Hockey Shops in SoCal / LA area

[ju87 0]

hey guys,

i'm visiting the LA area and would like to hit up some LHS while i'm there. any good suggestions? i'd like to find a shop that can perform skate profiling and other skate work like adding lifts/spacers to the holder and get some gear as well.

i used to live around the Torrance area so i know my way around LA pretty well.

thanks !

[Gwyren 0]

Hockey Giant has a store in Anaheim and Hockey Monkey is in Santa Ana. However, I am not sure if they can meat your needs for skatework.

[dix0r 0]

pro shop in artesia is supposed to be great for working on skates.

can't vouch for it first hand but i've never heard anything bad about it!

[Jeff 0]

I recently had my skates profiled at the Toyota Sports Center pro shop (located near LAX.)

Decent inventory too. I bought a nice pair of red Vapor XXX gloves there. I would say their inventory is better than the other shops local to me (Golden Bear and Han's shop at the Culver rink.)

[sirunsky88 1]

I would recommend Ultimate Skate and Hockey at Disney Ice for profiling skates, as well as having a fair inventory of hockey equipment. Ask for James, he's their go to guy for sharpening and profiling. Unfortunately HockeyGiant Anaheim and HockeyMonkey Santa Ana do not offer any kind of profiling.

[SickBoy 0]

I recently had my skates profiled at the Toyota Sports Center pro shop (located near LAX.)

Decent inventory too. I bought a nice pair of red Vapor XXX gloves there. I would say their inventory is better than the other shops local to me (Golden Bear and Han's shop at the Culver rink.)

Those are my locals too. The Toyota Center shop is definitely the best of the three (it's the Kings' training facility btw). They're on top of their stuff, just don't go looking for inline skates ;)

[ean 0]

I've really never thought much of the Toyota sports center shop since they relocated, the place is a mess and they don't have much. Fine for getting sharpenings and such though.

How is hockeymonkeys in-store skate selection and service? I've thought about purchasing new skates from there but am not sure if they have quality in-store staff to match their good prices.

[sirunsky88 1]

I've really never thought much of the Toyota sports center shop since they relocated, the place is a mess and they don't have much. Fine for getting sharpenings and such though.

How is hockeymonkeys in-store skate selection and service? I've thought about purchasing new skates from there but am not sure if they have quality in-store staff to match their good prices.

Their in-store skate selection is pretty good. They carry most brands, but they tend to be short on sizes. You should call ahead of time to make sure they have your size. As for customer service I would say they're pretty good. I haven't experienced anything negative. IMO they sharpen skates much better than hockeygiant.

[ju87 0]

thanks for all the info!

looks like i'll be hitting Toyota Center for skate work and also Hockey Monkey & Hockey Giant, probably Golden Bear too since that'll be local (South Bay).

any further suggestions are more than welcome!

[Fletch 219]

pro shop in artesia is supposed to be great for working on skates.

I second this opinion - Ask for Quinn - he knows his stuff!

I would recommend Ultimate Skate and Hockey at Disney Ice for profiling skates, as well as having a fair inventory of hockey equipment. Ask for James, he's their go to guy for sharpening and profiling.

If Quinn at Artesia isn't available, I would go with James at USAH. Quinn and James used to work together at Monkey back in the day :)

[Fletch 219]

I've really never thought much of the Toyota sports center shop since they relocated, the place is a mess and they don't have much. Fine for getting sharpenings and such though.

I agree with that...their new place is so crammed you can barely get around. The old location was way better.

[ju87 0]

Just thought I'd do a recap for those who might be interested...

Went to the Toyota Sports Center pro shop and had heel lifts (shims?) installed on the heels of my runners and had a profiling done. The guys there were very helpful... props to them! They had a lot of inventory but most of the equipment was for kids. Good selection of sticks including pro-stocks.

Also went to Hockey Monkey in Santa Ana. Huge selection... I could only wish for such a well-stocked hockey store here in Hong Kong. Only real deficiency was the lack of stock in replacement blades... most of the blades were jr's.

Thanks again for all the info!

[Fletch 219]

Also went to Hockey Monkey in Santa Ana. Huge selection... I could only wish for such a well-stocked hockey store here in Hong Kong. Only real deficiency was the lack of stock in replacement blades... most of the blades were jr's.

You have no idea how much that drives me crazy when I go over there....this is how it goes everytime -

Me - "Do you guys have any Fedorov Dolemite RH'ers in stock in the back or anything like that?

HM employee - "No, we're all sold out...."

Me - "Do you know when you might get some in?"

HM employee - "Uhhhhh..... Uhhhhhhhhhh.......let me check."

*8-10 minutes later*

HM employee - "We're not sure....we're waiting for them to send us more."

Me - "Ok, thanks."

That's seriously how it goes EVERY TIME I GO THERE. It's really, really frustrating. And it's not just Warrior blades - the same goes for Easton too.

[ju87 0]

Haha! I feel your pain... At first, I excited to see so many blades to choose from, but when I started looking more closely at the selection, I realised that that there was next to nothing useful. Not just Warrior and Easton, but also Bauer, CCM, RBK, etc etc.

[Fletch 219]

Haha! I feel your pain... At first, I excited to see so many blades to choose from, but when I started looking more closely at the selection, I realised that that there was next to nothing useful. Not just Warrior and Easton, but also Bauer, CCM, RBK, etc etc.

Yeah, not only that but they used to carry a lot of ABS blades. I would see them and say to myself "who the f--k uses ABS blades?"