DC LHS, Where?

[Erasmus354 0]

My friend and I have recently been looking into getting into Ice Hockey. He has never skated before but is taking lessons through Fairfax County Rec Center later this month. I have skated a couple times at public skates and did roller blading / street hockey quite a bit when I was younger. My plan is to buy some skates and go skate around on my own to freshen up and prepare for some of the Ice Hockey classes at the local rinks (or through Fairfax County Rec Centers).

We went down to Kettler Iceplex this weekend to try on skates. Unfortunately their proshop is very small, and their selection smaller. We don't want to break the bank and are looking at mid to lower mid level gear. Kettler only had Nike Bauer and a couple higher end CCM's in their selection. To top it off they didn't have any of the lower end skates in any of our sizes so we couldn't try anything on.

Does anyone know of a good LHS in the area (Northern Virginia / DC) where we could go to try on skates? I have been perusing the equipment forums and that is the only advice I see repeated over and over is that we should try on skates because they all feel different and simply getting one based on foot size isn't a good way to go.

[sds 0]

For Sports, located in The Gardens Ice House in Laurel, MD probably has the biggest selection in the area....

[saba 0]

Please use the search function as I know most of the local guys in DC have answere this question before

Fairfax Ice Rink Pro shop Mike sells me my skates

Ashburn Ice House pro shop imho best selection

Laurel Ice Gardens have some good deals good sharpening

Rockville Ice Arena pro shop my LHS and Drew is a great guy to deal with on/off ice

Just a few off the top of my head

[Erasmus354 0]

Sorry, I tried searching but DC LHS doesn't return any results and Virginia LHS returns too many because it doesn't search terms less than three characters.

I feel silly for not stopping by Fairfax Ice Arena because I can probably walk there in 5 minutes from where I am working. I drive by every day on my way to work. I just figured that they were smaller and wouldn't have much.

It looks like the main options then are Ashburn and Laurel which are both about the same distance away.

[armada 0]

Out of all those shops which one sells Capitals pro stock when available?

[minwookie 0]

NONE!

I guess I'll contribute more than this.

TGIH (The Gardens Ice House) has the best selection of Skates and a decent selection of OPS, pretty evenly distributed. Very little selection of tapered blades. Decent glove selection.

Ashburn and Kettler carry mostly RBK and Bauer skates, slim selection of blades, but most of them are tapered. They have OPS but mostly carry NBH, Easton and Warrior, very little RBK action. Ashburn has a better glove selection, but both stores focus mostly on warrior and Bauer. Ashburn does have TPS R2 XN10 shafts in x-stiff flex if you are interested for like 70 or 80 bucks.

Cabin John = Worthless.

Rockville Ice Arena has a smaller selection in everything, but does have a decent selection of RBK OPSs.

I would say TGIH is probably your best bet, with Ashburn as 2nd. Kettler a distant 3rd.

[Erasmus354 0]

NONE!

I would say TGIH is probably your best bet, with Ashburn as 2nd. Kettler a distant 3rd.

Haha, it does seem to be a very niche thing around here, if Kettler is third because their shop was TINY. I am planning on going to TGIH this weekend. Thanks for the advice. This is very daunting sport to get into, especially in this area and when I'm already an adult. I still haven't figured out how I am going to actually get a chance to play in any games.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

I would also put For Sports in Laurel first, then I would either put Rockville or Fairfax second, simply because I haven't been to Ashburn in a long time.

Kettler has only got CCM/RBK and NikeBauer skates if I recall correctly. And has much more apparel than it does actual gear.

Fairfax has a decent selection of skates, I like that they carry Sher-Wood, TPS and Eagle gloves, although Rockville had the best selection and price on gloves I've seen locally.

[interpathway 9]

Cabin John = Worthless.

HAHA this made me LOL right in my chair. Especially considering how we go work in their back rooms.