Transition from Inline to Ice - What Level of Skate should I be looking at?

[chelster 0]

After years of only playing inline, it looks like I'm going to finally play some ice hockey. I was wondering if anyone has some tips on what range of skates I should be looking at. For inline I use Mission Proto VSI Team Reissues which are rated at 7.5 stiffness. They took a little while to break in, but I like them and they feel a little more responsive than my old Mission Proto VS's which are only rated as 5.5 and are about 10 years old.

I'm female, about 5'7", 130 lbs, so I'm not sure what I should be looking at for ice hockey. I've skated on ice a little before but never while playing hockey and only with rentals. It's been a few years since I've skated, but when I was a kid I could do forward and backward crossovers without a problem and didn't really notice much difference from inline. I could do some kind of hockey-like stop though I don't really remember if it was a a real hockey stop or just something similar to how I stop on inline. I'm a pretty good inline skater: I can handle all the main techniques, and I've done a bit of power skating exercises adapted for inline, but I'm guessing it'll take some time to learn to use edges on ice and things like that.

Would an intermediate level skate be the way to go? I have pretty narrow feet, especially at the ankles and a little less so at the forefoot, so I've been looking at the Easton S9's. Due to my location (Mexico) I don't think I'm really going to have a chance to try skates on before ordering but if anyone has any recommendations for skates for narrow ankles, that'd be great. I'll be breaking the skates in the old-fashioned way, no baking options around here. I'd like to stay under $200 if I can, but if I'm really going to see a big jump in quality, I could spend more. However, I'm mostly interested in having a skate to make the transition the easiest possible, and then probably later I could look at something higher end if it were recommended.

Thanks!

[GoBucky 0]

Intermediate. Id look for a pair of skates that list in the $200-$300 range. Usually you can get skates in that range for less than $200 from Hockeymonkey or Icewarehouse.

[AIREAYE 248]

The Stealth series should be your best bet for narrow ankles.

edit : Look at both Synergy and Stealth, the EQ series has a more consistent narrow forefoot while the Stealth is a bit wider

[Bimmer 0]

Love my Bauer Supreme one70's...might be able to pick up a pair in the $300 range...baking would only help..not sure about how they would accomodate narrow ankles as mine are WAY from narrow..

[flyers10 57]

Since you mentioned a narrow foot maybe look for a Bauer Vapor series, X30 or X40 which would be on clearance now or the new versions x4.0 or x5.0. Also maybe try a Easton S12 as well as the S9. Not sure where in Mexico you are but if your in Sonora, AZ has some shops about 6-7 hours away.