EDGE for the icebound

New skates should help young players develop, not make them feel like they’re relearning how to skate. This picture shows the skates from my post, indicating where the profile begins and ends after reshaping and cross-grinding. When we talk about hockey skate profiling, the conversation often centers around performance. Better acceleration, tighter turns, improved stability, or finding the right balance between agility and glide. But there’s another reason to consider profiling that I think...

If you start researching hockey skate profiling, it doesn't take long before things get complicated. QUAD. ZUPERIOR. Natural Curve. Single radii. Combination radii. Pitch. Balance points. Runner lengths. Then come the recommendations: This profile is for forwards. That one is for defensemen. Bigger players should use this. Smaller players should use that. There's useful information behind many of those recommendations, but there's a much simpler place to start: How do you want your skates to...

Is your player struggling with the new hockey skates? Recently, many parents have been asking me the same question: “My son (or daughter) was skating great before. We bought a new pair of skates, and now they can’t skate like they used to. What’s going on?” If this situation sounds familiar, you’re not the only one experiencing it. New skates can feel different for several reasons, but one issue I often see isn’t with the boot itself. Instead, it’s the steel profile that comes with the...