CCM E3.5 Source Exclusive vs Stock Version

At The Hockey Shop, we strive to give our customers the best hockey shopping experience, through top-notch customer service, our knowledgeable staff, and our vast selection of products. With our growth as a company comes more opportunities for us to offer our customers the best products on the market. When going through our website, you’ll see products saying Source Exclusive or The Hockey Shop Spec (THS Spec). These products feature custom options, making them exclusive to either us or Source for Sports retailers.

This year, we are proud to be a provider for the CCM Extreme Flex E3.5 Source Exclusive Spec leg pads, trappers, and blockers. The CCM E3.5 series is available in Senior and Junior sizes, and these specs will only be available at Source for Sports stores.

The following review will cover the big differences between our Source Exclusive model and the regular stock option. After reading, you’ll have a better idea as to why the Source Exclusive option is the obvious choice for you!

Leg Pads

My rule of thumb for beer league guys is if you’re on the ice 1 to 3 days per week, any entry-level model—E3.5 in this case—would work great for you.

Knee Breaks

The E3.5 series target two types of goalies: younger goalies and beer league beauties. What is similar between these two types of goalies is that they are both not on the ice a ton.

Since it’ll take a while for the hips to familiarize with the motions of the butterfly, they’ll need a bit of help closing the 5-hole. For this exact reason, the Source Exclusive E3.5 leg pads come with a double-break instead of a single break. The double knee break caters to the young-guns and casual beer-leaguers who need a little help closing the 5-hole, by ensuring there’s a nice S-shape curve in the pad.

Knee Rolls

One of the more unique features not normally seen on CCM pads is the flattened knee rolls. Extreme Flex pads normally come with radiused knee rolls, for a traditional look. Our Source Exclusive series’ flattened knee rolls provide a flat blocking surface and a clean aesthetic. A flat blocking surface will provide more predictable rebounds.

Calf Strap

The new E-Flex E3.5 leg pads come with a Velcro calf strap to tighten up the calf wrap to your preference; considering CCM’s QK5 strapping, the Velcro strap is necessary. However, our Source Exclusive E3.5 leg pads come with a lower calf strap, reducing the necessity of the Velcro strap.

Now, the majority of goalies will like the Velcro strap, because they may like the support or a super-tight calf wrap. But, if they don’t, the strap can simply be removed.

Trapper

The E3.5 trapper is a great option for the beer leaguers and young guns. The 600 break makes it super easy to catch pucks, and the new double-tee pocket is very open so you can keep your eyes on the puck all the way into the glove.

The Pocket

Our Source Exclusive version of the E3.5 trapper comes with the new double-T pocket and a skate lace pocket.

The skate lace pocket adds to the gloves in a couple ways: functionality and style. The functional aspect may be a bit overstated, but many pros believe the softer skate lace contributes to the puck retention (fewer pop-outs).

Of course, the skate lace is a great look. Carey Price is the reason you see a lot of skate lace pockets.

Palm

This next feature is only available for the Senior Source Exclusive E3.5 trapper. Rather than the stock felt and foam palm, the Source Exclusive trapper comes with CCM’s D3O Smart Material.

D3O is a vibration-dampening material, which is used to reinforce the palms of the pro-level Extreme Flex III trappers. This is a huge feature for an entry-level glove since it upgrades the overall protection.

Blocker

Finger Protection

Just like the trapper, the E3.5 blocker meets the basic requirements for blocking pucks with your hand. The binding-less blocker face is a nice touch, as it provides a slightly larger surface area than one with a binding. Not to mention, it’s a clean aesthetic.

Our Source Exclusive E3.5 blocker is enhanced with D3O in both Senior and Junior sizes. The index finger mesh has a D3O insert that protects your finger from any puck contact. While it’s uncommon to get hit in the index finger, the extra protection is nice to have. Beats losing a fingernail!

Wrap-Up

Here’s a chart to nicely summarize everything!

	E3.5 STOCK	E3.5 SOURCE EXCLUSIVE
LEG PADS	SINGLE OUTER BREAK	DOUBLE OUTER BREAK
	STANDARD ELASTIC CALF STRAP	REMOVABLE ELASTIC CALF STRAP
	RADIUSED KNEE ROLLS	LOW PROFILE KNEE ROLLS
TRAPPER	DOUBLE TEE	DOUBLE TEE WITH SKATE LACE
TRAPPER	FELT AND FOAM PALM	FELT PALM WITH D3O® (NOT JR)
BLOCKER	LOW-DENSITY FOAM WRAP	D3O® INDEX FINGER