cock the wrist without interfering with the lower portion of the chest-and-arm unit, making it easier to square the glove to shooters. And HD foam rail across the back of the hand protects the fingertips, and a four-piece design on the backside of the glove maintains protection while adding closing flexibility.

V6 2000 BLOCKER

The benefits of Carbon Enhanced Performance in the blocker also include improved durability and less weight, but what many may not recognize is it also improves the ability to precisely deflect pucks.

Use a high-speed camera to capture a blocker steering pucks into the corner and you will quickly see how much the material in a traditional blocker actually shifts at impact. To reduce this movement Vaughn not only added carbon fiber and significantly increased the thickness of their ultra high-density foam layer, but you will also notice every blocker now also has lace stitched across the bend at the wrist.

These laces anchor the layers together, ensuring they don’t move as much at impact and giving goalies a truer deflection of the puck.

“If you could steer the same shot into a 5-foot circle time, now you can keep it within a two-foot circle,” Vaughn said. “There is no variation because the materials stretch and move at impact.”

Like the other equipment, the carbon fiber layer also improves the durability of the foams in the blocker with its ballistic properties, absorbing the impacts and holding its shape longer than plastic components while at the same time reducing the weight.

The V6 2000 blocker is bindingless, with a neutral hand position to optimize balance and stick placement, and a floating cuff to provide great range of motion for the wrist. The index finger has two layers of padding on the inside edge for added protection, and the palm features the MSH3 base material that was so popular in the Ventus blocker, with a grip layer for added stick control.

Add it all up, and the new V6 2000 is designed to be the perfect blend of the feel and fit goaltenders have come to expect from the Velocity, and improved technology to make it perform even better for longer.

Look for more previews of the V6 2200 line, with flat-faced pads that take the place of the V5 7990 series and use a carbon layer in the core from top to bottom, at InGoal in the coming weeks. We will also take a closer look at the benefits of Carbon Enhanced Performance in the new V6 chest-and-arm units, including an incredibly light 2200 unit that includes the use of Kevlar for added protection. In the meantime, take a closer look at the V6 2200 in these photos: