Pro Stock Hockey Blog
Bauer Vapor 1X Gets All The Glove Love
Bauer Vapor 1X gloves are the most popular gloves in the NHL. That’s not exactly news. Last season, the Vapor 1X was also the most popular glove in the league. This year four versions of Bauer Vapor gloves are on the list, with the Vapor 1X again leading the way. Actually, when it comes to appendages, Bauer 1X is apparently the way [...]
How Tall Should A Hockey Stick Be?
It’s important to know the proper hockey stick length. Playing with an improperly sized stick can slow players’ development, make their shooting less accurate and powerful, and even throw off their skating. How Long Is a Hockey Stick? That’s a question with many answers. The proper hockey stick length varies depending on the size, strength and playing characteristics of the player, [...]
Blade Grades: Having A Feel For Hockey Steel
In the equipment-centric world that is hockey, perhaps no bit of gear is as important as your skate blades. The wrong hockey skate blades can make you work too hard, tire too easily, move too slowly or wobble too often. The best hockey skates have blades that make you feel kinetic and connected. Choices are many. Which skate blades are [...]
Should You Grab a Hockey Stick Grip?
Almost forever — OK, since the early 1900s — hockey players have been applying tape to their sticks. While the blade gets most of the attention, for reasons of both protection and performance, the butt end of the stick requires equally careful taping to enhance a player’s ability to hold onto the most important piece of hockey gear north of his skates. Or [...]
Choosing Between Hockey Pants and Girdles
When choosing hockey pants, you don’t want to make a mistake. We’re not even talking a Cooperalls-level mistake. Long pants have, thankfully, been consigned to the clearance rack of hockey history. Rather, your choice is between traditional ice hockey pants and ice hockey girdles. They do the same job, but differently enough so that choosing between the two is not merely a matter [...]
How To Tape A Hockey Stick Toe Like A Pro
Most hockey players take their tape jobs seriously. David Pastrnak, not so much. The Bruins forward has blamed his drunken candy cane swirl of a tape job on penny-pinching ways born from his Czech upbringing. And he celebrated the Islanders’ signing of his friend, ex-Russian leaguer and fellow Czech Jan Kovar, by declaring on Twitter, "... finally won’t have the [...]
Home-Baked Skates Might Be The Right Fit
You want to bake your skates. Maybe you bought them online or got them as a gift. Maybe you don’t have time to get to a pro shop, or maybe your local shop is charging too much (FYI, a chain sporting goods store will do it for $25 if they don’t sell you the skates, free [...]
Best Hockey Helmets: 2017-2018 Season
With increased attention being paid to concussions in all sports, increased attention is being paid to hockey helmets. Deciding on which is the best helmet, however, can be an exceedingly individual choice. Simply, no matter how well the helmet is constructed, if it doesn’t fit properly, it won’t function. However, geargeek.com has compiled a list of all the helmets used in the NHL [...]
Best Hockey Skates: 2017-2018 Season
It might seem logical that, in the arena of hockey gear, skates would be an especially cluttered segment of the market. After all, shoe designs seem to be as individual as fingerprints in the NBA, and why should NHL feet be any less special? But in ranking the best skates — by use among NHL players over the 2017-18 season — [...]
2018 NHL Draft
Each year, when the Stanley Cup Playoffs end, only one team can really be happy, right? OK, this year, maybe two. The expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights and the perennially cursed Washington Capitals merely making the Stanley Cup Final marked a historical achievement. For everybody else, elimination meant turning attention to the NHL draft — being held tomorrow in Dallas. And it’s [...]