

There are two major changes in the CCM EFLEX 7 line, and both are easy to spot and feel.
The first involves the pads, and a new sliding surface called CGT, which stands for Cross Glide Technology. It replaces Speed Skin and provides improved sliding, particularly once the ice starts to get chopped up. CGT, which is exclusive to the inside edge of the pad, is noticeably smoother as a material (even compared to the traditional Jen Pro on our custom EFLEX 6 pads) and feels and sounds stiffer when you “knock” on it.
The second major change might be the biggest improvement in the new EFLEX 7: a re-designed closure and backhand, as well as the return of full finger stalls on a stock 580 break — easily the best closing CCM glove right out of the box in five years.
There are several other notable improvements in material and design worth noting, so let’s stop with the teases and dive right into the deep end with a complete overview.

Yeah, yeah, we already noted the biggest improvement is in the gloves. And yes, CCM even starts their new product catalogue with the gloves listed ahead of the pads. But as InGoal has always been about embracing new ideas and innovation, we’re also traditionalists — and this is where equipment overviews and reviews have always started in the past.
Besides, with new strapping, a first-ever calf pillow, new materials on the knee and leg channel, and a sliding surface that’s been tested at more than a 25 percent improvement over Speed Skin after the ice breaks down, the EFLEX 7 pads deserve some shine too.
It’s also worth noting the sizing may have also changed — more on that below.
The new Cross Glide Technology is the biggest callout on the new pads.
While we are still waiting to get more feedback from a variety of InGoal testers that we’ll continue to share throughout the summer on our social media channels and here at InGoalMag.com, early on-ice testing indicated an improvement of 28 percent in sliding on ice that had started to break down as the game goes on. So, why are we singling out “bad ice” as the biggest point of improvement? Because that’s where the previous Speed Skin material — which was great on fresh ice — tended to fall off the most, performance-wise.
So, what does this difference mean? How does it manifest itself beyond the material looking and feeling incredibly smooth? In terms of performance, think of a roughly four-foot push (like from the edge of the crease back to your post). With CGT, that same push into a butterfly slide should take you around five feet, and it will get you to four feet in three-quarters of the time.

Enough that New Jersey Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom, who does not have to worry about the ice getting too broken down in the NHL, decided to stick with Jen Pro on the inside edge because his push distance was dialled in and he didn’t want to have to adjust it.
“Compared to the EFLEX 6 I would say there is a big difference in the slickness of the inner material,” said PWHL goalie Corinne Schroeder, who was recently signed by Seattle in expansion after two outstanding seasons in New York, the last wearing EFLEX 7.
The difference is subtle on good ice but the addition of the firmer, smoother feeling CGT catches CCM up with other companies that have added premium sliding surfaces.
“I think EFLEX 7 little better slides if compared with EFLEX 6,” added St. Louis Blus prosect Vadim Zherenko. “Difference in my opinion is not huge, but goalies can feel it.”
There are other, more obvious differences in the EFLEX 7 pad, and some more hidden.
Knee rolls remain as an EFLEX staple and are still flat like the previous generation but now run straight across rather than angled like the EFLEX 6. Like the last version, there are no laces running through the front of the pad, all of which improves rebound consistency.
Speaking of rebounds, they’re going to bounce off the face of these new EFLEX 7 pads harder and travel farther than the EFLEX 6 pads, thanks to CCM’s Infinite Power Rebound materials now coming stock under the surface instead of the old Control Rebound.
It’s a best-of-both-worlds switch, eliminating one of the main drawbacks of “softer” pads for goalies that wanted a more active rebound — with the theory being it gives you more time to recover to your next position and is more likely to skip past a forward parked atop the crease.
Now you get that, with a 93 percent rebound rate — in other words, a puck coming in at 70 km/h will bounce off an EFLEX 7 pad at 65 km/h — thanks to the new Infinite Power Rebound that was already built into the AXIS XF pads. (It was also a custom option at the pro level for the EFLEX 6 pads but now it’s offered stock.)

Stuart Skinner did last season when he temporarily went back to his “Control Rebound” EFLEX 6 pads and quickly switched back to his Infinite Power Rebound AXIS XF.
“I just noticed right away the rebounds came off hotter in AXIS,” Skinner told InGoal.
Now that same active rebound is stock on the EFLEX 7 pad too.
On the other side of the pad, there are changes to the knee stack, strapping, and materials.
We’ll start with the knee stack, which continues with the DRS Pro+ (Dynamic Response System) that integrates the inside layer of the landing gear to the inside edge of the face of the pad as one piece in order to significantly improve stability on the ice and the reactivity of the pad when dropping by ensuring the knee stack doesn’t get too floppy.
The previous generation was just called DRS Pro. The “+” appears to be a change in the foams inside the knee stack, as well as a switch from the 3D molded Grip that debuted on the EFLEX 6 pad to SureGrip material. It’s a switch CCM said had more to do with pro and college players never really adopting the 3D molded grip because they were more familiar and comfortable with SureGrip — and feedback that the 3D molded material was too stiff (despite research showing it reduced impact force by 31.2 percent).
So, SureGrip is now the stock option on the landing area for the knee, with the half inch of foam closest to the knee a bit softer and more impact-absorbent (the thin layer directly below the surface feels almost like a gel cushioning material) compared to the high-density foam that makes up the rest of the knee stack below. And for anyone who liked the 3D molded grip — the textured “grips” did sit up in a way that made it feel thicker and in theory made you ever so slightly taller in the butterfly — it is still available on custom orders.

SureGrip has also replaced the 3D molded material as the inner layer on the latest version of CCM’s Quick Motion Strapping System, the QMSS 3, an upgrade that makes its debut on the EFLEX 7 pad. It is one of a couple applause-worthy improvements from the QMSS 2.
The QMSS 3 — which some might think of as CCM’s version of a “Professor Strap” — has solved previous strap length concerns. Some testers thought the first version was too tight even at the loosest setting, while others thought the second version was too loose no matter how tight you made it. Now, Velcro tabs are adjustable on both sides.This significantly increased adjustability, combined with the better-suited SureGrip material, makes this the best version of the QMSS system yet, and rubberized material inside the calf wrap should also improve durability in case any of the added Velcro is left exposed and rubs against the channel.
Speaking of inner calf wrap materials, those have been upgraded as well, with a new comfort mesh padding on the inner leg channel and inside of the calf wraps that is softer to the touch, thicker, and more breathable compared to the nylon that preceded it.
There is also — for the first time on a CCM pad — a calf pillow that sits underneath the leg when you drop to the ice, improving stability, balance, and ice seal, while perhaps even getting you to the ice a fraction of a second faster to pin a puck that might otherwise squeak through.
CCM might be the last brand to add a calf pillow — which, by the letter of the law, appeared to be illegal in the NHL — but after years of others being approved, they’ve joined the trend with a very soft offering that still allows for optimal angle from the knee to the ankle, letting the skate get to the ice without adding stress to the joints.

First, there is a more durable high-wear material on the bottom inside of the calf wrap to improve durability. Second, there is a new strap just above the ankle — something we’ve seen Markstrom and Thatcher Demko add to their pads — to improve the connected feeling lower on the pad. With Velcro on both sides, it’s easily removable if you don’t want it.
CCM also slightly thinned out and stiffened the top of the new pad with their DUALITECORE technology (and added a small area of high-wear, almost rubber-like material on the top inside corner to reduce wear if your pads hit when you drop) while maintaining the more flexible profile below the knee that has always defined an EFLEX pad.
The stock toe bridge is high density foam with three holes and a skate lace toe with an elastic and Velcro attachments only at the end, where it wraps around the skate, which should be enough to eliminate some of the “give” that can cost goalies power pushing off the post from an RVH.
One more thing worth noting: the new EFLEX 7 pad appears to fit a little taller at the knee, at least compared to our early run EFLEX 6 pads, with the knee of a 33+2 test set sitting at the same height as our previous generation 34+2 pad. And while some of that is the break-in on our older set, this pad seems to fit at least a half-inch taller so it might be worth the time to double-check your sizing in person at a local retailer before ordering a new set of EFLEX 7.

Finger stalls are back in the EFLEX 7 glove. So is the 580-break, with its signature high pocket that helps catch pucks over the shoulder by the ear. CCM combined those with re-worked internals and a new FLEXMOTION backhand and softer, more open cuff to make significant improvements in how easily the new glove closes right out of the box.
How much better is the closure?
The EFLEX 7 glove is so much easier to open compared to previous generations that one major retailer ordered Pro Palms for the majority of its inventory instead of Game Ready, and if you know how important an easy closure is when a buyer picks a glove off the rack and tries it for the first time, you know that’s a bold statement on its own.
Best of all, CCM didn’t have to sacrifice the weight savings that led to first re-working their gloves with the original AXIS after they’d become noticeably heavier than the competition.
That original redesign included the removal of finger stalls, with index and pinky loops coming back in subsequent generations. Now all the finger stalls are back in EFLEX 7, with the addition of a comfort mesh material, for improved control and ease of closure.
The Velcro strapping that runs over the fingers and allows you to adjust the (now neoprene) pinky loop remains on the EFLEX 7 glove. The thumb loop also gets the more comfortable neoprene lining upgrade and more adjustability in the strap, and the Cross-Form Strap system returns, which will be welcome news to InGoal testers who loved how well it locked in the back of the hand without restricting wrist mobility at all.

The already big-looking pocket comes stock with skate laces and a +1 single-T that has an extra inch added, which isn’t NHL legal but makes for a deeper pocket that retains more pucks. You can custom order it without the extra inch, or with a double-T, or a brand new, NHL-legal Single Floating T that isn’t attached at the base. InGoal has a test glove on the way with the Floating T and can’t wait to share how it closes and plays at a later date.
The stock palm lining is now SureGrip, which has long been the pro preference, though you can custom order your EFLEX 7 glove with either a grey Nash or a new textured HEXA+ Palm material that InGoal testers really liked and will look at further in the blocker below.
Speaking of custom options, you can of course still custom order the EFLEX 7 glove in both the 590 and 600 break angles and there’s more good news there: all three have been upgraded with the finger stalls, new materials, and improved closure.


The improvements to the EFLEX 7 blocker are more subtle but still worth noting.
It starts with an aggressive rebound pop to match the pads, with a LITEXCORE that sends pucks off with 88 percent rebound output to help goalies direct pucks out of dangerous areas or even out of play. CCM also stiffened the sidewall while cutting 17 percent of the weight compared to the already lightened EFLEX 6 blocker, in part by reducing some redundancy in the sidewall over top of an already well-protected thumb.
The wrist cuff gets more neoprene for improved comfort on the inside edge and remains open and adjustable on the outside, even as that Velcro-based adjustability is reduced from both sides in the EFLEX 6 to just on the inside in the new EFLEX 7, with an elastic attachment on the other side now to ensure no loss of wrist mobility or range.
They added a cutout in the material along the outer edge of the hand for better breathability and eliminated the seam at the corner of the wraparound finger protection, making sure there’s no seam gap in that added defense. The index finger is still protected by an extra layer of D3O to help limit the damage of any pucks that ride up your stick.
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