Bauer Supreme Mach Catcher & Blocker Review

May 20, 2022 || Written by Cedric Hastings

We’ve already been teased a bit with Bauer’s next release in the recent NHL playoffs, and they have finally graced us with one of their biggest and most highly anticipated launches yet. The brand new Bauer Supreme Mach catcher and blocker are set to carry us toward the future of goaltending with cybernetic graphics and unrivalled performance, all while keeping that same Supreme feel we know and love from the classic line.

Catcher

Break & Shape

The Mach glove maintains the same Supreme break seen in the Ultrasonic and Supreme gloves from years past, but with a couple subtle differences. This new iteration has been tweaked for a snappier feel while being even easier to close right out of the box. The new iteration has been tweaked to be snappier and easier to close right out of the box. New for the Mach glove is a break that sits deeper into the palm of the hand, providing you with a better grip and more leverage around the break of the catcher.

Palm Protection

First seen on their Hyperlite chest protector, the Mach catcher uses Bauer’s Rebound Control foam right in the palm. This material is designed to deaden the puck on impact, making for fewer popouts and rebounds. Combine this foam with a Catchlite base, CURV reinforcement, and Poron material, and the Mach is certain to provide amazing protection, even with the easy-to-close, game-ready configuration.

Cuff Design

The cuff has been shortened and redesigned on the catcher to improve mobility, just as it did on the blocker. The new square free-flex cuff moves the attachment further down towards the palm allowing you to crank your wrist and really present the glove to the shooter. As compared to the Ultrasonic, the cuff is now drastically shorter, which helps improve wrist mobility as well as chest guard integration.

Internals

Taking a look inside the new glove, we see that the backhand straps have been redesigned once again to improve wrist mobility. The wrist strap has been replaced with a tighter backhand strap called the Range of Motion (R.O.M.) strap to secure the hand in the catcher while, once again, improving wrist mobility. If you are partial to having a tighter wrist area, there is another option where you can place the strap higher up towards the wrist, effectively giving that tighter, more traditional feel. Further down the finger stalls, we can see a new CatchGrip+ liner down along the fingertips, which, combined with the new break design, is built to give you even more of a connected feel to the catcher.

Blocker

Board Construction

The Mach blocker uses a CURV Composite-reinforced HD foam board. This construction method makes for a slightly thicker, more solid feeling blocker that punches rebounds out far and hard.

Just like the Ultrasonic blocker that precedes it, the Mach blocker maintains that steeper, more aggressive shape, allowing for improved wrist mobility and better coverage in tight.

Palm

As seen on their most recent blockers, Bauer has shrunk the palm in the Mach blocker to 14.5”. This makes for less excess material around the hand, and therefore, a less sloppy feel when holding the stick or making saves. The palm itself is the Connekt+ palm, which uses a combination of durable nash and a fabric around the sides of the fingers, allowing for better heat management. Blending these two materials creates one of the most comfortable palms on the market, while also producing a more responsive-feeling blocker that sits tighter and moves with you.

Side Hand Protection

The side plate of the Mach blocker is made using the same CURV Composite-reinforced HD foam as the board. This stiff sidewall offers great protection while maintaining a shape that allows for improved stick integration and wrist mobility. The index finger is guarded by a velcro-adjustable/removable guard along with a Poron-lined shell.

Each finger is individually adjustable, so you can dial in how close the guard fits to your fingers.

Redesigned Cuff

The new Range of Motion (R.O.M.) cuff design eliminates the tight, bulky wrist guard originally seen on the Ultrasonic in favour of a much looser, less restrictive and open space design for the Mach. This allows for drastically improved wrist mobility and less chest guard interference.

Ultrasonic Cuff

Mach Cuff

Final Words

The Mach glove and blocker set are some of the nicest gear we’ve had a chance to trial so far to date. The catcher feels perfect right out of the box, and the new R.O.M. cuff is a huge and noticeable improvement to the original Ultrasonic gear. Overall, Bauer is definitely raising the bar for what they can do with their goalie gear, with a clear hit in the Mach gear this year.

Piqued your interest? Take a look at the Mach collection here!