New Vaughn Velocity V6 2300 leg pads review

At the beginning of last year, Vaughn took a leap of faith from their tried and tested soft, flexible pad design, with the V6 2000 leg pad.

Vaughn has a long standing reputation as being the premier traditional style soft pad, and with the 2000 series leg pad they removed the negative associations of premature breakdown with goalies that are on the ice constantly.

The addition of carbon fiber to the face of these pads allowed goalies to retain the soft traditional Vaughn feel, without having to deal with the shortcomings of a pad that wasn’t completely squared off.

The addition of carbon fiber in their design and construction also helped Vaughn take full advantage of maximizing surface area, and changes in the landing gear made these pads much more stable than their predecessors.

With the release of the 2300 leg pad, Vaughn hopes to push even further into the foray and revolutionize the way that we think of soft pads.

The 2300 leg pad, compared to the other two pads currently in the V6 line up focuses more on getting the maximum amount of technology Vaughn can fit in a pad.

Using carbon fiber in place of traditional HD foams has a profound effect on the total weight of the pad. Without compromising durability, Vaughn has managed to shave an impressive amount of weight, especially in the case of the 2200 and the 2300.

Utilizing more carbon fiber than ever, with a total of three sheets, the 2300 has the most out of all three V6 leg pads. The first sheet runs from top to bottom of the pad, reinforcing and stiffening the whole package. There are two more boards starting at the bottom knee break and working their way up, acting as a recoil board so that the pad snaps back into its original shape, despite the fact that it comes stock with a double knee break.

Because Vaughn has a very unique pad feel that has kept goalies loyal for so long, using carbon fiber over HD foams works because they can optimize the stiffness of the pad without affecting the feeling of the rebound substantially. Maintaining this familiarity while still innovating and improving upon the pad is what we love about the new Vaughn leg pads.

The 2300 should appeal to a much bigger audience than that of traditional soft pads of the past. With excellent balance, and a stiffer construction from the carbon, this pad also has great seal and slide characteristics.

Although Vaughn remains an advocate of traditional leather straps (and usually more of them than their competitors), the 2300 has a new and different strapping story.

With the emergence of the Brian`s Smart Strap system, and as well the success of the Warrior G2, it`s not surprising that Vaughn decided to introduce their own strapless design.

Because the leather straps are all on adjustable leather tabs, they can be easily removed and the Y-strap system can be used on its own, and adjusted to fit the rotational needs of the goalie.

Taking leather straps away decreases the weight of an already light pad, and allows just as much, if not more ability to fine tune the fit as the traditional leather. If leather straps still feel the most comfortable to you, Vaughn has created a very simple way to have all of your strapping points be fully adjustable.

Being able to fine tune where your straps attach to, means that you don’t lose out on adjustability if the Y-strap system isn’t for you.

This is the first pro pad from Vaughn that we've seen with flat style knee rolls. Although there isn't a big technology story here, this is something that we've seen on several NHLers over the past year including Jimmy Howard. These flat style knee rolls have the traditional look of knee rolls and provide almost all of the performance benefits of an entirely flat faced pad.

Also worth noting is that we have this feature on our Source for Sports Exclusive pad - the Vaughn XLW series. Check it out here

With the 2300 leg pad, Vaughn continues to show why they are one of the great innovators in the goalie world. The use of carbon fiber and the new and improved strapping system contribute to an extremely well balanced pad. After all, balance is probably more important than the total weight itself - it not only changes how the pad feels on the leg, but how it reacts when the weight starts to get thrown around and transition with your movements.

Have a question that we didn't cover in this review? Please let us know - call us at 1-800-567-7790 or email us at sales@thehockeyshop.com