CCM Premier II Leg Pads

The 2018 hockey season brings us CCM’s newest addition to their signature Premier family. The CCM Premier 2 leg pads provide a greater rebound generating power than previous generations, and at a fraction of the weight. With an edgy, new graphic, CCM’s newest leg pads are sure to be popular with the pros and everyone else. After getting to see the new Premier II line, I’m here to give you the details on the newest generation of CCM Premier!

LiteCore Technology

The Premier II leg pads get their lightweight feel from the new LiteCore Technology core. The new core is 20% lighter than the previous CCM Premier leg pad – I weighed the 34+1 sample we received, and it weighed 5.0 lbs. Complimented with CCM’s Optimized Weight Distribution, the Premier II’s are a lightweight, well balanced pad.

Max Rebound Technology

One of the contributors to the lightweight structure of the pads is the Max Rebound Technology. The Max Rebound Technology is a spongy, yellow foam that shoots the puck back out at an accelerated rate. This is accomplished by the foam recovering to its original state at a quick rate, after stopping the puck (coefficient of restitution).

To help reduce the overall weight of the pad, this foam allows CCM to replace some low/high-density foams with it.

Quick Motion Strap

CCM has made progress towards an all-velcro strapping system with the Premier and Extreme Flex III leg pads; now they have completed the transition. The Premier 2 leg pads feature CCM’s new Quick Motion Strap.

After lots of research with the University of Western Ontario, they concluded that the lower calf strap restricts the overall pad rotation, making it redundant. Previous CCM strapping setups, such as QK5, rid of the lower calf strap; however, this strapping was still not all Velcro.

The new Quick Motion Strap is a Velcro Y-strap directly below the knee. CCM describes the Quick Motion Strap as a “responsive system for faster drop velocity and butterfly recovery.” The benefit of the Velcro strap is how it hugs the leg, but is not restrictive like a leather strap – with every movement, the Quick Motion Strap will move with you. Another Y-strap secures the entire calf wrap.

Knee Cradle

CCM has moved away from the Sure Grip knee stack, to a 3D grip/injection molded EPP foam knee stack. While the Sure Grip knee stack was secure, it was stiff and uncomfortable to land on. The new knee stack is far more forgiving, and maintains that secure feeling.

Lastly, the knee strap has a new, thinner attachment point. The intention of the slimmer attachment point is to reduce the interference with your knee as you drop into the butterfly.

Speed Skin Technology

Though Speed Skin was first used on the Extreme Flex III series, it now brought over to the new Premier II series. Speed Skin is intended to reduce friction between the pad and the ice, making for quicker, more explosive sliding.

Speed Skin is a synthetic emboss overlay on the pad, which is the same thickness as Clarino. CCM had both goalies for the University of Concordia Men’s Hockey team demo the E-Flex 3 prototypes (prior to the release of Extreme Flex III) with Speed Skin for a full season, and they reported back that Speed Skin performed better than Clarino and was just as durable.

Another little bonus with Speed Skin is that it cleans better than Clarino. Cleaning puck marks off pads has become a popular thing to do (I’ve never understood the purpose of removing puck marks, but to each their own) to keep you’re gear looking as new as possible. So, don’t be afraid to take the magic eraser to them.

All in all, Speed Skin intends for goalies to have more efficient slides, while making less of an effort.

Final Thoughts

Time and time again, CCM exemplifies consistency with their equipment. Construction, aesthetics and function are all boxes CCM ticked with this pad. The new graphic offers a lot of colour zones to work with, which will allow goalies to make their custom sets truly unique.

Though CCM doesn’t really care to make their pad the lightest, they did a great job of making the pad a weight that can compete on the sales floor. In my opinion, pad weight was a bit of a barrier for CCM’s Premier pad; I think they’ve taken good care of that issue.

The softer profile of the pad is a bit of a different approach, compared to previous Premier pads. I think CCM is trying to cater – at least at the stock level – to more goalies. It’s becoming rarer to find a goalie that likes a very stiff pad. That said, it’s still a stiffer pad than the Extreme Flex and other similar pads. What is important is that the Premier pad’s purpose is the same: shoot rebounds far away, giving the opposition no second chance. The Max Rebound Technology is a cool foam that does a lot for the Premier II.

Wrap it all up with the all-velcro, Quick Motion Strap set up, goalies will be excited to see a Premier pad that’s actually a bit different from the previous model (not a knock against CCM, they’re just very consistent).

Make sure to come check out the new CCM Premier 2 series at The Shop. Also, make sure to follow us on Instagram to see all the custom Premier II setups we bring in! Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!