There is a wide range of hockey skates and prices. What the heck are hockey skates made of that are making them so expensive?
Hockey Skates are made of three separate parts. The boot, The blade holder, and the actual blade. The boot of many modern hockey skates is made of a mixture of synthetic materials such as plastic and nylon fibers. With more expensive skate boots being made of graphite and carbon fiber. The inside of the boot is usually lined with memory foam and microfiber for support and comfort. The blade holder is usually made of impact-resistant nylon, Tuuk is the major brand in blade holders. The Blade of a hockey skate is made of steel which is sometimes reinforced with carbon coating or titanium.
Read on to find out how more details on how hockey skates are built and some of the differences.
What Are hockey Skate Boots Made of?
Most hockey skates today are made of a mixture of synthetic materials. These are things like Nylon, Carbon fiber, graphite and some even have Kevlar.
The more common construction of entry-level and even some mid-level hockey boots is a plastic shell reinforced by nylon threads. Because of this cheaper construction, many entry-level skates are non-heat-moldable, meaning you can not bake them to fit your feet better.
These materials also offer less protection and less stability than some of the more expensive skates.
As you go up in price you begin to get a lighter skate with more protection. Many mid-tier to upper-tier skates have the majority of the boot (The quarter package) made up of composite materials.
If you are a dumb beer league hockey player like me and don’t know what “composite materials” actually mean, here is the definition:
A composite material is a blend of two or more materials into one. These materials are usually not similar in chemical or physical makeup and when combined together create a unique material.
So it’s a mixture of two different things making a stronger, better material.
Most hockey skate companies are pretty tight-lipped around the internet when it comes to releasing the details about their composite materials and what they use to make their skate boots but you can guess that it is a mixture of different nylons, graphites, and carbon fibers of some sort.
As you get higher in price (mid-tier $250+) more parts of skate boot become heat moldable. At the highest price point, the entire boot becomes moldable so you can 100% custom fit your hockey skates to your feet.
What Are Hockey Skate Blades Made Of?
Hockey skate blades are made of steel often coated in another metal like carbon or titanium to make the edges last longer. Higher quality steel will last longer between sharpness and should resist breaking or bending from blocked shots.
Different skate manufacturers modify their steel blades in different ways.
Bauer makes a fusion blade which is basically a mixture of steel and aluminum. The benefit of aluminum is that it is a lot lighter than steel. The downfall is that it is also a lot softer than steel so you will have to sharpen your hockey skates more often with fusion blades.
Bauer also has an LS series of blades; LS1, LS2, LS3, LS4, and LS5. The LS stands for light speed and they started with the LS1 in 2013.
| LS1 | Standard steel, not seen much anymore |
| LS2 | Similar in shape to the LS1 blades but uses a slightly better steel |
| LS3 | Same quality of steel as LS2 but the blade itself is taller allowing for longer life. The blade also has a larger radius out of the box allowing for more grip but sacrificing turning radius. |
| LS4 | Higher quality steel than LS3.The steel is also slightly polished. Same Height and radius as the LS3 |
| LS5 | Similar to the LS4 but the blade is coated with carbon to keep the edge longer. |
| Ls Pulse TI Edge | Again, Similar to the LS4 blade but This skate blade is coated in titanium |
CCM’s top-end skates come with hyperglide steel. This is a polished steel infused with their standard steel which helps the skate blade glide through the ice easier and hold a sharper edge.
Other really nice CCM skates come with a STEP black steel.
This is a standard steel blade coated in a black carbon coating which allows the blades to hold their edge for longer. I can personally say that I have found that to be true. My current CCM skates use black steel and I don’t feel the need to sharpen my skates nearly as much as I used to.
How Are Hockey Skates Made?
Hockey skates are made by first cutting out the boot portion. Starting with the quarter panel of the boot, the plastic, composite material, nylon or whatever the boot is made of will first be stamped out by a machine. The reinforcement piece will then be attached, usually by glue. The rest of the pieces will get sown together by hand on industrial sewing machines.
Padding, support, and lining are now ready to be added to the inside of the boot. These are usually held in place by glue as well. From here, an eyelet machine will punch holes for the laces and the boot will now go to a molding machine to get it into the shape of a foot before the rest is attached.
Now the boot is ready to be attached to the sole and toe cap. The hockey skate boot will be attached to the sole with glue and stitching. The sole will be attached with a press.
At this point, the blade holder is ready to be attached with a riveting machine.
Where Are Hockey Skates Made?
Most hockey skate companies like Bauer, CCM, True, and RBK all design their skates either in Canada or the United States but send their manufacturing to multiple Asian countries.
There is a myth out there that anything not made in America or Canada is crap.
I just don’t think that is true. These big companies have a reputation and a brand to uphold. They have large quality control departments and you get what you pay for.
However, Bauer does have a manufacturing factory in Canada and they use that for many NHL players and their higher-end skates. True is another brand that does a lot of manufacturing in Canada as well
How Hockey Skates Are Made And The Differences
Hockey Skates are made of different types of composite materials depending on what level of skate you get. Cheaper hockey skate boots are made of plastic shells and nylon knit for support. As you get more expensive skates you will begin to get composite materials made of graphite and carbon fiber for an extra light boot as well as more protection and support.
Moving to the blades of your hockey skates they are always made of steel. Higher grade steel is usually stronger and will hold an edge for longer. Some of the newer steel blades are getting coated in things like carbon and titanium which help their durability even more.
Most all hockey skates are designed in North America but usually, only the high-end skates are manufactured in this area while a majority of the skates on the market for us beer leaguers are manufactured in Asia.