Personal Details

Male

6’3”

230 lbs

Butterfly

A-B level hockey

Usage time: 6 Skates

Price: Demo set

Retail: $600

Break Angle: CCM/Reebok 600

Tee: Double fang tee

Webbing: Standard nylon

Weight: 1116 grams, 2.46 lbs

Glove History: Warrior Messiah M3 Catcher, Smith 6000 Retro Catcher, Reebok Larceny Pro, Simmons 997, CCM EFlex Pro Return Practice Palm, Vaughn 5500, Bauer Reactor 6000 Bryzgalov Pro Return Practice Palm, CCM Eflex 3

Review Category Overview:

Initial Impressions Do they feel high quality? Are they light or heavy? Does anything stand out?



Fit Do the glove fit true to size? Is their adjustabilty with straps?



Comfort How the materials feel? Are there any hard points that create discomfort?



Weight Looking at the actual weight and balance of the glove



Break Angle What it is labelled as? How it compares to competitors? Scored based on my preference ?



Thumb Angle How is the rake of the thumb angle? Does the thumb cause rebounds or push pucks into the pocket? Does the thumb close snuggly with the break angle?



Closing Ability Is there any interference in the palm when closing the glove? How easy is the glove to close out of the box? Does the glove break in easy?



Seal on the Ice How does the glove seal on the ice and hold onto pucks?



Duability Early signs of wear Materials or padding breaking down Worrisome design or places to keep an eye on



Protection Looking at the protective levels Not including built in knee pads



Peformance Is there any issues when playing? Does the balance help stop and catch pucks? Is it easy to cover pucks?



Intangibles Adding features when ordering Noteable customer service Bonus straps or accessories



This glove was part of a demo set I got from a local store. It is a bone stock retail glove.

Initial Thoughts: Besides the Speed Skin the CCM Eflex 3 catching glove feels fairly similar to the previous iterations of this glove line. The glove did go through some make up changes that according to CCM were done through feedback given by Carey Price. You can feel a slight difference between the CCM Eflex 2 and this CCM Eflex 3 glove. But if you liked the previous CCM 600 break gloves I feel the transition to the Eflex 3 will be an easy one. Just like the rest of the Eflex 3 line the catching glove feels very no-frills with no unique features or tech besides the Speed Skin. It also feels pretty thin in regards to a pro level glove.

Fit: There are 2 velcro straps that go across the fingers and the back of the hand.

Then there is an adjustable nylon strap that can be pulled through backhand cover so you can adjust it on the ice. CCM still includes the pinky and thumb loops on the Eflex 3 catching glove, which is a huge bonus for me. I like the tight feeling of the thumb and pinky loops and like to tighten them during the game.

For me the more traditional style of finger construction in the CCM Eflex 3 is better fitting for me compared to the more bare style in gloves like Bauer 1X, Brians GN3tik and Passau. The sure grip liner was comfortable and does a good job of being textured enough to keep my hand from sliding around. It is grippier than nash and holds my hand in tighter. With 3 adjustable straps and pinkie and thumb loops the CCM Eflex 3 can be adjusted to fit my hand nicely. 10/10

Comfort: The CCM Eflex 3 glove feels decent on your hands, but the updated internals do feel a bit squared off and less rounded making the glove feel less comfortable than the Eflex 1 I had before. I am curious if a thicker palm (pro or practice) would change how the break feels in your hands. The sure grip is comfortable and better for grip than nash but is less comfortable. The backhand straps had nice padding on the backhand straps where they don’t create pressure points. Again there is nothing special about the CCM Eflex 3 in terms of materials to make this glove extremely comfortable. 7/10

Weight: This is the first catching glove I have ever weight, and since I don’t have the weight of other modern models it is hard to compare it strictly with number values. I can say that the CCM Eflex 3 doesn’t feel exceptionally lightweight or heavy, just like the pads the catching glove feels like a more classic piece of equipment. The glove felt well balanced and felt lighter than my Bauer Reactor 6000 Pro Return. The weight of the CCM Eflex 3 glove helped with an active catching glove without feeling exceptionally light weight. 7/10

Break Angle: The CCM 600 break is simply put my favourite glove to date, and I try to match this break with gloves I look to purchase. It feels to me like a more refined Vaughn 5500 break and CCM did update the internals of this glove and slightly adjust the break on the CCM Eflex 3 600. Personally I prefer the older break angle of the CCM 600 break that was on my Eflex glove. While this break angle wasn’t bad or awkward, it just wasn’t as comfortable as the older models to me. 8.5/10

Thumb Angle: The thumb slopes into the pocket at an aggressive angle, it is far from a pancake design and should help angle pucks into the pocket.

Closing Ability: This CCM Eflex 3 catching glove features a game ready palm, so it should close very easily right off the shelf, which it does fairly well. The glove still requires some break in to make sure the fingertips and thumb close tightly and the glove snaps shut. But the glove was easy to close without having much use. 9/10

Seal on the Ice: Again since I didn’t get a chance to use this glove in a game, I cannot really comment on this besides showing the glove laying flat on a table.

Durability: I used this glove even less than I used the pads, so I can’t really comment on durability of the CCM Eflex 3 catching glove. I can say there was some material splitting on the tee of the glove and the famous CCM heel of the palm wear was also visible on this glove. While these issues were not huge, it does make me worry if the new material on the tee (the tee is made up of a different material than Speed Skin) and Speed Skin can actually hold up with constant rubbing.

Protection: Protection in my catching gloves is a very important feature for me, I need my hands for my career and breaking them playing hockey is simply not an option. I also want to be confident I won’t feel pain when playing, and less protective gloves can make me hesitate reaching out for a hard slapshot. This should be evident in my glove history with the practice palms, so using a game ready retail glove was something I was curious to try. It seems that every release manufacturers will advertise more protection in the palm while still being able to close easily, CCM is no different with the Eflex 3 catching glove by advertising D3O foam in the palm. After using this glove once I can confidently say the D3O foam and game ready padding is not adequate enough for decent level adult players. The only time I did use the glove was against okay shooters, and after I got them to shoot as hard as possible into my glove while ensuring the puck hit straight on the palm I knew I couldn’t use this glove in one of my league games with players who can really shoot the puck. Simply put I wouldn’t trust this glove to protect my hand from injury in my higher level of adult league and unless you are under 14 years old, I wouldn’t recommend this glove in its stock retail form with a game ready palm. The CCM Eflex 3 catching glove isn’t protective enough for any decent level of shooters who are above 12 years old. 3/10

Performance: Since the game ready palm is very flimsy and soft on the CCM Eflex 3 catching with it was considerably easier than with my practice palm glove. But because I didn’t get a chance to use it in an actual game I don’t feel comfortable rating the CCM Eflex 3 catching gloves performance.

Intangibles: Just like the pads, the CCM Eflex 3 catching glove is a pretty bare bones and the Speed Skin isn’t really benefitial on the glove compared to the pads. The velcro attachment on the outside of the glove was done well to ensure the hard portion of velcro will not snag and rub against your chest proector and jersey on the inside of the glove. I appreciate how CCM does allow you to order the glove in the with many different options including wrist strap material (leather or webbing), palm size (intermediate or regular), palm protective level (game ready, pro, or practice), cuff and thumb options (600 one piece, 600 two piece, 590 one piece, 580 one piece), and glove tee options (double straight tee, single straight tee, single straight tee + 1 inch, single offset tee, single offset tee + 1 inch). This amount of customization is nice to see compared to Bauer and should be applauded. 9/10

Conclusion: It is clear to me CCM is aiming for the instant satisfaction of a glove that is broken in off the shelf with the game ready palm. But because of this I do not believe the CCM Eflex 3 catching glove is suitable to any decent level players over the age of 12. I wouldn’t trust the CCM Eflex catching glove with protecting my hand in my higher level adult. The wear signs aren’t very promising so far, but the protection is the biggest issue. If I were to order this glove I’d order it with at least a pro palm, but as it stands as a retail product with a game ready palm I simply cannot recommend the CCM Eflex 3 catching glove. 4/10

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