How to Choose the Right Hockey Skate Hollow - Pure Hockey (2024)

FAQs

What hollow should I use on my skates? ›

Typically, most skate sharpeners will use a hollow of 7/16, 1/2 or 5/8 as a default if they aren't given any specific instructions. Generally, younger and more inexperience players utilize a deeper hollow of 3/8 to ½.

A 1/2” hollow is pretty standard for most players in the League – not too deep, not too shallow and gives a little bit of ability ... The amount of hollow is based on personal preference and style of play, among other things.

For players that have a width ratio just slightly higher than 2.5, they have a slightly wider foot and may want to go with an EE skate width in a Medium Volume Skate or a D width in a High Volume skate. If your width ratio is greater than 3.0, you are in the Low Volume skate category because you have a narrow foot.

A normal hollow is generally 1/2” to 1” (most beginners are 3/4” to 1”). A larger hollow is recommended for beginners because it gives the skater greater glide and speed since the edges are not digging deep into the ice.

While there is quite a bit of variance, the vast majority of NHL goalies cut their skates between 9/16” and 3/8” which reflects the current common styles of play.

The most common skate sharpening radius we see for ice hockey players is a 1/2″ inch or 5/8″ inch cut.

Many players, minor league and NHL alike are claiming that the flat bottom V feels like your are gliding on top of the ice, allows you to glide longer, allows you to turn easier, and skaters will not fatigue as fast because it takes less energy to skate.

Make sure you know which types of skateboards are best for you; there's a big difference between cruising, tech, vert, and many styles more besides.

How to choose skates for beginners? ›

What is important is that the skates have a firm fit around your feet without being too tight nor too loose. For some people, this means choosing the same size as their regular shoe size, while for others, going a size up gives the right fit. As a first time buyer, we recommend that you go one size up.

Tip #1: Hockey skate sizes are approximately 1 to 1.5 sizes smaller than your shoe size for men and 2.5 - 3 sizes smaller for women.

Skates with a “D” or “R” fit will have a regular width boot. And skates with an “EE” or “W” fit will have a wider fitting boot.

Hockey skates are fast and maneuverable and offer good support of the foot, making them a good choice for beginners. Hybrid ice skates are with their soft-boot also a good choice for beginners who are only interested in using them for cozy rides.

What are they? Pure Hockey believes in making your time in our store an experience. Every store offers the chance to purchase a Breakaway Rewards membership, free WiFi, and a service center for getting your skates sharpened or fixed.

Best Depth For Beginner Skaters

For figure skate style boot or a skate with a wider blade, we would recommend a 5/8 sharpen.

Q: Which shot is the hardest for a goalie to stop? A: Generally speaking, it is one that's low and to the stick side. Some goaltenders overplay to the stick side, presenting a more inviting target on the glove side.

The most common radius of hollow cuts are ½” and 5/8” for skate sharpening shops because it provides the best balance between edge depth and glide speed.

Connor McDavid Autographed CCM JetSpeed Skates.

What type of skate sharpening does McDavid use? ›

Connor McDavid uses custom Tydan Performance Blades.

The blades are sold pre-sharpened. Jochen Hecht of the Buffalo Sabres, Dennis Seidenberg of the New York Islanders, Marcel Goc of the Nashville Predators, and Christian Ehrhoff of the Buffalo Sabres are NHL players who use T-Blade skates.

How many passes should I choose when sharpening? If you are freshening up your blades after every skate, 1-2 cycles will usually be enough. If you're sharpening your skates after every 5-6 hours of ice time, you'll typically want to run 4 cycles.

While your skates can never be too sharp, they can certainly be too dull and that can take a whole lot of fun out of the game. For those skaters who do feel their skates are too sharp at times, we recommend reviewing our post on selecting an ROH. You should experiment with a slightly shallower radius.

The Stanley Cup playoff beard has been an NHL tradition since the early 1980s, when the shaggy New York Islanders won four straight championships. It represents the players' singular focus, as if even personal hygiene is sacrificed in pursuit of hockey's holy grail.

Some reporters suggested that enforcing uniform rules was the National Hockey League's attempt to reduce freak accidents where a player's body was cut by skate blade while others said the league was laying down rules for eventually selling advertising space that would display prominently on the entire jersey.

It is said that goalie is the most difficult position to play within Ice Hockey, and one of the hardest to play in any sport. The main objective for a goalie is to keep the puck out of the net, and with a great one, they can control the game and greatly influence their team's confidence.

Brand new skates or brand new blades are going to have some sort of generic profile right from the factory. Different brands use different standard profiles for their blades, but 9′ and 11′ are the most common.

The Axel jump, also called the Axel Paulsen jump for its creator, Norwegian figure skater Axel Paulsen, is an edge jump in the sport of figure skating. Figure skating historian James Hines calls the Axel "figure skating's most difficult jump".

What is the most comfortable skate? ›

Our top pick for comfortable hockey skates in 2022 are the Bauer Vapor Hyperlite skates. While these skates don't come cheap, they are hands down the most comfortable skates available—and they're arguably the best skates overall. In 2022, Bauer introduced the Vapor Hyperlites…

Quad Roller Skates

Because of their wider wheelbase, it's generally easier to maintain your balance on quad skates. This makes them the best choice for younger children and beginner skaters. But they are not just for beginners or little ones.

Hockey skates do run big in comparison to street shoes. You want to find a pair that's about 1 – 1.5 sizes smaller than your normal shoe size.

A proper fit for hockey skates should fit 1-1.5 sizes smaller than your street shoes. Your toes should barely touch the toe cap, while having no more than 1/4 inch of space in the heel. When you're finished lacing up your skates, they should feel snug with the foot resting flat on the footbed.

It's normal to have your little toe and the fourth toe close to the edge of the insole or completely off the edge. Signs your skates are not the right fit include very little space at the toe, zero space at the toe and having your toes hang over the front edge, and the third toe hanging off the side of the insole.

The skate should fit very snug for proper support to enable a good push-off without any movement of your foot inside the skate. And finally, it takes a few wears to break in a new pair of skates. Baking your skates is another option that helps expedite the break-in process to get a more custom fit.

For performing rotational tricks on flat ground, frontside means that for the first 90–180 degrees of the rotation, the rider rotates to face the direction of travel.

Green means the element was completed with a positive grade of execution, red means it was completed with a negative grade of execution, and yellow means it is under review by the technical panel.

There are five main types of ice skates: the figure skate, the ice hockey skate, the bandy skate, the racing skate, and the touring skate.

Learn to Skate as an Adult

It's never too late to skate!

What type of skate sharpening should I get? ›

A Guide to the Recommended Skate Sharpening Radius

The 1/2″ radius would be our typical recommendation because it is the perfect blend of “glide” and “bite.” Some players opt for the 3/8″ cut, but you are definitely sacrificing some “glide,” which can in turn affect your overall speed on the ice.

5/8 (Shallow) grind is what most figure skaters skate on. This gives you a good flowing edge and has little friction on the ice. 1/2 (Standard) grind will be a lot more forgiving when landing a jump giving a sharper edge to land on.

Most recreational indoor skate wheels have a durometer rating of between 88A and 102A because the hardness allows for a fast, smooth ride on most indoor surfaces. Hardness – generally a soft wheel (85A-88A) will grip but won't roll as fast as a harder wheel (94A-98A). Harder wheels won't grip as well as softer ones.

Goalies generally prefer very large radius so that they can "kick out" without catching an edge. Figure: Most beginner and instructional skaters can skate on a 1/2" radius. A 5/8" radius will take care of most recreational skaters.

Sharpen them too often and your blades will wear out prematurely. Not frequently enough, and you'll find yourself losing an edge when trying to turn, or being unable to control your skates.

Generally skates should be sharpened every 20-40 skating hours. This depends on a few different factors such as how many times a week a skater is on the ice, which elements the skater is working on, and the build of the skater.

Quad skates have wheels that are arranged in a two-by-two configuration. This makes them more stable, and therefore better for beginners.

Inline skates are more commonly known as rollerblades, and have a single row of wheels down the middle of the skate. The arrangement of the wheels on quad skates gives them more stability, making them good for beginners who struggle with balance.

The above preferences vary greatly, but in general, about half the players use an ROH of 5/8". The other half are split relatively even between deeper and shallower hollows. Coffey was probably on the extreme end of the shallow grind, but used this to benefit his long smooth stride.

For forward spins, they are on an outside edge, and their back spin is on an inside edge.