Skates are a goaltender’s foundation. Whether a goalie is standing, racing behind the net to retrieve a puck, or pushing from one side of the crease to the other, skates are a critical component of the process.
They’re also continuing to evolve.
In fact, one of the latest developments over the past two years has been the removal of the cowling, an operation spearheaded by True Hockey.
"The biggest trend right now is the departure from a traditional goalie boot and cowling to what is being referred to as a two-piece construction goalie skate," True Hockey senior marketing and business development manager Dave McNally said. "It’s a goalie skate with a player’s holder on it. We were the first to come out with that product, and it’s given us a real stronghold at the National Hockey League level, with well over half of the NHL goalies wearing our products at this point."
Bauer brand manager Spencer Freer added that the elimination of the cowling, which was replaced with a goalie-specific Vertexx Edge holder at his company, has led to other advancements, specifically with the toecap.
"We started to do some testing and it showed that the traditional style toecap and cowling weren’t all that protective," he said. "When we started looking at making a thicker toecap, that’s when we started to see a difference."
When Freer realized that the removal of the cowling didn’t sacrifice any protection to the netminder’s feet, he also noticed that goalies had a better attack angle, which is how close a goalie’s skate can get to the ice before the blade lifts off the ice, which causes a fail out.
"When a goalie pushes across and needs to stop, or he needs to push back the other way, he wants to use minimal effort to be able to get back," Freer explained. "Having your foot as close to the ice as possible means having a better attack angle."
Added McNally: "If you’re trying to move across the crease, or you’re trying to get to a puck, you’re constantly pushing off. A better attack angle is a position where you don’t have to adjust your knee upward to be able to do that, which means you can do it with more speed and more efficiency. We like to say it’s more acute power transfer."
With improving attack angle in mind, True sells a one-piece boot, "which is literally exactly as it sounds," McNally asserted.
"It’s a one-piece molded boot, where the holder and the boot itself are all one piece, not constructed separately," he continued. "That’s a patented product that gives us another unique option for goalies. It plays a little bit different because there’s not as much flexibility in the boot compared to the two-piece construction, and because of the minimal flexibility, it allows goalies to attack with more speed and more efficiency across."
Bauer is also altering the goalie skate landscape with its new-and-improved Vapor line, which will compete with its Supreme line.
The Vapor has symmetrical, more traditional style shoulders. Bauer also added X wrap on the eyelets, which were moved three millimeters forward compared to the Supreme. This gives goalies more wrap on top of their foot, allowing their foot to fit back into the skate in the ankle, giving them a better feel.
Some of the attributes of the Supreme skate is it boasts asymmetrical shoulders, with the inside shoulder higher than the outside. This allows the skate to have its natural position in the stance, and when goalies go into the butterfly, giving them a better range of motion during the shift into the butterfly.
The tongues are also different. In the Supreme skate, there’s a standard felt tongue with an insert on the inside, with decreased pressure on the forefoot. The Vapor features the new dynamic flex tongue, which has a segmented insert on the inside, allowing goalies to get a little more give on top while providing a springboard effect when they lean on top of their foot.
Freer stated that the upgrade of the Vapor line is causing a shift in sales.
"Our best-selling skate all-time is the Supreme 1S," he said. "Now that we have the Vapor skate to complement it, and with both having similar attack angles, I think you’ll see that even out. There’s been a lot of buzz around the Vapor skate, especially at the NHL level, down to the amateur ranks."
Bauer is starting to use a material called Curv composite for the construction of the quarter package for its skates. This increases stiffness for better weight transfer and increased quickness, while reducing the weight of the skates.
There will be no changes in the construction of the boot of True skates, but there will be a noticeable cosmetic difference this summer, as the company rebrands the VH line, which it bought last year.
Along with the rebrand, True will be introducing a custom fit center experience, the latest development in the goalie skate industry.
"Customers will be able to go into fit center locations that carry the True product and have the opportunity to get a 3D foot scan, and have a skate built to their foot," McNally revealed. "Rather than trying to take a skate that’s built for the shelf and adapting it to their foot, we’ll be building a skate for the player’s foot, which will require very little adjustment and an exceptional fit."
And the scanner won’t be the last advancement.
"We’re always looking at ways to make skates lighter and more comfortable for goalies," McNally concluded, "so they can be more efficient and quicker with their movements."
