National Hockey League players demand the best.
They expect to perform at an elite level, individually and as a team. They hold their equipment to the same standard, too, particularly their skates, which is why ice skate companies keep raising the bar with their customization processes and sales experiences.
"There’s a lot of emphasis on the high end of the skate market right now and trying to create more value," True Hockey senior marketing and business development manager Dave McNally said.
True is especially studying this segment since it has one player skate offering, which is 100 percent custom and sells at the premium price point.
"We acquired VH footwear last year, which was primarily a custom-skate business," McNally explained. "We’ll continue to be a custom-skate business for at least the next year. You can’t buy our skates off the shelf; you must go to the store and get your foot scanned. The skate is built to your foot, which is why our way is unique."
The foot-scanning software operates on an iPad and provides a 3D scan showing the measurements and mold of the foot. True is in the midst of a rollout at retail and aims to be finished by the end of this month. There will be 130 custom-fit centers throughout the United States and Canada in partnership with True’s current retailers. It’s a limited distribution, though, since True has over 650 retail partners.
The end goal is to provide players with the best-fitting skates possible.
"The consumer will go into the store, have their feet scanned, their order processed, and the data and the order will be sent to our factory in Winnipeg," McNally said. "The skates will be built to that data and then shipped back to the store, so that the consumer can come back and pick up the skates and have them heat molded. Heat molding is an important part of the process, so it’s imperative that the consumer comes back and has that done."
This autumn, True will have appointment-booking software available online, which will allow consumers to book a fitting with their local dealer.
"We want to make the process as efficient as we can," McNally stated.
Bauer is also incorporating 3D foot scanning technology, albeit with a different approach.
On July 14, it launched what it calls the 3D Skate Lab, a device that analyzes a consumer’s foot profile and makes a recommendation as to which of Bauer’s skate lines — Vapor, Supreme, Nexus — will provide the proper fit.
"Fit is the number one driver to get the best performance on the ice," said John Davidson, senior brand manager of skates at Bauer. "Fit is also wide ranging. It’s not just your length and width, but also the depth characteristics of your skate. The 3D Skate Lab takes a seven-point analysis of your foot profile and then goes through a series of algorithms based off priorities that we’ve written into the software to come out with the best initial fit for a player."
The 3D Skate Lab will allow for optimal customization.
"The foot profile will go into a cloud service, and we will be able to look at the intricacies of the foot and make a skate that will be much better for the player," Davidson said. "It’s a multi-stage approach for us, but at the end of the day, it will give the player the best fit, which is going to allow for the best performance."
The impetus to create the 3D Skate Lab started in July 2015 after Bauer identified a need in the skate market for this type of technology. After testing numerous scanning systems, Bauer ultimately partnered with Volumental, a company based in Sweden.
"One key component for us picking Volumental was because it takes only four to five seconds to scan both feet," Davidson said. "From the scan to trying on your first pair of skates is anywhere from a minute to about a minute and a half. More importantly, a lot of the personnel who work for the company have engineering degrees or have very heavy science-backed focus. A lot of their engineers have worked in artificial intelligence, and some have worked for NASA and JPL in the past."
Davidson added, "We were using a Brannock Device that was developed in 1927 to find measurements, so this is a huge leap forward for us. And while Volumental’s hockey knowledge might not be strong — that’s the expertise that we bring — the company brings high-level software, algorithms and the best type of that technology."
There will be about 100 retail stores across North America with the 3D Skate Lab, including 10 different units in the New England and New York regions.
As for product, Bauer is revamping its Vapor line, which is entering its 20th year of innovation, starting with its pinnacle product, the Vapor 1X skate, which is the Vapor’s 10th edition.
"We redefined the Vapor fit by giving the 1X asymmetrical quarter patterns," Davidson explained. "The medial side is built out more, while the lateral side remains status quo. This gives players optimal support during skating strides. With things such as acceleration, tight turns and crossovers, players will get a lot of support on the inner side of the boot, which keeps it a little more upright, so they can utilize their edges a little bit easier and more effectively. By supporting their feet the right way, they’re going to build in additional comfort, and the ankle padding is going to sit in its correct spot."
Bauer also focused on creating a lock-fit system. "We want the players to have the ability to flex the skate as best as possible, while also trying to stabilize the foot as much as we can," Davidson said. "Anytime you stabilize the foot, you have better energy transfer from leg to foot to skate to ice."
Bauer designed a flex-lock pro tongue, a thermoforming tongue that sits on top of the player’s foot. "We introduced speed plate in 2015, which helped thermoform the skate underneath the foot," Davidson said. "Now we’ve added additional thermoforming with the tongue on top of the foot, creating a 360-degree boot that totally forms to any shape."
Then there’s lock-fit pro facing. "We have a soft flex composition and added some lock features to it," Davidson said. "When a consumer laces up the skate, it feels the same the first stride of the game as it does the very last stride."
Lastly, the interior liner has been given moisture management grip materials that will cradle the foot and help with locking a player’s heel and mid-foot into place. All of this was done to keep the Vapor skate the most technical and best performing product that Bauer brings to the market, especially as it hits a milestone.
"Being around for the last 20 years, this particular family — for us as well as the players — is starting to build a lot of history and expectations around it," Davidson asserted. "We are very excited about the 10th edition and the 20th anniversary of the Vapor skate."
Additionally, the company’s Vapor X700 and X600 have been updated with new composite materials to improve the fit and performance of that price point.
Another big player in the skate industry, CCM, is also continuing to make noise on the ice. It launched its JetSpeed FT1 line at the end of April and will be introducing its RibCor 70K line later this month.
The JetSpeed FT1 will be CCM’s second line with a one-piece boot; in 2016, CCM’s Super Tacks came out with the one-piece carbon composite boot.
"JetSpeed and Tacks are our two flagship models in senior hockey skates," said Jean-Sebastien Belanger, senior manager of skates at CCM. "We have a lot of people who really loved the JetSpeed fit when we launched it in 2015. After we came out with the one-piece technology in the Super Tacks, people started gravitating toward that. But we had one segment of the market that wanted the JetSpeed fit in the onepiece boot. It was a no-brainer for us to get it done."
Throughout the process, CCM worked with a select group of players who’ve been wearing the JetSpeed since the beginning.
CCM also conferred with its RibCor-wearing players, notably Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly, to learn what they like about the RibCor and what they would change with that line.
The common denominator of the conversations was that the pump, a mechanism that creates a heel lock, had to go the way of the dodo. Fortunately for CCM, it was able and ready to make such a move.
"We now have the materials and the technology to be able to shape skates so that the boot shape creates its own heel lock and you don’t actually need a mechanism to do so," Belanger explained. "That allowed us to save 80 grams per skate, which is huge in a hockey skate. We are doing incredible things to try to save 10 grams per skate. It made a huge difference and has breathed new life into the RibCor line."
Belanger noted that the primary reason players choose RibCor skates is because they are stiff and flexible at the same time.
He elaborated, "We call it FlexFrame technology, which allows players to get a proper lateral stride because they are able to flex the skate forward, get their knee way out in front of their toes, and then push through like crazy in order to generate power. At the same time, the skates are stiff in the right areas. If you press on the back of the skate, where most players generate the most power when they are performing crossovers, they are getting all their energy transferred through the back end of the skate, so it’s rigid there."
The RibCor 70K feedback already has far exceeded CCM’s expectations.
"It’s becoming an even more popular skate than we expected," Belanger concluded.
And that’s the best news that CCM, or any ice skate company, could receive.
