Welcome

Hockey has been played for years with essentially no change in the game it self. It is still five on five on a frozen sheet of ice. The equipment the players are using, however, continues to evolve before our eyes.

The stick is a prime example of these changes and technological advancements. The age of the wood stick seems to be coming to an end. Most professional players now use composite sticks. They offer several significant advantages over the wooden sticks of old. For one, they are much lighter and thus easier to handle than wood sticks. They are also much more consistent in both quality and characteristics from stick to stick since they are in fact a synthetic man made material. The flex of a stick greatly impacts ones shot speed and power as well and with the flex of the composite sticks being more towards the blade, they tend to recoil and release at a higher speed and therefore give the individual a much harder and more powerful shot. The one drawback many players will note is that the composite sticks tend to give a bit less feel for the puck and for newer players this can be a noted problem. As with anything, experience and practice will usually negate this problem over time.

Skates too have evolved over the years. Most notable is the change in skate weight and fit. The selection of skates can be overwhelming, but in general, the more advance the skate, the better the fit and the lighter it will be. Two of the more well regarded and widely used skate brands are Bauer and CCM. Bauer has truly pushed the envelope with its latest skate, the Supreme Totalone Skate. They have combined several proprietary features including the ALIVE composite upper and insole as well as the TUUK Fusion blade. With these advancements they have become a favorite choice of the NHL with several star players including the Stall brothers, Patrick Kane and Steven Stamkos utilizing their gear.

CCM is also continuing to evolve and just introduced their Rocketrunner skate blade. Its lighter weight is designed to help with quickness, power and turning maneuverability. John Tavares of the New York Islanders is a user of their skates.

Above all, any good skate must fit comfortably and provide the needed support and protection. In the end, practice and perseverance will make you the player you become. Your equipment will just come along for the ride.

I hope that the above information helps when it comes to making some choices regarding hockey equipment. I continue to play competitive adult league hockey and also run a blog site at http://hockeystores.org at which I will regularly update the information regarding equipment advancements for the sport I love. Please join me at my blog to learn some of the latest breaking news regarding hockey equipment available to players of all levels.