Skate Sharpening and Radiuses

By Dan Carbonneau

In the sport of ice hockey your skates are the most important piece of equipment in your equipment bag. Taking care of your skate blades is your number 1 priority to perform at the peak of your ability.

Your skates must be sharp in order for you and your team to perform. Dull skates equals a dull player and a weak link in your team. If you don’t have your skates sharpened after every 4 times you skate you will hurt your ability and your team’s ability to perform. Most people can’t tell when to have their skates sharpened so use every 4 times you skate as a guide. Sharpen them for your first game of the week and skate on them 3 more times before you return to your sharpener.

Hockey coaches need to be vigilant in informing their players on where to find the best sharpeners in the area because there are many places you want to avoid. It’s a hockey fact that experienced skate sharpeners are very few in numbers and you will probably have to travel a few extra miles to find these experts. They also don’t necessarily operate in ice rinks either. The effort you make to find your skate sharpener will make all the difference in your hockey ability and your team’s performance. Choose your skate sharpener as you would your physician! That is how important skate sharpening is to any hockey players who want to perform their best and not hurt their team’s success.

Skate sharpening is only one part of the importance of proper skate care. The other part is having your skate’s radiused, profiled or contoured with each new pair of skates or blades you purchase. This is the fine tuning of your skate blades so they are both the same in their contact with the ice surface.

When you purchase a pair skates the blades are not the same in their contact with the ice. Think of them as being lop sided like a car tire before it is balanced. They can be too round or too flat on either skate blades, one skate can be leaning more forward or more backward to the other as well. Have you ever skated on a brand new pair of skates or put new blades on your current skates and found you were falling backward, leaning too far forward or you had a tough time turning? This experience can be corrected and perfected by performing a radius or profiling. The benefits of this procedure will be better gliding, less effort needed to skate, tighter turning, better bite on the ice making you more stable, faster stops and take offs and easier transitions from forward to backwards skating. In all aspects your whole skating experience is enhanced giving you the advantage over players who don’t have this technology on their skates.

Do you or your team have this advantage over the competition? If not see below where you can get your skates corrected and give yourself and your team the advantage needed to perform at its full potential. All sharpening is performed by a local professional hockey player, equipment manager and skate technician with over 43 years of experience sharpening and radiusing skates from Mites to Pros. Come experience the difference that some players keep a secret and remember you will only perform as good as your skate sharpener performs. Stop into my shop for your free radius check anytime.