the white nike's gretzky played...

[x-track 8]

....last nite in the locker room my teammate said that he would like to find a pair of those white and black nike skates gretzky used .... just before ending his career ..... I promised to check for him , but he couldn't remember the name of the skate ...

I'm sure you guys know what he's talking about !!!

[xstartxtodayx 343]

I think they're called the "Zoom Air Elites", there was a little discussion about the model on page 604 in the "show it off" thread, also there's an entire thread dedicated to old Nike stuff floating around somewhere.

[Guffaw26 0]

I think Gretzky's nike skates were actually blue and white.

Those skates were supposed to be pretty heavy -- I can only imagine how much heavier they would seem now with the general lightness of today's skates.

[matix218 11]

I know the top of the line model was the "air accel elite" and there was also an "air speed elite" and a regular "air accel" i believe (correct me if im wrong). I had a pair of the air accel elites so i know that is right (and i just purchased a new pair yesterday from a msh member!) Gretz had blue trim on his skates and I dont believe that the blue was ever offered as a retail color.

[rebel96 0]

These possibly. no blue trim though and very expensive.

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-White-Nike-Zoom-A...A1%7C240%3A1318

[cdoug55 0]

those look pretty beat up for having played just one men's league season.

[matix218 11]

those look pretty beat up for having played just one men's league season.

well they are all white, what do you expect :P

[JR Boucicaut 3789]

They were called Air Accel Elite, not Zoom Airs like the PHEW kids say.

Those skates sucked THEN. LOL

[matix218 11]

They were called Air Accel Elite, not Zoom Airs like the PHEW kids say.

Those skates sucked THEN. LOL

the skates didnt suck. They were comfortable and looked nice. The only real downside was that they were pretty heavy but there was really nothing else bad about them at all.

[interpathway 9]

They're bricks. Hell, they're cinder blocks. Look at the size of that toecap in the eBay auction, lol. All this discussion can be found in the "Nike Hockey in the 90's" thread (for those interested) I am sure.

[JR Boucicaut 3789]

They were called Air Accel Elite, not Zoom Airs like the PHEW kids say.

Those skates sucked THEN. LOL

the skates didnt suck. They were comfortable and looked nice. The only real downside was that they were pretty heavy but there was really nothing else bad about them at all.

Sorry, they were so good that the NHL players who endorsed them hated them with a passion - their poster boy broke his deal to get back into his Grafs. So good that they flew off the shelves. But then again, what do I know...

[matix218 11]

which nhl players hated them with a passion? I assume you must know them personally or somthing?

I doubt they hated them since they were being custom made for their feet and specs.

You sound like you are talking about one specific player you heard about that didnt like them and trying to pass it off as "everyone".

And they did sell really well actually. The pro shop at my home rink had to take special orders for the elites because they were all sold out for the first 5 months that they were on the market.

I dont know where you are getting your information from...

[fieldofdreams 0]

I dont know where you are getting your information from...

Yeah JR, you big dummy! You don't know nothin'! :P

[hehatemefrisbee 0]

which nhl players hated them with a passion? I assume you must know them personally or somthing?

I doubt they hated them since they were being custom made for their feet and specs.

You sound like you are talking about one specific player you heard about that didnt like them and trying to pass it off as "everyone".

And they did sell really well actually. The pro shop at my home rink had to take special orders for the elites because they were all sold out for the first 5 months that they were on the market.

I dont know where you are getting your information from...

Your shop was the only one then bud. And JR is talking about Sergei. He broke his deal to go back to grafs. The Nike skates sucked.

[Chadd 916]

I know a couple guys that bought them because Fedorov was wearing them. Every one of them hated the skates. Easily the most over-hyped product of that generation. While they may have sold well in your area, most shops that I know ended up with a lot of skates sitting on the shelf collecting dust. Nike knows how to market and most sales should be attributed to marketing, not quality product in this case.

As for the pros:

Gretzky, as much as I love him, is a whore. If he's endorsing a product he will endure just about anything to promote them.

Fedorov, dumped the skates and went back to graf.

Sundin, skates were nothing like the retail model and he wasn't in them very long.

[JR Boucicaut 3789]

which nhl players hated them with a passion? I assume you must know them personally or somthing?

I doubt they hated them since they were being custom made for their feet and specs.

You sound like you are talking about one specific player you heard about that didnt like them and trying to pass it off as "everyone".

And they did sell really well actually. The pro shop at my home rink had to take special orders for the elites because they were all sold out for the first 5 months that they were on the market.

I dont know where you are getting your information from...

Nope, never have had the pleasure of knowing Mr. Fedorov.

Wow, by that logic, there would never be any pro-return skates on the market. Every custom skate would be accepted.

But I digress, I don't know where I'm getting my information from.

[interpathway 9]

Weren't Fedorov's white Nike's just a shell over his Graf boot for awhile there?

[mykty13 0]

Weren't Fedorov's white Nike's just a shell over his Graf boot for awhile there?

The original one's Fedorov wore were Bauer 5000's. I have a collection of all the old Nike stuff and have the skate. Sundin's original (which I have as well) were also Bauer 5000's, but totally customized to the point you can't really tell what it is underneath.

I got a lot of my stuff from a friend who was the Nike player's rep...some of you know him. He claims that they would give Fedorov anything he wanted, but he still wouldn't like it. They also had Roenick, Teemu, and Leetch, but could never find anything to make them happy. Teemu, after like 20 pair and a year of fitting, only wore the skates for warmups at one of the games in Japan. Basically the same thing for Roenick. He also had a bunch of R&D guys sit down with Leetch to try to convince him that a stiff skate was a better skates (Leetch had been wearing the same skates from college at that point). He laughed at them and told them they were crazy.

[Chadd 916]

He also had a bunch of R&D guys sit down with Leetch to try to convince him that a stiff skate was a better skates (Leetch had been wearing the same skates from college at that point). He laughed at them and told them they were crazy.

I agree with Leetch, skates can be too stiff.

[x-track 8]

...wow ...thx alot guys , you are hockey's wikipedia !!! :)

I'll show him the pic of the auction and then we know !!!

[matix218 11]

which nhl players hated them with a passion? I assume you must know them personally or somthing?

I doubt they hated them since they were being custom made for their feet and specs.

You sound like you are talking about one specific player you heard about that didnt like them and trying to pass it off as "everyone".

And they did sell really well actually. The pro shop at my home rink had to take special orders for the elites because they were all sold out for the first 5 months that they were on the market.

I dont know where you are getting your information from...

Nope, never have had the pleasure of knowing Mr. Fedorov.

Wow, by that logic, there would never be any pro-return skates on the market. Every custom skate would be accepted.

But I digress, I don't know where I'm getting my information from.

I guess it was only my area where they sold well. I did have a pair of elites that I liked very much but I guess it was just me.

Not trying to start an argument with mods.

[JR Boucicaut 3789]

No problem, not offended or anything.

[skeeter14 0]

sundin's first nike's always made me laugh....the ones that were clearly bauers, but just had a nike swoosh sewn into him. only made me laugh more when kids i played against tried to sew nike swooshes on their CCM tacks.

ahhh the good old days

[JR Boucicaut 3789]

Neely and S. Stevens had the same pair. They were Bauer 2000s.

[roscoe6 1]

sundin's first nike's always made me laugh....the ones that were clearly bauers, but just had a nike swoosh sewn into him. only made me laugh more when kids i played against tried to sew nike swooshes on their CCM tacks.

ahhh the good old days

Remember the old Nike straps that you could take on and off of your shoes? I'm pretty sure they were intended for basketball sneakers, but if you bought the XXL's they would fit over your hockey skate. They went around the heel, up under the midsole of the shoe, and velcro-d over your laces. Ya, my whole team had those in orange back in the day. We thought we were pretty cool.

I can't seem to Google any pics, but I'll keep looking. Next time I go to my parents house I'll look for some pics or the straps if I still have them.