Do you think it's only a matter of time?

[martywest 0]

How much longer do you anticipate that CCM, Bauer, Sher-wood, and companies like that will still be around. Due to cost factor, and companies like Nike and RBK name recognition, they will most likely drop the CCM and Bauer names all together. It's kind of sad really for us older guys who liked hockey long before the days of Easton, Nike, and Reebok. I remember when everyone used CCM, Bauer, Koho, and Cooper. I say by 2010, they will all be gone. What do you think?

[Gongshow11 1]

bauer will never be gone. People buy bauer equipment because it says bauer, if it said only nike, i know i wouldnt buy it

[marc_9 0]

well cooper and koho are already gone as for the others i think they will still be going strong in 2010 except for sher-wood im not sure about them

[duch 0]

I agree with you. There's no loyalty in name brands anymore as the conglomerates gobble up the smaller manufacturers. Better get use to seeing Nike/Bauer (or just NIKE!) and Reebok on your equipment in the future. Their gradually getting us use to the names and they'll eventually remove the older brand names like Bauer,CCM and Jofa. Sorry guys but I'm just going with what I've observed in the past and the same procedure seems to be occurring with the brand names under the new owners.

[DamnLocust 0]

bauer will never be gone. People buy bauer equipment because it says bauer, if it said only nike, i know i wouldnt buy it

That's the same reason everyone wore Cooper back in the day, and the same goes for Jofa, Koho, and lots of other now-defunct companies. Hell, CCM was bigger than bauer, and they've already got one foot in the grave.

[D-Wo 0]

I just can't get down with some of this new gear, particularly skates and gloves, oh yeah, neon sticks. Its too flashy and busy. To me Nike and Reebok are not hockey. To the young guys they don't know any different.

I mean how tough do I look when I throw down my neon stick, and my robot gloves to expose the foil, and I'm circling in shiny skates with flames on them? :P

Just kidding, but seriously, I like the more basic black, solid color, matte look of the past.

I wonder also how long some of the old school companies will last.

[sogaduch 0]

bauer will never be gone. People buy bauer equipment because it says bauer, if it said only nike, i know i wouldnt buy it

That's the same reason everyone wore Cooper back in the day, and the same goes for Jofa, Koho, and lots of other now-defunct companies. Hell, CCM was bigger than bauer, and they've already got one foot in the grave.

Aslong as CCM has ovechkin they will still be around

[Gongshow11 1]

bauer will never be gone. People buy bauer equipment because it says bauer, if it said only nike, i know i wouldnt buy it

That's the same reason everyone wore Cooper back in the day, and the same goes for Jofa, Koho, and lots of other now-defunct companies. Hell, CCM was bigger than bauer, and they've already got one foot in the grave.

Ive been playing hockey for 18 years, and have only worn bauer in my life. When nike bought bauer, i wouldnt even go near the skates,l and I still wont. whether its flashy gimmicks, or a shoe company in a hockey business, i don't know, i've never trusted the nike line of hockey gear, and i guarantee im not the only one.

[Remman 0]

It's all about money...

Rbk may buy CCM out or Nike may buy Bauer out, but the products will probably be the same. But a lot of people look at name and decide...

But I am still glad my Rbk 5k says Jofa on it... in very, very, very, very small letters.

[TBLfan 25]

Its not reebok, it's RBK. Reebok is now adidas.

Personally, I've argued more than once that CCM and RBK should be left as separate brand names, because that allows them to have two different lines of equipment to reach two different markets... many of those buyers of those lines don't know that they are the same company. I'd rather see the RBK 9k, CCM Pro Tacks and CCM Vector 10.0s instead of the RBK 9k, RBK Pro Tacks(YUCK! How bad does that sound?!), and RBK Vector 10.0.

Sure, it costs them more to keep both names and market them both BUT look at Ovie and Crosby... Ovie lovers hate Crosby and Crosby lovers hate Ovie, these young players see Ovie in CCM and Crosby in RBK. They buy what their favorite players are wearing/using and there you go, two markets with one company.

Now, you have old schoolers and guys that are all about tradition. They see brands like RBK, CCM, Nike/Bauer, Easton, Mission, TPS, Warrior, Sherwood, etc... Well, what brand names have history? CCM and Bauer, the Bauer name has been tarnished with "Nike" so what's left? CCM. There's another market.

A LOT of people buy products just for the name on it, I myself used to stay away from Mission because it wasn't one of the big boys. Now I know that they make some really nice products. I'm a CCM guy, but if RBK discontinued the brand name I would still be willing to buy it but there are plenty that wouldn't.

[martywest 0]

I personally use CCM equipment. Everything. I use Sherwood sticks, nothing else. I like the tradition of the old school hockey companies. I do not doubt that Easton and Nike make some good stuff, I just prefer the tradition. When I first got into hockey was around the early 80's and Mike Bossy was my favorite player. He used and endorsed CCM and that is what got me buying CCM. It's bad enough that the tacks line of skates are already discontinued, but I'm afraid that when my vector pads go, I'll have to replace them with RBK vectors.

[kenneth 5]

I think sherwood is good, they would be the only company i'd buy a wood stick, or for little kids, and older people still buy the 5090. CCM i think is find they can seperate the line having more traditional and RBK the flashier stuff. Not sure about Bauer nike i think nike is just ending their stuff cause not enough people are buying it and they had to just put their logo on the bauer stuff. I think Nike is too smart to do away with the Bauer name.

[All Torhs Team 0]

Should stock up on some stuff now. Like Bauer helmets. I bet in three years people will be wishing they had some older original bauer helmets, without the nike symbol on it too.

Should stock up on some stuff now. Like Bauer helmets. I bet in three years people will be wishing they had some older original bauer helmets, without the nike symbol on it too.

[sniper44 0]

what i'm afraid of is when i need new protective gear from rbk, i'll be forced to buy that stupid new black/neon green stuff.

I like the look of the older style protective equipment from jofa. another thing is why would you ever want chrome on your skates. its almost not about the fit anymore, just how it look(maybe i'm exagerating)

[DamnLocust 0]

its almost not about the fit anymore, just how it look(maybe i'm exagerating)

Congratulations! you have not only figured out wht's wrong with this game today, but what's wrong with this entire country today. Everyone wants the cool LOOKING stuff, not the stuff that gets the job done. Now if something gets the job done AND looks cool... well, that's just a bonus. Don't write something off just because of how it looks.

[hockechamp14 0]

its almost not about the fit anymore, just how it look(maybe i'm exagerating)

Congratulations! you have not only figured out wht's wrong with this game today, but what's wrong with this entire country today. Everyone wants the cool LOOKING stuff, not the stuff that gets the job done. Now if something gets the job done AND looks cool... well, that's just a bonus. Don't write something off just because of how it looks.

If you won't buy skates because they're ugly as sin, does it make you as bad as the guys who buy vapors because they look "great"?

[jjtt99 0]

Wow, hard to believe we had this conversation over two years ago, but it is one of my all time favourite ModSquad threads.

Dead Hockey Brands:

http://www.modsquadhockey.com/forums/index...;hl=dead+brands

Perhaps it's time we place our bets for the next ones to go? I'm thinking small guys like Kor, Mia and Sande would be safe bets. I'm cheering for the little guy, but it's real tough for them to compete.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

its almost not about the fit anymore, just how it look(maybe i'm exagerating)

And yet people post about how they wouldn't buy something just BECAUSE it has a particular logo on it, or because it is sold under a particular brand name. That is just as superficial as buying something FOR the logo or the brand name.

[Chadd 916]

Wow, hard to believe we had this conversation over two years ago, but it is one of my all time favourite ModSquad threads.

Dead Hockey Brands:

http://www.modsquadhockey.com/forums/index...;hl=dead+brands

Perhaps it's time we place our bets for the next ones to go? I'm thinking small guys like Kor, Mia and Sande would be safe bets. I'm cheering for the little guy, but it's real tough for them to compete.

Kor has a production facility that produces for other brands (not skates), so that should insulate them a bit. Sande doesn't have their own production facility so there isn't as much overhead for them as other brands and a tiny market share is still enough for them to turn a profit.

[jimmy 194]

I don't think most people care now-a-days if a name goes away, or appears. Look at the new helmet that was advertised in USA hockey mag. It's already a hit and no one has a clue about it. The power of advertising is all that's needed. Sure, to sustain sales, the product has to be good, but for initial sales, name brand recognition is not a big factor anymore. I can sell a KOR skate to someone who initialy wanted a Bauer with absolutely no problem. Show them the product, explain the features, that's all that's needed (besides some advertising).

[G60 0]

part of me wants to say 'screw the huge companies, they just want to crush competition and then produce overpriced crap'

but the other part says 'who cares if they're a huge conglomerate if the stuff works good'

all the huge companies want to do is gain as close to a monopoly as they legally can. if there is no one out there to compete with, they can rest on their laurels, never improve their product and rake in tons of money.

as long as little companies pop up and chip at Nike/RBK/Easton's heels, take away even the smallest bit of market share from them three, Nike/RBKetc, will be forced to either improve their products or lower their prices. competition is good for us consumers, but bad for the chairmen and CEO's.

supporting the smaller companies can only benefit the consumer, more choices, lower prices, better gear. blindly supporting nikebauer, and to a lesser extent RBK, is bad for everyone.

[Jason Harris 31]

Talking in general terms here, not specifically hockey, I would initially pick up a manufacturer's product that I've been happy with before, but I'm most concerned with value for my money.

My loyalty is my "preferred" brand has the first shot at maintaining my loyalty. However, if a different company makes something that appears to be better (or offer more) at equal or lesser cost, then I'll switch brands in a second. Although this will occasionally turn out to be a mistake due to lesser durability, I think it's fair to expect companies to constantly strive to offer the best value, regardless of their name recognition. When they fail in offering the best bang for the buck (not necessarily the lowest price), then it's okay if their sales suffer as a result.

So I don't care whether the equipment says Bauer, Nike, RBK, CCM, Fury, Mission or even Salming. I only care whether it's the best value for the price. That's one reason I never carried Salming's bags -- they were well made but much too expensive compared to other brands.

[Jarick 5]

Who cares what brand name it is so long as the gear performs? I play with a mis-match of stuff because I like light gear that does it's job at a good price.

That being said, the hockey market is an oligopoly...few companies are marketing essentially the same thing. The big determinant in success will be product differentiation. They all have shoulder pads that do the same thing, just different colors and slightly different fit. All have skates, just slightly different features. The plus side of product differentiation is price competition...I was able to completely outfit myself with new gear at about $300 that DRAMATICALLY outperforms the used gear I used to play with as a kid for about the same amount (adjusted for inflation). Meaning that $300 in new stuff today is much higher quality than $150 in used stuff was 15 years ago.

Anyways, if Bauer sells more than Nike, expect to see more Bauer stuff. Personally, I can see the future of hockey equipment like this: some people will want "old school" pads, like the CCM Tacks, Coopers, etc, and some will want the big flashy stuff, like the Nike, Reebok, whatever. So you'd have your stripped-down classic stuff marketed under Bauer, and the big, expensive stuff marketed under Nike. Everyone goes home happy.

My roommate loves the old CCM stuff though, and he's obsessed with those new Sherwood "classic" 5030's. Pretty cool. It'd be fun to get like an old school Orr or Howe "curve" stick. That's a pretty wide open market that someone could cash in on. I'd buy something like that.

[DarkStar50 679]

part of me wants to say 'screw the huge companies, they just want to crush competition and then produce overpriced crap'

but the other part says 'who cares if they're a huge conglomerate if the stuff works good'

all the huge companies want to do is gain as close to a monopoly as they legally can. if there is no one out there to compete with, they can rest on their laurels, never improve their product and rake in tons of money.

as long as little companies pop up and chip at Nike/RBK/Easton's heels, take away even the smallest bit of market share from them three, Nike/RBKetc, will be forced to either improve their products or lower their prices. competition is good for us consumers, but bad for the chairmen and CEO's.

supporting the smaller companies can only benefit the consumer, more choices, lower prices, better gear. blindly supporting nikebauer, and to a lesser extent RBK, is bad for everyone.

The Big 3 do work to improve their product every year. They are competing with each other!!

As far as little companies go, name three in protective. 10 to 15 years ago if I couldn't get protective in season from Cooper, CCM, Koho, or Jofa, I could always get something just as good without the total brand recognition from Canadien, Louisville, or Vic. Those strong second level brands are gone. The marketplace is changing in ways many do not realize.

[hockeydoc 0]

part of me wants to say 'screw the huge companies, they just want to crush competition and then produce overpriced crap'

That's funny. It's almost a direct quote from Nike's cooperate mission statement.