Chara the consumer

[bUcKcH0y 0]

Saw this in today's Boston Herald:

A note of interest to youth hockey parents, who spend big bucks on equipment and sticks. Consider the wear and tear Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara inflicts on his gear.

Remarkably, he goes through about a dozen pairs of skates per season, wearing out skates in about three weeks.

“I’m 255 (pounds), 260,” said Chara. “With the gear on, it’s probably 275, 280. Just imagine the stress I put on skates twisting, turning and stopping. They get wet and they start to break down pretty quickly. I really need a stiff skate.”

Chara sometimes will use brand-new skates out of the box with no break-in.

If you’re interested, NHL teams pay close to the retail price for skates, something like $550.

[DarkStar50 679]

Is that why Bruins tickets cost so much?

[chippa13 1844]

Jacobs probably makes them pay for their own gear.

[Hoopster 0]

What are they making his gear from, balsa wood?

This has confirmed a nasty feeling I've had since returning to the game; in my humble opinion new skates are crap. I will not invest any money in a new pair of skates until they start making them properly again.

I'm sure the CEO's of Bauer, CCM et al are heartbroken at this.

[hockeymass 11]

What are they making his gear from, balsa wood?

This has confirmed a nasty feeling I've had since returning to the game; in my humble opinion new skates are crap. I will not invest any money in a new pair of skates until they start making them properly again.

I'm sure the CEO's of Bauer, CCM et al are heartbroken at this.

I'm sure you weigh 280 pounds and play in the NHL and really need to worry about durability issues.

[hunt3rsean 44]

Yeah, look at how many games Chara will play in 3 weeks. Then factor in his weight. Then add the amount of abuse HE puts on them. Then add the amount of abuse other teams put on them with slashes, puck shots, and being stepped on.

I also bet his level of standard for replacing a skate is a little bit tighter then the average adult league player or youth who is just playing highschool.

[chippa13 1844]

I'm trying to find it but I seem to remember that Messier would be in a new pair of skates every 6 games or something. Pros burning thru skates is hardly a new phenomenon.

[hunt3rsean 44]

Duncan Keith also mentioned (I believe I read it from an article last season) where he would go through skates in a similar time frame. Pro's want the utmost responce and support out of the skates, so as soon as they start to noticeably break down they're going to want into a new set.

[chippa13 1844]

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2011/09/22/the-secret-weapon-of-glen-sather-frugality-the-oilers-way-part-6/

Gretzky says Stafford did a good balancing act. “Ultimately the name of the game was to produce and the Oilers (managers) were very comfortable with that. I saw some guys go through 12 pairs of skates in a year. …

And this was just funny.............

Stafford felt that some needs were more perceived than real, and would occasionally test his theory. Oilers centre Kenny Linseman was notorious for rejecting sticks. Out of a batch of 24, he would get out a tape measure to test each new one. Often, he’d mark half of them with the NHL standard N.F.G. (No F—ing Good) tag, so they could be sent back to the factory for credit.

One day Linseman was short of sticks and complained. Stafford went to the backroom, took off the NFG tags from a dozen rejected sticks, and set them up against the wall, leaving them there for Linseman to find.

After inspecting the sticks, Linseman was elated. “These are perfect,” he told the trainer. “They must have just come in, eh?”

[Quintin 16]

In an interview with Cabbie, Mike Richards said he gets a new pair of gloves every 3 games.

[bagsbie 8]

With respect to the gloves, I've been paying a bit more attention to the gloves just out of curiosity and noticed that most of the glove palms the pros have are nearly mint. Gotta think that they replace them very often...

[DarkStar50 679]

Mark Recchi started in the NHL in 90-91. He was going through skates every 2 weeks since way back when. Skates are made better today than back then. Don't kid yourself.

[Hoopster 0]

Fair enough guys, I just find it incredible that with all todays modern materials and building techniques that no one can build a pair of skates that withstand more than a few weeks of abuse. Also, the amount charged for a top end pair of skates now is just ridiculous if you factor in the poor durability. It's okay for pro's who I appreciate will use their skates much harder than the average player, and also probably look to replace them much sooner, but I doubt they're paying top dollar every time they change skates, and lets face it could probably afford to do so anyway if it means that much to them. For someone like me I have no interest in dropping £600 bucks if all I'm going to get is 6-12 months use and then be left with a pair of gubbed skates that need replacing, at the same price. I'd end up with more skates than my wife has shoes!

[jbss71 1]

Z is on the books for 6.9 mill. So what's 20 pairs of skates at 450-$550 each... even the low rung guys can easily spend that much.

[danno25nh 3]

Fair enough guys, I just find it incredible that with all todays modern materials and building techniques that no one can build a pair of skates that withstand more than a few weeks of abuse. Also, the amount charged for a top end pair of skates now is just ridiculous if you factor in the poor durability. It's okay for pro's who I appreciate will use their skates much harder than the average player, and also probably look to replace them much sooner, but I doubt they're paying top dollar every time they change skates, and lets face it could probably afford to do so anyway if it means that much to them. For someone like me I have no interest in dropping £600 bucks if all I'm going to get is 6-12 months use and then be left with a pair of gubbed skates that need replacing, at the same price. I'd end up with more skates than my wife has shoes!

How often do we need new skates vs how often do we buy new skates? I'm on my 3rd pair in 2 years searching for the perfect balance of comfort vs performance.

They're all pretty beat up looking but none are actually broken down to the point I lose performance.

Lets face it, a really good skater can out skate an average skater on the best skate on the planet with a pair of skates most of us would consider end of life.

[Harv 86]

Z is on the books for 6.9 mill. So what's 20 pairs of skates at 450-$550 each... even the low rung guys can easily spend that much.

Yepp. Players forfeit more money when they are suspended ...

[Hoopster 0]

How often do we need new skates vs how often do we buy new skates? I'm on my 3rd pair in 2 years searching for the perfect balance of comfort vs performance.

They're all pretty beat up looking but none are actually broken down to the point I lose performance.

Lets face it, a really good skater can out skate an average skater on the best skate on the planet with a pair of skates most of us would consider end of life.

100% agree

[jbss71 1]

There's no tax, and most teams would have a ups account. Then the cool part, skates are a tax write off for teams or player depending on who paid.

[danno25nh 3]

There's no tax, and most teams would have a ups account. Then the cool part, skates are a tax write off for teams or player depending on who paid.

A UPS account does not = free shipping

[jbss71 1]

A UPS account does not = free shipping

it means it doesnt cost a arm and leg to over night skates.

[doodman 0]

This is very informative and I love all the 'insider' input.

Not to derail the thread but isn't it funny there's some equipment players will wear and repair for YEARS? (i.e. shoulder pads, goalie pads etc)

so new skates every two weeks but don't you dare mess with the 10 yr old pads

[jbss71 1]

It all depends where you are. If you are in Anaheim or LA, a 7 pound skate box is going to run close to $100.

Let's say LA, across its 23 players averages 3 pairs of skates a player at $100/pair shipping, that's close to $21k in just shipping!

Not to mention the shipping charges they rack up in overnighting sticks, which happens ALL the time.

the players that eat up skates or sticks dont have a stash to avoid that mad rush? what about custom skate led times?

i've run equipment departments for another sport, and consumables are kept in stock. skates every three weeks seems to fall into that group. if i racked up a 21k shipping bill and alot of it was overnight shipping i would've been fired. i understand if a player changes specs on his gear.

[halfmoonyote 0]

Great input MC. Thank you for giving us a glimpse of how it really goes down.

As an aside, I am always fascinated by the people on here - who have never even come close to working with NHL organizations other than on XBox - incredulously argue with those who have. #smh

[JR Boucicaut 3801]

It all depends where you are. If you are in Anaheim or LA, a 7 pound skate box is going to run close to $100.

Let's say LA, across its 23 players averages 3 pairs of skates a player at $100/pair shipping, that's close to $21k in just shipping!

Not to mention the shipping charges they rack up in overnighting sticks, which happens ALL the time.

Not to mention that these are almost always international shipments from either Canada or Asia.

When I was with Tampa Bay it was always fun trying to figure out on a consumer standpoint what exactly was wrong with a pair of pro skates to deem it unusable by that player. I think the player who I had the most multiple skates of was St. Louis; my first year there, I had 8 pr, all labeled St. Louis 1, St. Louis 2 and so on, which led me to believe he had all of them ordered at the same time. And none of them looked extremely broken down (although one of them was cross-stitched.)

[RiSeOnFiRe 0]

JT said he goes through 6 pairs of skates a season which I thought was ridiculous at the time..

The Chara story is just crazy. Near 300 lbs.... wow