I was sick of taking pucks to my skates and getting injured because of it. I usually play center and try my best to forecheck as hard as possible and block shots taken from the point. There were countless times in the past where I would take a slapshot to my foot and have to limp over to the bench because of the pain. Quite frankly this made me very hesitant to get in the way of a puck and a didn’t forecheck as hard as I probably could in my games or while practicing. I honestly couldn’t find any remedy for this until I stumbled upon Skate Fenders a couple of months ago.
Some Background Info
I came across Skate Fenders while looking for extra items to add to my cart for an online hockey store. I was curious to see if this product would do what they claim. Which is:
- “Skate Fenders are specifically designed to protect the feet of hockey players from pucks, sticks or most other on-ice mayhem.”
- [and are] “Effective in reducing painful, debilitating impact injuries”
To find out a little more history, you can check out a Canadian blog that went in depth about the company’s start from its humble beginnings to being used in the NHL. It’s actually a really interesting story. There is also a follow up story discussing the progress this product has made over the past several months.
Out of the two products offered, I tried out the Pro model. The main difference between the two models is “The NEW PRO Skate Fender – [is] molded in an even higher grade polycarbonate that is slightly lighter, stronger, more flexible and provides more impact energy dissipation.” This model is preferred by NHL players and they are only a $10.00 more than the original fenders.
Protection
I am usually on the ice around 3-4 hours a week. Most of this is comprised by stick-n-shoots/puck-n-pass (whatever you want to call it), pick-up games, and I usually have one game a week. I first had some of my teammates take some shots at me during a stick-n-shoot. This worked alright, but they were a little too far away and most of their shots weren’t exactly accurate. Sorry if you’re reading this guys.
Where I got the most use out of this product was playing during pick-up and my regular season games. I took at least 3 or 4 hard shots to the side of my boot and quite frankly, I would have thought the puck just hit my chassis had I not been looking down at my skates when it happened. One other thing I tried was just hacking away at the top and sides of my feet with my stick… just to test it out. I really didn’t feel anything besides some vibration. I have to be honest. Most of the guys I play with don’t exactly rip shots like Zdeno Chara, but regardless, my foot no longer hurt when blocking shots.
Fit
One thing I love about this product is that I really have no concern -whatsoever- with taking a shot to my skates. This gave me so much more confidence when forechecking and blocking shots. There are a couple of guys in my league that have a shot most players don’t want to even bother getting in the way of. I used to feel the same way, but now I have no problem getting in front of their shots. The Skate Fenders are also very easy to take on and off and–if needed–adjust during play. They fit snug around my boot, but not enough where the movement of my foot feels restricted or my boot feels stiff. My feet also stayed the same temperature as they usually do when playing. One cool side note of this product is that the polycarbonate shell also prevents a lot of moisture from getting on one’s skate. This could increase the longevity of the skate itself.
The Bad
The downside of this product is that you get former D2 collegiate players (who think they are better than everyone else on the ice, and keep re-living in their glory days) poking fun at you for paying “$100 for boot covers”. I imagine, like you, I couldn’t really care less about tools like that who have to make fun of others to compensate for their failure to “make it big”. However, for me, this is a small sacrifice for the reduction in pain and potential injuries.
Skating with Fenders
Seriously though, about the only problem I ran into was in the first five minutes or so of wearing the Skate Fenders. When I would skate fast while turning or sometimes when transitioning, the edges of the Skate Fenders would hit against each other. This would occasionally trip me up. However, after getting used to this product, my skating when back to the way it was before I started wearing them.
I have to laugh each time one of my teammates (or a player at a drop-in) is wincing in pain from taking a puck to their skate. I almost always say, “Man, if only you had some Skate Fenders, you wouldn’t be hurting at all right now.” They usually glare at me or make some sarcastic remark and then go back to their heavy breathing and foot-rubbing.
Final Thoughts
It was good to have the opportunity to review this product and I was very surprised at how effective they actually were. I would highly recommend them to any player who doesn’t enjoy the pain of taking a slapshot to the foot, and I would especially recommend it to all the beer-league players who have to go to work the next day and don’t want to have to explain to their co-workers why they are hobbling around.
I plan on using this product until I have to replace them, but I don’t see that happening anytime in the near future.
If you would like to find out any other information regarding specific details about either the Skate Fenders or their new pro model, please check out their website.
Tags: protection, skates
What size did you demo and what size skate do you wear?
Sorry. Spaced on including that info. Skate Fenders are Large. My skates are CCM Vector 6.0s and the size is 11.5.
Just tell all those former D2 players that SkateFenders are now in use by over 14 NHL teams and being discussed as required wearing in the league!
To each his own. Some D2 players talk a lot. Take it with a grain of salt. It’s actually a benefit. You could wait and hear one negative thing from several random people throughout the years, or get it all at once from one individual, without wasting all that time. It’s really a benefit in disguise.
As for the protection, I’ll be honest, I highly doubt that it is necessary in our level of play. So 14 NHL teams are using them. When I start playing in the NHL with 100+ MPH slap shots, I may consider it. But in beer league, you could honestly get away with nothing more than a cup, shoulder pads and a helmet. No one shoots hard enough to merit anything else. And really, if everyone could skate, the shoulder pads wouldn’t be necessary either, but since you have to be aware of players taking your legs out on accident because they can’t skate, then they are a good thing.
Again, to go back to the claim of NHL players using them. They get paid to endorse basically everything that they wear for this specific reason, that people will justify buying them because an NHL player wears them. On one page Chris Pronger is listed as a user, but you can see in recent photos that he does not have any on.
So to sum it up, do whatever you want, but do it on purpose. Have your own reason and stick with it, without trying to justify it to others.
I say that anything that will make the game safer and more fun all the better. You know at the level I play we all have got to go to work the next day. So if I can have a good game and not limp the next day because my feet are killing me from some slap shot that is all right by me, Thanks for checking these out I have a pair on order.
It’s funny I thought only a real tool would use a website that not many people look at to talk crap. I have to hear about it from some one else. It’s also funny this coming from some one that is too scared to play in an upper league. Maybe if you played up your boot covers would actually come in handy where some one can actually shoot a slap shot. It’s not really hard to be the best player on the ice when I skate against you. I like that I’m a tool and I’m trying to relive the glory days when I teach a hockey class and play in the A league, I wouldn’t want to be a ringer and give you something else to cry about now would I? So I have an idea next time you have something to say to me pull your balls out of your purse and come say it to me. Don’t hide behind your awesome website and wait for some one that actually looks at it to tell me what you wouldn’t say to my face.
Believe it or not, you aren’t the only D2 player (among many other players) that commented on them, but you were somewhat of an inspiration for that section of the post . I can only imagine that others viewing this website could relate to hearing similar comments from people that play a level (or more) above them. If anything I’m just bustin’ your balls a little Sepncer… not talking crap, but I am glad I got a reaction from you. My brother was hoping you’d visit the site to share your opinion or expertise regarding any the topics discussed. Believe it or not, he respects your abilities and your knowledge of the game.
I am glad you brought up that you teach a class because, I imagine you get frequently asked questions about improving skills and certain products to purchase. I am curious what your suggestions to beginner/intermediate players would be.
You are right. I will fully admit that you are a better player than me. At the same time, you have played ice for 15(?) years and I have played for less than 3. To be honest, I could maybe “keep up” with A-league, but that’s about it. Until then, I am comfortable playing at my skill level. However, I have taken a few shots (from you) while playing against you, two of which hit the Skate Fenders. I knew it hit my skates, but I didn’t feel much pain (I hope you don’t consider this talking crap). I can only conclude that the shot wasn’t all that hard or… (the more likely explanation) the Skate Fenders actually worked.
The one thing I don’t understand is; if there is a product out there like shin pads or “boot covers” why would you want to deal with the pain when you could just prevent it from even happening? It would be similar to wearing shin pads. Sure you could take a puck to your shins and just deal with the pain, but wouldn’t it be smarter to wear shin pads to prevent/limit the amount of pain/injury?
I just don’t understand why you can’t just grow a pair and deal with the pain for a few minutes. I guarantee you I have taken harder shots to the foot than you ever will in B league hockey, and I would never consider buying these. Stop being such a freaking pussy dude.
Random stranger comment… But this is hilarious that you called out this kid online, after just berating him for doing the same, rather than talk to him next time you see him on the ice. Way to not have your balls in a purse “Spencer”.
I have skated twice now using the compact pro model. The problem I am having is when I do aggressive turns of when I get low and over on my edges that the shate fender edge is now contacting the ice and flipping my blade edge off causing my to fall. Can I shave a little off the bottom ankle edge or will I just have to train myself to skate less aggressively ?