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I disagree with the price factor. There are plenty of kids in top level Bauer and CCM skates. It took CCM a long time to get back to being considered a player again in the skate category and I think Easton is still trying to recover from some stumbles.

I'm not so sure it's a lack of "cool factor" with the kids so much as unbelievable difficulty for parents to even find the skates. True story: I live in the Niagara region (Canadian side) and purchased a pair of Mako IIs for my 12 year old at the most prominent LHS in the area last March. Kid fell in love with the skates and I got lucky at a 40% off "end of season sale." Flash forward to late November (black Friday) and the boy said those words we all hate: "I think my skates are too small." 12 year olds grow fast ... I started shopping for new Mako IIs. None to be found. Not even a display skate. Not at Front Row Sports, not at any Source for Sports, not at Sport Chek. I went on the Easton website and looked under the "dealer finder" and called 17 shops. Not only did they not have the skates but they had no intention of carrying them. I wrote Easton directly and the reply I got simply provided a list of dealers, the same list I'd already used to make all of those calls. Finally, I got the kid sized for mon-Mako skates at a LHS and took a flyer with online dealer Hockey Supremacy, hoping I'd gone with the right size. It all worked out -- they arrived and I took the kid to the LHS to have the skates baked/aligned/contoured. He's the only peewee kid I have EVER seen in the Niagara region who has Makos. As mentioned, he totally loves them and can't imagine wearing anything else. But they were absolute Hell to find and I totally understand why nobody else wears them.

I wish I could get past that new Eagle logo ?

My teammate's older (teenage) son keeps trying to recruit new players to our skate by telling them that I once played for the Boston Bruins. This is technically true, but he's definitely taking the adage "never ruin a good story by telling the truth" to heart. Nice kid.