The Ride to The Rink: Why Your Skate Edges Matter More Than You Think

This episode is powered by NHL Sense Arena. Hello, hockey skaters and goalies around the world, and welcome back to another edition of The Ride to the Rink. Today we're talking about skate sharpening, your skates. You all know this. And guess who we got today, kids? You've all heard of Sparks. You all know about Sparks. We got the CEO and founder of Sparks on here today. Russell Layton is joining us. And we are gonna pepper him with questions for a couple of minutes on your behalf about skate sharpening. So you know, you have the know-how to get those skates where they need to be. Christy Cassiano Burns, go ahead and take it away.

Hi, kids, and Russ, thanks for joining us. And one of the things that we've learned on doing Ride of the Rink is to teach kids why it's important to understand why things matter. Why is it so important for kids to know when their skates just don't feel right? And what can they do about that?

So the first thing is your parents won't won't know that your skates aren't right because they're not skating on them. So communicating to your parents, if you if you've had a practice or a game and you notice that one direction that you turn or try to stop doesn't feel as secure as the other direction, then you need to communicate that to your parents because your parents may not know that. And when you're a kid, you're relying on your parents to get your skate sharpen. So talking to your parents, you might be tired from your game, you might, your your mind might be elsewhere, you're now off the ice, but it's important when you're back in that car on the way home, say mom or dad or grandparent, like, hey, please, please go get my skate sharpen before I skate the next time. It's super important.

You know, Russ, I was I I I know on our big show we talked a little bit about it, but I think for a player uh listening to this, can you give a little, can you give your uh pre and post skate routine uh to the players as far as you know what they're doing with their skates and how they're treating their skates and how important it is to really understand this piece of equipment?

Yep. So before before I skate, um my skates are always hanging on my hockey tree with at home with the footbeds out of the skates so the skates can dry. You want super dry skates at all times. And when you're playing hockey, all your sweat just gravity drops it all down into your feet. So you want your skates nice and dry. I take them off the hockey tree. I make sure I have sharp edges. So I check with my fingernail down the edge to make sure my edges are are clean. I think back to the last time I was skating, were my were my edges reliable and were they good? And if if they were not, I sharpen them at home with my skate sharpener. Then I put the footbeds in them, I put the skate covers on the skates themselves. I use a soft uh skate soaker on my skates. I put them in my hockey bag, go to the rink, I dress with the skate soakers on my skates. I try to keep those soakers on as long as possible because there's things all around the locker room. There's there's just things that are out there that will damage your skates. Keep the soakers on until you're ready to go to the ice. Then be very careful as you walk to the ice so you don't step on anything that's gonna wreck your edges. Have your game, have fun, then come back and do everything in reverse. As soon as you get back in the locker room, dry the skate blades off, put your soakers on, take your skates off, put them in your bag, bring them home, take everything apart, take the footbeds out, and dry your skates again. It's important to keep your skates dry and to take really good care of your skate blades because that's the foundation of everything. Awesome.

So, Russ, I got two questions for you. The first one is a pet peeve of Mike and I, and I want to make sure that any kid listening to this episode, or parent for that matter, knows that. How important it is when you get your skate sharpened to know what hollow you should be doing, or at least how to ask the question. Can you give us a crash course real quick on what a hollow is and how kids should maybe approach trying different hollows or at least being educated on what hollows are?

So the hollow is the shape on the bottom of your skate blade, and it's not flat, it's actually curved. Um, and that curve can be different sizes. And the the um sharper the edges are on your skate blade, the more grip you will have in the ice. And the flatter your hollow is, the faster your skates will go. Typically, kids will start because they're all roughly the, you know, in that, you know, up to maybe 10 or 12 years old, the weight of a of a child hockey player will put them in a roughly half-inch hollow, is kind of where the norm is. But as you get more advanced as a player and as you get heavier, you may want to change that hollow based on how you feel on the ice. But most important is taking care of those edges and making sure they're sharp and reliable in the beginning. But that hollow can be tuned. And as you get better as a player, you can tune that hollow to how you feel most confident on the ice.

Yeah, and kids, we always say whether you're going to a pro shop or you've got a machine at home, you should always be asking what hollow the skates are being sharpened at. And if they don't ask you, do not get your skate sharpened there unless it's somebody you know that's doing it consistently, the same way every time. Very important. Now, on that line of thinking, Russ, we talk about this too to the kids. Kids, I know you love your equipment, your sticks, your gloves, and lots of different things that you can put on your body. Um, at the end of the day, kids, the most important piece of gear, I should say, aside from protecting your brain, uh, when it comes to performance, is your skates. There, there is nothing you have on your body that is more important than your skates. Okay. And I mean that over your stick. All right. Russ, can we talk for a second about how important skates are and why, kids, you having even a rudimentary knowledge of skates and sharpening is so important to performance.

I think, I think having the awareness to know if you have good, reliable edges when you're skating and making sure that the next time you go to the ice, your edges are good and reliable and you can count on them. Even young players can appreciate when you don't have a good edge, you know, you may, you may feel uncomfortable or are not confident, like turning hard left, right? And and having the ability to turn and stop in both directions is incredibly important. The game moves all over the ice. And if you have to get somewhere for defensive coverage or for offensive maneuverability, you want the ability to go in every direction. And that's what your edges allow you to do. Without edges, you'll just go straight. And so I'd say, you know, as as Lee, as you kind of teed it up, everything else builds from there. If you don't have edges you can rely on, it doesn't matter your stick, doesn't matter your gloves, doesn't matter which generation of shin pad you have. You're you're you're basically not not functional, fully functional as an athlete. And so first and foremost, everything builds off your skates.

I gotta say it's sharp stuff, Russ. Wouldn't you say Christy? I like it.

It's very sharp, very cutting edge.

I'm a dull part of this conversation.

I'll put a plug, I'll put a plug-in for the Sparks Hockey app, um, which you can get um on your phone that has a uh a hollow finder. So you can put in your weight, your position, your ability, how you like to skate, and it will suggest the hollow that's most likely your your hollow, and then one that's slightly sharper or slightly duller for more grip or more glide. And so it gives you a good place to start because it is there's we have 20 different hollows, and that could be overwhelming.

Uh, for the kids listening, if you're in a car and your parents are driving, don't grab the phone right now. Okay, make sure you wait till your touch is write this down, listen to this again. Uh no, joking aside, what a great resource, Russ, uh, to have that app and make sure that your kids know what you're doing. Guys, at the end of the day, kids, a little bit of research. All right, that app is a great resource. Just do a little time into this and understand how your blades actually work because it's gonna help you be more consistent, it's gonna be help you uh perform better on the ice, and it's an important part of the game. So, Russ, thanks so much for joining us today and talking with the kids for a little bit.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

No, thanks for being here, buddy. And again, for Christy, for Mike, I'm Lee. That was Russ. Kids, remember, wherever you're at on your hockey journey, we believe in you. You should too. See you on the next ride, buddy.