It's been awhile since I wrote, but things are going pretty well in this whole hockey playing thing. I've been trying to skate at least once a week, and had been doing pretty well- until we went to Mexico for vacation in mid-March. Haven't been since then. Right before we left for vacation though, the rink I skate at replaced all their skates. Instead of offering hockey or figure skates, they went with a hybrid type skate. They looked pretty neat, and comfortable, but it turned out they were much narrower than the big clunky Euro rental hockey skates that they had. The last time I skated I was lucky to be able to grab an old pair of Euro skates, but I knew it was time to think about getting a pair of my own. I did that yesterday.
Instead of getting a pair of clearance skates online, I decided to get the best beginner/recreational skates I could. Luckily, the price point for this level of skate is in the $150-$200 range. It's a bit much for one piece of gear, but I'm probably only going to have to buy one pair of skates ever, and being in skates that don't really fit, really sucks. I decided to go for the full service- and get recommendations and professionally sized and fitted.
There are two shops that specialize in hockey gear in the Denver metro area. One is Player's Bench, which is close to where I do my quiz- they had a recommendation from a friend who got skates there. The other is a rink shop in Lakewood- which is pretty close to where I used to live. I went into Player's Bench when I decided to start this whole thing months ago. It's a huge place that sells everything hockey and lacrosse. I need to bring Sam someday. Unfortunately, they are not open on weekends. Anyway- I went in months ago to try on skates to decide what to look for online. There were only 4 employees when I went in. One guy was stringing lacrosse stick heads, one guy was fitting a kid for a hockey stick and a couple of kids were hanging out at the register. I wandered around and was pretty blown away by all the gear. I tried on a few gloves, shin guards and looked at goalie masks. Then I went to loiter at the skates. I checked out what they had and waited for someone to help me. And I waited… and waited… and waited. I finally left without talking to anyone.
I went back to Player's Bench sort of expecting the same thing- and I fully intended to wait for about 15 minutes, and then head to Lakewood. Luckily my experience was a full 180 degrees from the first time. I went into the store and wandered around a bit, then headed over to the skates. I was there for about 3 minutes before someone came over to help. His name is CJ, and if you need skates- see this kid. He's brilliant. He measured my foot and explained what I needed. Then he grabbed three different skates for me to try- CCM RBZ 60s, Bauer Nexus 600s and Graf Supra G3035s. I have sort of odd feet- they are like duck feet- narrow heel that splays out to really wide toes. I really like the RBZ skates and from my research thought that would be the skates I'd end up with. The Nexus was second on my list. The Graf was on the list, but not something I knew much about. The RBZ fit my foot pretty well, but the heel was too wide and I kept slipping out of it. The Nexus was the opposite- the heel was good but the toe box was too tight. The Grafs though… they could have been made for me! There was only one small part of the skate that was tight, and baking them helped that. Interesting experience... getting skates baked- just sitting still for 10 minutes in hot boots. Then they sharpened them- I am pretty ignorant about sharpening, so I went with the standard 1/2" as recommended. I also got a set of soakers. It was all a brilliant experience and the only thing I have any problem with are the bright yellow laces the Grafs come with. Luckily they come with a set of white ones too. I'll be changing those out ASAP. Time to get onto the ice!
I went back to Player's Bench sort of expecting the same thing- and I fully intended to wait for about 15 minutes, and then head to Lakewood. Luckily my experience was a full 180 degrees from the first time. I went into the store and wandered around a bit, then headed over to the skates. I was there for about 3 minutes before someone came over to help. His name is CJ, and if you need skates- see this kid. He's brilliant. He measured my foot and explained what I needed. Then he grabbed three different skates for me to try- CCM RBZ 60s, Bauer Nexus 600s and Graf Supra G3035s. I have sort of odd feet- they are like duck feet- narrow heel that splays out to really wide toes. I really like the RBZ skates and from my research thought that would be the skates I'd end up with. The Nexus was second on my list. The Graf was on the list, but not something I knew much about. The RBZ fit my foot pretty well, but the heel was too wide and I kept slipping out of it. The Nexus was the opposite- the heel was good but the toe box was too tight. The Grafs though… they could have been made for me! There was only one small part of the skate that was tight, and baking them helped that. Interesting experience... getting skates baked- just sitting still for 10 minutes in hot boots. Then they sharpened them- I am pretty ignorant about sharpening, so I went with the standard 1/2" as recommended. I also got a set of soakers. It was all a brilliant experience and the only thing I have any problem with are the bright yellow laces the Grafs come with. Luckily they come with a set of white ones too. I'll be changing those out ASAP. Time to get onto the ice!
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| Getting the skates heat fitted (baked). |
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| Need to replace these laces. |
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