Hockey Skates!

[LollipopViolet]

I've just been bought a lovely set of Nike Bauer Supreme One05's for my birthday by my mum, and now they've arrived, I need knowledgeable people to help me take care of them, break them in etc. I don't play hockey but I'm fed up of hurting my feet in rental skates. One of my technical instructors at uni plays, and I do work experience every Sunday with him, filming Manchester Phoenix games, so he's said if I take my skates this Sunday, he'll see if the bloke who sharpens the team's skates will do mine too

So come on, what do I need to know? Oh, also, the skates have a bit that goes right up my leg, almost to my knees, anyone know what it is? It's very hard, but not uncomfortable.

the first thing you need to to with skates is to break them in. with flids (figure skates) we used to wear then around the house (if blades attached with guards on them) for about 10mins one day, 30mins the next etc building up. being impatient i tended to go for the pain option and wear them for 30mins to start builing upto about 2hrs. There are two options for getting blades down on in rink shop and the shop across the carpark. i prefer the shop across the carpark as he knows about flids and i got a pretty good grind on my blades last time. Make sure that you dont walk about off ice too much as it can chip the blades and you will need regrinds more often, also make sure you dry the blades with an old towel after each session skated to prevent rust. Dont leave them somewhere (like next to the radiator) which either gets very hot or has a very large fluxuation in temp.

not sure what the bit up your legs is but then dont venture into the world of hockeys. Out of curiosity when do you normally skate? trying to sort out a good session and have tried the quiet friday afternoon and friday night but not ventured over on another night. can you recommend a session?

If I'm honest, I have to travel to skate, so don't go very often. However, I have wider feet and hire skates always hurt me, so I got fed up and wanted my own!

I know at the little Christmas rink we have here, there's an 8-9pm session that's usually pretty quiet.

When we film the hockey at Altrincham, the Sunday sessions after games are pretty quiet. I'm planning (hoping) to go up about twice a month to skate (cheap trains and metro and then skating session). I don't drive so getting to ice is half the battle.

I've been told about a place called The Hockey Stop for regrinds, so will bear them in mind, although the guy only comes every couple of weeks.

That was the shop's name. It was where i had mine done and i was happy with the quality. depth of grind is a whole nother thing. ok for general not specific. Its across the car park of the ice rink at altrincham.
Hope you get to enjoy your boots. If you are feeling brave enough speed skating on a friday night is a hoot.