Skate Fitting

At The Hockey Shop, we understand the pain of playing in skates that just don’t fit, no matter how many skate sessions you take to try breaking them in. Nothing is worse than buying new skates and not knowing why they can’t seem to break in. That’s why we use the Source for Sports model for skate fitting: Pro-Formance Advantage.

With Pro-Formance Advantage, you can rest assured that you are getting the best skates for your foot shape and playstyle. The Hockey Shop tests and samples all the new gear that comes in, including skates, so we know how the gear works and feels. With all this in mind, we can help you make the right choices when it comes to your skates.

The game is getting faster, and skates are getting more complicated. We’re here to help. We want to be part of the process, so we can help you get the perfect skates to enhance your game.

The Process

First, we want to know about your level of play and your playstyle. This information can help point us in the right direction. Is your playstyle more agile? Or do you gain your speed more through fewer but more powerful strides? We also want to know your budget; if you’ve got a relatively decent budget but don’t want to break your bank, Source for Sports has some good exclusive options that use high-end tech at a lower price. Our staff can take your specs and match you with the right brand, stiffness, and performance.

Based on your performance goals, we will suggest certain models among the top skate manufacturers: Bauer, CCM, and TRUE. If you are an agile player, we might suggest a Bauer Vapor or CCM Ribcor, for example. Power skaters may want to go more toward Bauer Supreme or TRUE TF. Our Skate Specialists can help determine exactly what you need.

The next part involves measuring your foot from all angles, so we can make sure we find a suitable skate fit for your foot shape. Most skate manufacturers today have multiple different “fits” based on common foot shapes, and the great majority of skates are now thermoformable for a closer fit.

With that in mind, we would also like to identify and know about any unique qualities your feet may have. These can be pressure points, arches, whether you pronate or supinate, etc. Certain aspects of your feet may be the reason you have had a hard time with skates in the past. Knowing this can help us with the actual fitting stage, which comes next.

Once you’ve picked out a pair of skates and we’ve made our sizing notes, it’s finally time to try them on. We’ll get you to walk around in them to assess your comfort and if they’re what you’re looking for—if there’s a pressure point we didn’t know about beforehand, we want to know about it now. We’ll bake the skates and punch out pressure points, so we can get the perfect fit around your feet.

Remember that skates fit differently between our floor and the ice. Additional uncomfortable pressure points may become more noticeable while on the ice. That’s why it’s important, even after all this extensive fitting, that you assess your skates on the ice and throughout multiple sessions. If you find anything uncomfortable while skating, you can come right back to The Hockey Shop, and we can get back to working on those skates for you.

If you’re interested in something a little more personal, you can also inquire about custom skate fitting. Take a look at some more detailed instructions for our Bauer, CCM, and TRUE custom skate options and processes.