The SubZero line from Brian’s Custom Sports will soon be a thing of the past (with the company recently announcing the latest Brian’s OPTIK lineup, more on that this fall).
In honor of the SubZero gear soon being replaced, here are a look at some of our favorite setups in the past several years. Some of the biggest highlights of the SZ3 gear were the seamless inner pannel, laceless pad face, inset knee stack, widened primo knee cradle (for those of you thinking of ordering custom Brian’s pads, primo is a MUST. You will have the option to add it to the sliding area of the pad as well as the toe area.).
Without further ado, here are some of (in our humble opinion) the best Brian’s SubZero 3 custom pad designs of all time.
#1: New York Islanders Jaroslav Halak
This is a very popular option with Brian’s, made popular in the NHL by Jaroslav Halak of the New York Islanders.
#2: Mark Dekanich Reading Royals
Dekanich has been a Brian’s goalie for quite some time, and his style never disappoints. These Reading Royal graphic pads are a classic demonstration of the quality of custom work Brian’s is capable of.
Note the single T pocket. When ordering custom Brian’s gear make sure to understand what you’re getting in to. Single T versus Double T is a pretty big difference, with the Double T offering more pocket space (obviously).
#3: Ray Emery? Is that you?
Listed at number 3, this is one of my favorite Brian’s graphics of all time. I should’ve noted, this list is in no particular order, but rather a list of some of (again, our opinion) some of the best graphics slapped on a SubZero 3 pad.
These are fantastic, the color scheme and use of weave here is incredible. On top, if you’re going to order custom, I highly recommend the sewn on B-Star logo.
#4: Winsdor Lancers
The other popular graphic seen on Jaroslav Halak with the New York Islanders, this graphic looks crisp on a navy background.
#5: Classic Air Pac Design
If you scooped up a pair of Brian’s gear as a kid, there’s a pretty good chance they had Brian’s Air Pac technology. These pads are a classic design, and if I ever upgrade my current set of GN3TIK (when, I upgrade) I’ll be hard pressed not to do something with these. If not the pads themselves, at least the classic glove graphics.
#6: Christmas Tree
This is the stock graphic for the SubZero3 line from Brian’s. I’m a huge fan of goalies who dare to go all color for their setup, this might be a bit much for some but with the right team jerseys, a red/green setup can go a long way.
#7: Garth Snow Tribute
Not much else to say here, I absolutely love this look.
One thing to note, with a TON of Brian’s either stock graphics or throwbacks, you’ll see sharper edges (in comparison to, say, CCM / Reebok).
#8: Boston Terriers
Matt O’Connor wears something similar in the Ottowa Senators organization, Logan Halladay went with this graphic for his first year at Merrimack, and Scott Darling has worn a pair.
To be completely honest, I’m not as big of a fan of this graphic, however, it’s so popular it would be hard not to include it here. And to completely contradict my statement from pad design number 7, this graphic lacks the sharp edges we see so often.
Favorite part? The dog paws. If you do custom, do something like that (or put your team logo on the gear).
#9: Garret Sparks
If Garret ever read this article (and, if he finds the GC website, there’s a good chance he would, he switched from Reebok to Brian’s a few years back and is a HUGE connoisseur of goalie equipment) and didn’t see himself here..
Regardless of whether or not it’s SZ3 gear, Sparks has had an incredible career of style when it comes to his gear. I’ll make a post about some of his setups down the road, for now enjoy this beautiful setup.
