Tips to Purchasing a New Pair of Ice Hockey Skates

It must be that time of year again, did your foot grow? Did you kids feet grow? Well you must be in the market for a new pair of ice hockey skates. Perhaps some tips would help guide you through choosing from the large variety of companies and models.

So let’s start off with you! What is your foot like?

If it is narrow then the majority of pro-shops will recommend a Bauer/Nike ice hockey skate. But what if your foot is well, average? Then you might be recommended to look at Easton skates. Lastly, if you happen to have wider feet then a CCM ice hockey skate might be the way to go for comfort. (www.GrowtheGame.com)

Everyone loves a comfortable skate, but there are a few tips to try an achieve this goal. The first is you have to wear the socks you are planning on wearing to a game or a practice when trying on a skate. If you are wearing regular street socks then you are not providing an accurate mapping of your foot. Second, try not to buy the skates online. Most people will say they can find the same thing online cheaper, however when buying skates this is not the route to go. Skates can be heat molded to your foot by almost any pro-shop, even here at the International Skating Center of Connecticut’s, J.A.M. Pro-Shop. The low heat “oven” takes roughly fifteen minutes to “bake” a skate and then an additional fifteen minutes to mold to your foot. This will slash the break-in time of a new pair of skates by a large margin and increase the likelihood that the skate will feel comfortable.   (www.proicehockey.about.com)

The last recommendation that I have to share with you to identify what the intended use of the skate will be. If you are going to be utilizing the skates primarily for public skates, then a recreational skate might be the best. Recreational skates are usually less expensive models but come with the same name brand that all skaters are familiar with (i.e. Reebok, CCM, Easton, etc.). However, if you are going to be skating a season of forty games or more then it is appropriate to purchase what are known as “competitive hockey skates” (Hockey Giant). Competitive hockey skates are the premier models that one season NHL players and are usually nearly double the cost of the recreational hockey skate. Once again these are the same brand names that every hockey player is used to but the protection, comfort and light weight technology separates these skates from the rest. (www.hockeygiant.com)

I hope these few tips helped you out in purchasing your new hockey skates, and remember right here at the International Skating Center of Connecticut you can buy any model out there through our J.A.M. Pro-Shop. So get out there and look around, then stop in and purchase your next skates right here!

Take a look at this video too – of the Top-10 Hockey Skates for 2013!