Although purchasing a pair of hockey skates may seem a little intimidating, we assure you that it really is a very simple and straight forward process. Read and follow our Hockey Skate Buying Guide, and be assured we will guide you to a pair of new hockey skates that are perfect.
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First and foremost, it is important to remember that hockey skates are not shoes, and they should not fit like them. Fit is undoubtedly the most important part in purchasing a hockey skate. No matter how great your skates are, if they don’t fit properly you will be miserable. For more detail on how to properly fit a hockey skate, please reference our fitting guide.
Most skates are made from a combination of leather and other synthetic material such as Kevlar, graphite, and composite. Typically, the better or more expensive a skate is, the stronger, lighter, and stiffer the material for the boot will be, and the more of these synthetic materials the skate will use. The more durable a boot is the less likely it will be to break down over time and become soft, this aids in having a more precise fit for a longer period of time. The toe of most boots is made up of a very hard plastic or similar material to help protect it from the impact of a stick or puck. You can re-coat the toe of a skate if it becomes worn or damaged.
The lighter a skate is the faster and more agile the player will be. This is because light skates offer less resistance and react to movements quicker. In order to make a skate lighter, companies must use more advanced and expensive materials such a carbon fiber or Kevlar. However, a more advanced player will significantly benefit from a lighter skate.
Hockey skates come in a number of different stiffness’s. As a good rule of thumb, the better a skate is, the stiffer it will be. This is because better hockey players need stiffer skates because they offer better transfer of motion and therefore more direct control. On the flip side, beginners need softer skates because they are more forgiving and therefore easier to learn on. One of the most common mistakes when purchasing a hockey skate is that spending more money on a really high performance pair of skates will improve your ability. This is simply not true. If a player buys a skate that is too advanced or stiff, it will be difficult to control, not to mention extremely uncomfortable. Therefore, there are three important factors when determining how stiff of a skate to purchase.
- Weight is the most important factor. The heavier an individual is, the stiffer a skate they need to buy. In fact, an individual that is 200 lbs. and a beginner may actually need a stiffer skate than and intermediate 150 lbs. player. This is true for both kids and adults.
- Ability, or the level of skill the player has will naturally affect the amount of stiffness they need in a skate. The better the player, the stiffer a skate they need. This is because a stiff skate offers better control. But it takes experience to learn how to control stiff skates, so don’t get ahead of yourself in the buying process.
- Time spent on the ice: Hockey skates need time to break in. Naturally, the stiffer a skate is, the more time it will take to break in. A typical skate takes anywhere from 2 to 5 hours of solid skating to fully break in. Therefore, if you are a recreational player who is only on the ice once a week, it makes sense to buy a slightly softer skate. Otherwise it may take you weeks of sore feet and pain to make your skates are comfortable. If you skate every day, you will want a stiffer skate because it is more durable and will last longer and you will be able to break it in within a timely fashion.
As a good rule of thumb, the more expensive a skate is, the stiffer it will be. But don’t be over or under zealous in purchasing a new pair of skates. Remember to realistically evaluate your weight, ability, and time spent on the ice to make an informed decision as to the stiffness of skate you will need. Most skate companies use their own scale for stiffness, but a higher number almost always means a stiffer skate within that same brand.
Ice hockey skates will use a number of unique devices to improve the comfort of the boot. Gel padding and moldable foam tend to be the most popular, along with heat moldable skates. Recreational skates usually offer less fancy comfort feature, but are made of softer materials to make up for it. Typically, the better the skate, the more specific comfort feature will be included.
Many new performance skates offer what is called heat fitting or heat molding. This is where the skate is placed in a special oven and heated (don’t use your one at home). Once the skates are warm, they are placed on the player’s feet and as the boot cools, it will literally begin to custom form to the foot. This heat molding really is a wonderful process, as it significantly cuts down both the time needed to break in a skate, and the amount of discomfort endured during break in. Special ovens can be found at your local rink shop or pro shop, if you cannot find a place with an oven the skates will “naturally” heat mold with the heat from your foot, it just takes a bit longer.
There is only one type of closure system on a hockey skate, and that is the traditional lacing system. There are 2 kinds of laces, waxed and un-waxed. As you can probably guess, waxed laced have a thin coating of wax over the top to make them more durable and also helps holding them in place tight. Which laces a skater uses is completely personal preference.
The blade and the chassis make up the lower part of the skate and are attached to the boot by a series of rivets. Most skate blades are made of steel or carbon steel and have a concave shape.
All hockey skate blades use a concave shape. This means that a sharpened skate is actually concave. One important aspect of a blade is it radius, or the amount of blade that is actually in contact with the ice when standing or skating. Although many players don’t bother to get into the nitty-gritty of radius, if you are the details kind of person you may want to know the differences. Radius is measure by placing the bottom of both blades together and measuring the distance that the blades touch. The longer the radius of a skate, the more stable it will be. As a result, many beginner skaters will want a radius of about five inches. More advanced players may want a skate with something in the three to four inch range. If you are a defenseman, you may want to error on the longer side, as this is to give you more stability on the ice.
The chassis is the plastic piece that connects the blade to the boot. All chassis are raised in the rear to put the skater in the “ready” positing, making them more able and allowing the skates to react more efficiently. Different companies use a series of different materials and designs to make their chassis lighter and stiffer, and therefore better.
SKATES DO NOT COME SHARPENED OUT OF THE BOX. When a manufacturer or a store sends you your skates they come unsharpened to prevent cuts and scrapes. Skates must be sharpened in order to grip the ice and therefore turn. Sharpening puts a hollow groove down the middle of the blade, creating two groves along the edges. It is these grooves which allow the skates to glide, grip, and turn properly.
Additional Media
I Recentley bought a Bauer Vapor X15 AND MY WEIGHT IS 270. MY QUESTION IS WILL THIS SKATE FULLFILL MY NEEDS FOR A BEGINNER SKATER?
Dave,
Bauer is an established brand in the hockey industry and they make extremely high quality products. I don’t see any reason that the Vapor X:15 skate wouldn’t suffice for you as a beginner skater.
You will however want to keep in mind that as you progress towards an intermediate level skater and beyond that you will want to be careful not to push the skate too much. The Vapor X:15 is for a beginner to beginner-low intermediate level skater and once you start to progess, your skating style, combined with your weight may be too much for the skate.
But in the meantime you shouldn’t experience any problems.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am Karen from Guangzhou City, China. One of my friends is very interested in your product—-CCM U+ 09 Ice Hockey Skates 2009 and wants to buy one. There are some questions from us that need your answer.
1. What is the price for this product? My friend’s foot length is 25cm. Is the size 7.0D suitable for him?
2. Have the blades been sharpened and ready for use on purchase? That means, whether we can wear the skates and use them as soon as we received your delivery?
3. Can we make our payment through American Express credit card? Shall I place order through e-mail or your website?
Please provide your answer as soon as possible so that I can place my order. Thank you.
Karen,
Thanks for the interest in our site and the CCM U+ skates. We are happy to answer your questions.
1. The price listed on this product is currently $249.95 marked down from the original price of $300. As for the size, 25cm=9.8in 9.8in=7.5 us shoe size 7.5 shoe size=skate size 6.0 If this sounds accurate you would be looking for size 6.0 skate as you drop a full size to size and a half for ice hockey skates.
2. The blades are not sharpened and will need to be sharpened before use. Unfortunately we are unable to ship sharpened skates due in part to our shipping agreement. We also are unable to return sharpened skates so it is better to try them on and make sure they are the correct size before you are committed to them.
3. You can use American Express for your order. To place the order, simply add the item to your cart and since you will be shipping the order to China you will need to select international checkout from your “cart” screen. The international checkout will easily walk you through your order from that point on.
Unfortunately we do not carry the CCM U+ skate in a 6.0 currently, the lowest size is a 7.0 and I am afraid this may be too big if the size calculation is correct. You could go with the 7 if your friend is still growing and has the ability to grow into the skate. The only skate that we carry currently that stacks up performance wise to the U+ would be the Torspo Hockey Surge 100 which we only have the 6.0 left in this skate. The Torspo has a nice and stiff carbon boot with a stainless steel blade.
Please let us know if you have any further questions, we look forward to helping you get some skates!
Thanks,
Chris Gorski