Local Pro Shops

[revision_88 0]

what does everyone have to say about their local shop, and where are they? i hate going to a tournament and not knowing if there will be a pro shop there. the only ones i really know about any more are the ones at california roller hockey in irvine and the pro shop at coast to coast in HB. where are all the pro shops?

[604bullet 0]

i say my local hockey shop (The Hockey Shop, Surrey, BC) is one of the premier shops in the lower mainland

pricing is not the best, so i usually buy online.

there's a ton of stuff in the shop and it caters to the young kids to the older elite players as well.

[mrciv 0]

well hockeygiant is in anaheim and hockeymonkey is not too far away. these r the 2 biggest hockey shops that i know of in socal.

[ScottMan 0]

What's a LHS? :P

No, seriously though, we only have a couple, one in the Cooler and Hockey Time USA I think. We only have two, what do you think the quality is?! Haha. No, seriously though, I would love to see a really quality hockey shop to compare to ours. I'm sure the selection is much larger, but I have had great conversations and zero attitude from the ones around here.

Quick, go take pictures of the inside of your huge LHS! Haha.

[DCott 0]

for the boston area, there are a couple options. first is pure hockey in braintree or medford (opened like a month ago). they both have a great selection in ice gear and pretty good staff. Good goalie section, with decent help there too

second is sports etc. in arlington. a great store. selection is awesome, good sales too. hands down the best goalie section around. they also carry decent selections for other sports like baseball, lax and soccer (and maybe football too, not sure). But the real reason they are the best is their customer service. at any time you will find about 10-15 guys working on the floor, and are extremely knowledgeable and helpful. their goalie guys are the best, too. the great thing is that many of them have been there for years and are really passionate about hockey.

other than that there are several play it again sports around ( quincy is gone, but dedham, reading, and stoneham are there). they have alot of used gear. mostly hit or miss there, but you can find good deals.

[Spreedizzle 1]

I'm in an even worse boat that Scottman. Asheville NC....closest Hockey Shop is in Greensboro...3 hours away. :( North Carolina is all about the base 3: Baseball, Football, Basketball. No love for hockey around here unfortunately. Quite a culture shock for me coming from the hockey crazed area of central/northern New Jersey.

[sdcopp 1]

Colorado Springs has 3 very different LHS (as well as the 2X Play it Again), so depending on needs will determine where I go. For overall selection it's Player's Bench, for anything Tour I go to the arena leagues, PIHA, etc is played at (Tour Inline Arena) and if I need advice, service, etc I head to The Slapshot Store. The Slapshot Store is the only really good shop for all around, Marty's been servicing Colorado College guys for 15+ yrs, but it's a hole in the wall with limited selection, everything is special order.

It really surprises me that some people live in more traditional hockey towns and regions and have such lackluster shops.

[cxo 0]

I doubt any of you will ever intentionally find yourselves in Saginaw, MI but all we have is a sorry excuse for a Perani's store. There's also a Play it Again but rarely are there any good finds for whatever reason. The people working in Perani's usually know what they are talking about but it can be a cliquey environment. Know someone that works there or you're on your own. Either way, I go to Flint or Detroit when I really need help anyway, so it's not a big problem.

[nyrmetros 0]

Play it Again Sports in Carle PLace, Long Island. I'm coming from east Queens.

[riotgear 4]

what's everyone's overall opinon about play it again sports? i know they tend to differ heavily by geographic location, but what's your opinion?

[DamnLocust 0]

im a big fain of PIAS for protective, especially the stuff I use for roller. It doesn't make sense to pay $60+ for a pair of shins that will get wrecked plyaying pickup hockey outdoors. I got a pair of bauer 8000s for $20 the last time I went. A few years back I snagged a pair of Vapor XX skates for $40.

That said, from what I understand, PIAS are franchised in a way that the ownership is individualized and each store is run separately from any other PIAS.

[mattzilla 0]

Im in victoria, bc. Kirbys is probably the place to go for any hockey gear. they dont really carry much inline stuff though.

if you want inline stuff, there is the proshop at the local inline rink but thats pretty much it. the selection there is very limited. ( mission mostly ) and is pretty high priced too, but at least they have something, which is more than i can say for most places around here. maybe.. 2 places on the entire island carry quality inline gear. its a shame.

[thefelixculpa 0]

what's everyone's overall opinon about play it again sports? i know they tend to differ heavily by geographic location, but what's your opinion?

My Play it again sports is awful. The selection is horrible. Earlier this year there was a period of time that they ran out of senior right hand blades period, all they had was junior and left. They also had about 10 total pairs of shinpads and maybe 10 pairs of gloves. They did not get restock anything for atleast 2 months. I kept asking when they are getting new gear in since the entire store was so bare, never got a straight answer, I have no idea how they stay open.

The staff doesn't really know much...they didn't know what a tapered shaft is compared to nontapered, don't know anything about sizing.

[DCott 0]

for the boston area, there are a couple options. first is pure hockey in braintree or medford (opened like a month ago). they both have a great selection in ice gear and pretty good staff. Good goalie section, with decent help there too

second is sports etc. in arlington. a great store. selection is awesome, good sales too. hands down the best goalie section around. they also carry decent selections for other sports like baseball, lax and soccer (and maybe football too, not sure). But the real reason they are the best is their customer service. at any time you will find about 10-15 guys working on the floor, and are extremely knowledgeable and helpful. their goalie guys are the best, too. the great thing is that many of them have been there for years and are really passionate about hockey.

other than that there are several play it again sports around ( quincy is gone, but dedham, reading, and stoneham are there). they have alot of used gear. mostly hit or miss there, but you can find good deals.

Oops...my fault, guys. When I wrote this I didn't realize this thread was in the roller section. So note that none, and I mean NONE of those stores have a good roller hockey selection. There are really no good places around Boston to get roller hockey gear.

[riotgear 4]

for roller hockey gear do you just mean skates, pants, and accessories?

[mik3 1]

Around me I'll go to Consignment Sports in Howell, they tend to have the best roller hockey supply in stock. When Alex ran SNS sports in Aberdeen that was probably my favorite local shop though.

[Spreedizzle 1]

Around me I'll go to Consignment Sports in Howell, they tend to have the best roller hockey supply in stock. When Alex ran SNS sports in Aberdeen that was probably my favorite local shop though.

Ocean Ice Palace has a good assortment of gear too, in Toms River. Mostly catered to ice, but still a lot of good equipment.

[nyrmetros 0]

what's everyone's overall opinon about play it again sports? i know they tend to differ heavily by geographic location, but what's your opinion?

I like the Play it again out in Carle Place, LI. the people are good which counts for a lot.

[mik3 1]

Around me I'll go to Consignment Sports in Howell, they tend to have the best roller hockey supply in stock. When Alex ran SNS sports in Aberdeen that was probably my favorite local shop though.

Ocean Ice Palace has a good assortment of gear too, in Toms River. Mostly catered to ice, but still a lot of good equipment.

I don't know if I'm alone but I just don't like Ocean anymore. They used to have intelligent staff and didn't care if it took you an hour and a half to pick out elbow pads. Now it seems like they couldn't be bothered 'cause they have that online money to make.

[Spreedizzle 1]

Around me I'll go to Consignment Sports in Howell, they tend to have the best roller hockey supply in stock. When Alex ran SNS sports in Aberdeen that was probably my favorite local shop though.

Ocean Ice Palace has a good assortment of gear too, in Toms River. Mostly catered to ice, but still a lot of good equipment.

I don't know if I'm alone but I just don't like Ocean anymore. They used to have intelligent staff and didn't care if it took you an hour and a half to pick out elbow pads. Now it seems like they couldn't be bothered 'cause they have that online money to make.

That's possible....I lived in Toms River for 5 years, but left there 2 years ago. When I left, they were the best shop in the immediate area.

[twister18 1]

Ocean Ice Palace has a good assortment of gear too, in Toms River. Mostly catered to ice, but still a lot of good equipment.

I don't know if I'm alone but I just don't like Ocean anymore. They used to have intelligent staff and didn't care if it took you an hour and a half to pick out elbow pads. Now it seems like they couldn't be bothered 'cause they have that online money to make.

I kind of agree, I still like Ocean, but they've lost some of their "luster" lately....seems like most of the guys there now could care less, there's still one or 2 good ones, but I actually had a guy tell me it was OK to walk around the shop in my just-baked skates :(

[purpleparrot66 0]

Anybody know of any decent places around central Jersey? Play it again is gone, my local pro shop has been downsized to the size of a dorm room, and the mainstream places (Modell's, Dick's, etc.) don't seem to acknowledge the existence of hockey. I've tried Consignment and they had a lot of nice stuff even in the used department, but I'm really just looking for a cheap Sr. stick/shaft and a pair of pants.

[Spreedizzle 1]

Ocean Ice Palace in Toms River (as stated a couple of posts up if you would of read) used to have a decent shop in it. Small, but carried a fair amount of nice equipment.

[chef_ducky 0]

I live in a town of just over 5,000.

We have 1 Real Sports Store - Sports Store

1 That sells mostly Cycling but has some stuff,

that are both over priced,

and I kid you not.....

"Jim's Hockey Skates and Matresses"

Let's just say I haven't been there!

[PIASMurph 0]

I'm a bit biased towards PIAS seeing as I work at one. Being right next to a roller rink I wish we kept more hockey in stock, too bad our owner doesn't know jack about it so he doesn't keep us stocked and we lose business.

Our only LHS's are PIAS here.