It’s been close to a decade since InGoal Magazine last reviewed a set of Warrior pads, and a lot has changed since then, both in terms of industry trends and standards, as well as the way Warrior itself has approached its position in the market.

Long known for innovation under legendary designer Pete Smith, they’ve tried to balance that with a bit more tradition — both in terms of look and feel — in new lines, while being careful not to lose the cutting-edge design ideas that separated them from the pack.

InGoal was there at the beginning of the Ritual line, applauding the innovations. As we return now, it’s to review a G7 version that will be Smith’s last in charge.

There is a lot to go over, both in terms of how this latest product fits, feels and performs on the ice, as well as catching up on the path to this point for the company and its designs. In addition to the usual feedback from InGoal testers ranging from beer league to the CHL, we leaned on Kirk Allen, who moved up into Smith’s spot as Category Manager for Goalie at Warrior, as well as a couple of pros who have been using the gear for years — Jeremy Smith in the KHL and Trevor Gorsuch in the ECHL — to help us bridge that gap.

MORE THAN JUST THE FASTEST SLIDING PAD

The (easily removable) plastic slide plates inevitably get a lot of attention since debuting on the G6, and it’s deserved given they help the G7 pad slide better than anything else we’ve ever tested. We’ll certainly get to that conversation, with input from both pros — and one of them uses the slide plate in his league play — but as exciting as the slide plate might be to some, it feels like it almost distracts from a pad with a lot of other great features.

The next thing that jumps out is the thin profile and light weight of the G7 pad, which weighed in at just 4 pounds, 8 ounces for our 34 +1.5-inch test set.

Looking at the pad from the side doesn’t really do justice to how thin it is in the shin either because from the knee down into the boot that outer edge recesses on the inside up to a full inch to the core. But don’t confuse that thin profile and light weight for a soft pad because that’s not the case. Warrior was trying to ensure a two-year life cycle when they dramatically increased the stiffness of the G6 pad 30–40 percent from the G5 predecessor, and while that might have been a shock to long-time users moving into the G6, the stiffer pad paid off with improved durability and performance (rocket rebounds).

The new G7 maintains the same stiff one-piece core from G6 but they’ve added a break on the outer roll (but not internally, there’s no break in the core) to give the pad a little more profile. The boot remains very flexible — in both directions; more on that later — the shin/knee has mid-range flex, and the thigh rise is stiff, with that outer break letting you add shape.

KNEE DRIVE SYSTEM ADDS STABILITY — AND ELASTIC STRAP!

With so much focus on the slide plate, it’s easy to overlook the rest of the knee stack or “landing gear,” and that would be a mistake. Warrior’s Knee Drive System uses a piece of HyperComp, a stiff composite plastic (similar to Bauer Curv Composite material) that runs from the knee block and connects to a composite insert running through the foams of the pad. Surrounded by a series of over- and under-lapping materials, this allows the knee stack to stay fixed to the face of the pad, with only slight give, which as CCM proved in lab testing years ago, can help goalies get the pad down and sealing the ice faster.

When you do land in the G7, there is a soft layer of foam on the top of the knee stack to soften the blow, and a stiff inner edge to help keep your knee in place and stable.

There is also — for the first time in 10 years for Warrior — a double elastic knee strap instead of the grey neoprene sling-style knee strap (and buckle) in place since G3. Like adding flex at the knee, the return of a traditional elastic strap is a nod to embracing a few things many goalies want to feel familiar, an easy switch to make G7 feel a little more mainstream and a little less “science project” even as many other popular innovations are carried forward.

Warrior also replaced the triangle-shaped lower outer calf attachment with double elastic.

“It worked but a lot of goalies didn’t want something that different,” Allen, who played college hockey at the University of Michigan-Flint and coached another three seasons, said of the sling. “We wanted to make G7 a pad that felt more familiar to more goalies.”

Of course you can choose to attach that new-again elastic knee strap below the knee on the outer calf wrap (Carey Price style), or wrap it around and attach it the outer knee wing, which not only remains removable (Warrior was first to have that option at retail) but is attached with clips that can be positioned near the outer edge or more inset, and elasticity in the attachments themselves, which along with the flexible materials used really allows that flap to move and twist with the leg when you are down in the butterfly.

REMOVABLE CALF PILLOW ADDS OPTIONAL CONNECTION POINT

The previous G6 model did not have extra padding under the shin on the inside/lower edge of the leg channel, but the calf pillow returns on the G7 and is both (easily) removable and somewhat adjustable in terms of where and how it attaches (with Velcro) and sits. (The G7 leg channel also comes stock in white rather than matching the color on the face of the pad for the first time since G1, an aesthetic many goalies seem to think looks higher end).

The new calf pillow looks thick but is super soft and spongy where it connects to the inside of your calf, with a thin layer of denser foam on the bottom edge, so it doesn’t negatively affect that angle between the knee, ankle and skate, which is so important. The calf pillow is also tapered, thinning out towards the face of the pad, and feels more like a space filler than a leg lifter, but when combined with the contoured padding on the shin cradle it creates a connected feeling some might find surprising for a stiffer, modern pad.

“To me it feels almost reminiscent of early Vaughn Velocity pads that would almost wrap around your leg, and I liked that feeling,” said Gorsuch, who has played six seasons in the ECHL since finishing at Western Michigan University, including a league-leading 1,420 saves in 2021-22 with Kalamazoo. “[The pillow] tapers and your ankle naturally just kind of falls and I love it because it makes everything feel fully connected to your leg.”

Of course, not every goalie wants to feel that connected through the shin, which is why the new calf pillow is easily removable — it literally takes a second to pull it out if you prefer a more open leg channel and a pad that moves around your leg, rather than with it.

THE STRAPPING: ADJUST HOW YOU WANT IT TO FIT AND FEEL

Speaking of preferred fit and feel, the G7 is designed to give you options beyond the shin, with adjustability in all the leg straps as well as down at the boot and into the toe tie.

We’ll start at the top, with an upper calf strap (others might call it a professor strap) that retains the grey neoprene look and feel from the previous three Ritual iterations, with the option to run it through two different slots on the lower inner calf wrap depending on how tight you want it to fit. This upper calf strap attaches on the inner edge with simple clips, making it easy to adjust the length or remove it entirely. It attaches to the outer calf wrap using Velcro, on the same area you would anchor the elastic knee strap if you’re running it down to the calf wrap (again, Price style), and to avoid those straps competing for space to attach, Warrior wisely added loop Velcro to the back of that upper calf strap anchor tab, allowing you to run and attach the knee strap over top of it if you want.

It’s a small but not insignificant addition they also use on the back hand of their gloves.

As already mentioned above, the lower calf strap is also now a double elastic and the length can be adjusted using clips and stitched slots on the inside of the channel.

ACTIVE RESPONSE STRAP TOE TIES

Like the slide plate (we promise, we’re getting there), Warrior’s unique elastic-and-clip toe tie system can be polarizing among goalies and coaches. Called Active Response Straps (ARS), these elasticized toe tie and bootstrap are anchored by the same style of plastic clip used on the calf straps and can be easily adjusted in terms of length or removed altogether.

They attach at the other end with a clip and a loop. It’s an easy-to-use system popular with young goalies that creates a noticeably responsive connection with the bottom of the pad, snapping it down to the ice when you drop and staying over the skate getting back up.

Of course, a lot of goalies have been going away from elastic or bungee toe ties and back to a skate lace and a long gap, in part because there is inherently some tension in any elastic system and that adds pressure to the ankle but also because goalies pushing off the post from a Reverse-VH don’t want to lose any power to a stretching elastic or bungee.
Jeremy Smith prefers traditional skate lace for his toe ties even though he plays with a lot of shin-on-post Reverse, something he learned from Tuukka Rask and Bob Essensa while with the Boston Bruins. But Gorsuch, who used to use bungees, loves the ARS system.

“I have no issues getting into toe bridge on post (Reverse) and I have no problems pushing,” Gorsuch said, adding he loves the durability and consistency of the ARS straps from one to the next. “It’s just that consistency of feeling like my foot is connected and it responds perfectly. Literally, the only issue I’ve ever had is when eventually it kind of gets a little tear or something in it, and then it gets time to replace it and switch it.”

Gorsuch let us in on a little secret when it comes to those replacements: if you’re not going to use the ARS strap through the heel, just remove it and save it as a spare for the toe tie because the straps themselves are identical. Of course, if you don’t want to use either ARS strap, that’s not a problem either: there is a toe bridge to easily add a skate lace toe tie and you can either leave the ARS in — it won’t get in the way — or quickly remove it.

There is, however, one thing to consider when making that decision relative to how you intend to strap and wear the rest of the pad. Allen recommended — and early InGoal testers concurred — loosening the upper strapping and trying it with the upper calf strap removed entirely if you are going to go with the more traditional skate lace and a loose toe tie.

The ARS connection at the toe tends to work better with a tighter setup at the top too. The opposite holds true with a skate lace, though of course you can tinker with each part.

“It’s like speaking a different language if you have a loose, open skate independent from boot but the rest is very connected,” Allen said. “You’re telling it to do different things.”

DOUBLE BOOT FLEX — REALLY KICK OUT THAT TOE

Part of the benefit of that more connected ARS toe is a boot that breaks both ways.
That’s right, Warrior has what they call a “full hinge” at the boot break, meaning the toe will flex in a traditional manner up towards the shin as you load up a push, but it will also flex down in the other direction, which can buy you a little extra reach on an extended save.

A couple of InGoal testers felt that second flex direction helped them make a breakaway save or two they might not have otherwise, but one trial goalie playing in the CHL noted that the toe flexing down made it harder for him to hit the post with his toe bridge when extending into a Reverse, even after switching to skate lace toe ties and a long gap, because he was used to that bottom edge of the pad being in a fixed location. That might simply be a matter of adjusting with time but it’s worth noting because while Warrior offers a “half hinge” that eliminates that down flex and gives you a more traditional one-way boot flex, it requires a custom order and, unlike everything else on G7, can’t be adjusted on the fly.

FINALLY, SLIDE PLATE TIME

The hard plastic slide plate is divisive. Some goalie coaches will dismiss it as a tool for young kids, and yet Smith, who spent 10 years with four NHL organizations before going to the KHL for the past six seasons, compared it to the switch to composite sticks.

“It’s the next evolution,” said Smith, who wore the slide plate in the KHL when it debuted on the G6 pad. “Like when they brought out carbon fiber sticks as opposed to the wood sticks and people were like, ‘Whoa, what is this?’ I think this is just that next step in evolution, where it just makes sense. It makes sliding so much easier. It doesn’t matter how rough the ice is. There’s a learning curve. It feels like you’re really fast out there, but once you get used to that speed, it’s easier (to slide) and there’s not as much of a toll on your body.”

That last part about wear and tear over time is because Smith feels he doesn’t have to push as hard as often from or to his knees because the slide plate gets him there faster. Over time, the 36-year-old feels that adds up in the form of reduced wear and tear.

“I’ve seen guys melt candle wax and put it on the inside of their pads to make it slide better, whereas this is a little piece of plastic that goes on the pad and eliminates drag,” he said.

So where does the truth about the slide plate lie?

Like beauty, it’s in the eye of the beholder.

As is the case in so much of goaltending, it’s about personal preference.

Smith and Gorsuch are perfect examples. Smith loves the slide plate but doesn’t use the ARS toe tie system because he felt the give of the elastic cost him transfer power. Gorsuch loves the ARS toe tie but has not adopted the slide plate because it felt too fast.

“For me, it was like trying to ride a wild bronco,” said Gorsuch, who has recommended the Warrior slide plate in his summer coaching work with younger goalies and seen it help them. “But for me personally, it was just too much power, too much slide.”

At the beer league level, one tester felt they could be more patient once they adjusted to all that power, sitting on a puck carrier longer knowing they could get across on a lateral pass faster if needed, but that’s more of a feeling and a hard thing to quantify.

It is worth noting that one CHL tester didn’t think the slide was extreme compared to other pads he’d been testing this summer, which some might read as a critique, but also speaks to the adjustment not taking as long as some might think. While there were other things he’d want to change — a custom half hinge boot being the big one — he said he’d be otherwise comfortable taking the G7 with a slide plate into a game after an hour.

Perhaps the real beauty of the slide plate is you can do both. In seconds. The way Warrior has incorporated it with the knee stack makes it easy to take off and put back on.

“It’s easily removable so why not include it,” Allen said.

And don’t think you need the slide plate to get top-level sliding. The combination of a hard inside edge and knee stack ensures those lateral pushes are fast even without it.

The G7 slides so well without the slide plate that Warrior removed their “AirSlide” cutouts or indents from the inside edge of the pad, which were designed to reduce friction.

“Even without that slide plate, it slides so effortlessly,” Gorsuch said.

The slide plate just takes it to another level.

WRAPPING IT ALL UP

In a lot of ways, that also sums up where Warrior Goalie is in 2025 with the G7 pad and looking ahead to what comes next. After close to 15 years of pushing innovations to find that next level, there is also a recognition of the need to balance that with some more traditional elements that some goalies might see as non-negotiables.

It’s a tricky balance because they’ve built a strong following, many of whom were won over by those innovations and differences, and while it’s never easy to satisfy everyone in a position where personal preference and individual feel rules all, there’s enough of both in the G7 pad to make it worth a look, regardless of your age, level or experience.

There was certainly enough for InGoal to catch up on that some of you might be wondering what happened to the glove and blocker — don’t worry, that review is coming soon. There was just so much to go over with G7, that each deserved its own space.

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