NHL Learn to play equipment and Radius change on youth skates ?

[noupf 42]

two questions really....

1) Does anybody know which skates come with the NHL / CCM Learn to play equipment packages via Pure Hockey?  @VegasHockey maybe?

2)  My local pure hockey has a pro-sharp profile machine.  Can I get the radius changed on junior skates if the blades can't be removed?

Reason i ask is bc I just signed up my 5 year old son for the NHL learn to play program at our local ice rink.  With the sign up fee comes a complete set up of gear from head to toe,  including skates.  I currently have him in a youth size 13 entry level jetspeed skate that has a 13' radius.  He skates ok for his age / skill level, but from what i gather it looks like all the lower price point CCM skates come with a 10' radius and I'd like to keep him on a 13' radius a little longer.  Since we already have gear that should last him another 6 months or so, i'm going to go one size up for all the gear that comes from CCM / Pure hockey, including the skates.

Anybody have insight on this gear?

Thanks !!

Edited January 8, 2024 by noupf

[Jbear 114]

I would not give any thought to radius for a 5 year old. Kids readily adapt, and I would be amazed if a child would even notice from one to the other. I coach kids who skate on garbage used skates from Play it Again, and they do just fine.  But yes...any shop that does profiles can change it if you want. 

Edited January 9, 2024 by Jbear

[krisdrum 233]

My son benefitted from going to a longer radius around this age, maybe a bit older.  Around the age he really started to play a lot.  Can't recall exactly, but I think his skating coach put him on a 15', I remember it being pretty long.  Maybe for a year or two, it helped stabilize him as he was developing.  He has been on standard factory profiles since.  

Edited January 9, 2024 by krisdrum

[noupf 42]

43 minutes ago, krisdrum said:

My son benefitted from going to a longer radius around this age, maybe a bit older.  Around the age he really started to play a lot.  Can't recall exactly, but I think his skating coach put him on a 15', I remember it being pretty long.  Maybe for a year or two, it helped stabilize him as he was developing.  He has been on standard factory profiles since.  

Yes, this is what i've read and heard as well.  I feel that as he's learning, a longer radius is a good option for him and other say the same thing.  I agree with the other poster above that kids can adapt quickly, but my son isn't all that skilled yet on skates.  He's ok and I know it has to do with the longer radius that has helped helped him pick it up quickly.  I guess i can always see how he does on the next set of skates if its a smaller radius and adjust the radius from there if he does not adapt well.  

[krisdrum 233]

I know at least with my son, he was falling forward and backward a lot.  So giving him more steel on the ice helped him significantly and allowed him to focus on other aspects of skating besides purely balance.  It helped make the game a bit easier and more fun for him at an impressionable age.  

[VegasHockey 1284]

18 hours ago, noupf said:

two questions really....

1) Does anybody know which skates come with the NHL / CCM Learn to play equipment packages via Pure Hockey?  @VegasHockey maybe?

2)  My local pure hockey has a pro-sharp profile machine.  Can I get the radius changed on junior skates if the blades can't be removed?

Reason i ask is bc I just signed up my 5 year old son for the NHL learn to play program at our local ice rink.  With the sign up fee comes a complete set up of gear from head to toe,  including skates.  I currently have him in a youth size 13 entry level jetspeed skate that has a 13' radius.  He skates ok for his age / skill level, but from what i gather it looks like all the lower price point CCM skates come with a 10' radius and I'd like to keep him on a 13' radius a little longer.  Since we already have gear that should last him another 6 months or so, i'm going to go one size up for all the gear that comes from CCM / Pure hockey, including the skates.

Anybody have insight on this gear?

Thanks !!

What size skate is he? Some skated in youth sizes keep the 13' profile. 

Edited January 9, 2024 by VegasHockey

[noupf 42]

9 minutes ago, VegasHockey said:

What size skate is he? Some skated in youth sizes keep the 13' profile. 

He's in a youth size 13 and will be in them for the next few months most likely..  He currently has full gear that fits him well.  Since we are getting free gear head to toe, i was going to size up for him by one size on everything, so he has all new gear once he outgrows what hes in now.  He's growing like a weed, so I think size 1 in the skates is what i was going to order and it says JUNIOR size 1 on the order form.  I know his jetspeeds are YOUTH size 13 with the 13' radiu,. but again, i don't know what skates will be supplied with the NHL / CCM learn to play program.  I assume inexpensive entry level and the ones i see all say 10' radius, which is why i inquired about the possibility of the changing radius on skates without removable blades.  Thanks for chiming in, i appreciate it.

Edited January 9, 2024 by noupf

[VegasHockey 1284]

6 minutes ago, noupf said:

He's in a youth size 13 and will be in them for the next few months most likely..  He currently has full gear that fits him well.  Since we are getting free gear head to toe, i was going to size up for him by one size on everything, so he has all new gear once he outgrows what hes in now.  He's growing like a weed, so I think size 1 in the skates is what i was going to order and it says JUNIOR size 1 on the order form.  I know his jetspeeds are YOUTH size 13 with the 13' radiu,. but again, i don't know what skates will be supplied with the NHL / CCM learn to play program.  I assume inexpensive entry level and the ones i see all say 10' radius, which is why i inquired about the possibility of the changing radius on skates without removable blades.  Thanks for chiming in, i appreciate it.

So he is going from youth to junior. All CCM junior skates are 10' but Bauer does 13'

https://www.bauer.com/products/bauer-x-ls-skate-junior

https://www.bauer.com/products/bauer-x-lp-skate-junior

If you get Bauer, you will be fine. If you get CCM, take them to a local store and get them profiled to a 13'. I am a big fan of putting kids of that age on a longer radius. 

[noupf 42]

1 minute ago, VegasHockey said:

So he is going from youth to junior. All CCM junior skates are 10' but Bauer does 13'

https://www.bauer.com/products/bauer-x-ls-skate-junior

https://www.bauer.com/products/bauer-x-lp-skate-junior

If you get Bauer, you will be fine. If you get CCM, take them to a local store and get them profiled to a 13'. I am a big fan of putting kids of that age on a longer radius. 

Ohh, didnt realize there was a bauer option for learn to play.  for some reason I thought it was all CCM bc of some posts i saw on redit and other places.  Yea, i was gonna get him the bauer XLP's next bc it was a 13' radius.  Guess I'll have to see what we get and go from there.  Glad to know I can change the radius even though the runners are not removable if we get the ccm's.  Thanks ! 

[xstartxtodayx 343]

I've had two kids go through LTP and few fiend's kids... the skates are all entry level with either Tacks or Jetspeed labeling on them, so prob the same as what your son has already (could differ with sizes as well, if he has big feet maybe it's a different model but all of the younger/smaller sizes seemed to be the basic Tacks or Jetspeed labelled skate which really doesn't have any of the tech you'd find in adult skates).  As for profiling, if he's just learning I wouldn't worry unless you see him struggling... no sense in trying to tweak/worry about things like that when they're still learning how to skate and the basics of the game, leave those details for when he's older and understands the differences (old man rant: back when I was a kid no one paid any attention to profiles or even hollows, we just skated on whatever we were given and we all did just fine with our wooden sticks and cinder block skates 🤣).  One tip... if his current skates fit him fine keep them for now and get the next size up so he can wear those when he outgrows what he's in now, I did that with both of my kids since I already had skates for them which they were using for skating lessons.

[noupf 42]

3 minutes ago, xstartxtodayx said:

I've had two kids go through LTP and few fiend's kids... the skates are all entry level with either Tacks or Jetspeed labeling on them, so prob the same as what your son has already (could differ with sizes as well, if he has big feet maybe it's a different model but all of the younger/smaller sizes seemed to be the basic Tacks or Jetspeed labelled skate which really doesn't have any of the tech you'd find in adult skates).  As for profiling, if he's just learning I wouldn't worry unless you see him struggling... no sense in trying to tweak/worry about things like that when they're still learning how to skate and the basics of the game, leave those details for when he's older and understands the differences (old man rant: back when I was a kid no one paid any attention to profiles or even hollows, we just skated on whatever we were given and we all did just fine with our wooden sticks and cinder block skates 🤣).  One tip... if his current skates fit him fine keep them for now and get the next size up so he can wear those when he outgrows what he's in now, I did that with both of my kids since I already had skates for them which they were using for skating lessons.

Thanks.  Yea I figured its all the entry level stuff, as his current jetspeeds are too.  I just know he's on a 13' radius and didn't want to jump to a 10' if he isn't ready.  He'll be grown out of his current skates in 3-6 months, so sizing up on the gear they provide was my plan.  He skates ok and hopefully gets a little better after the program, but i didn't want to change the radius too early if he's used to the 13' hes on.  Thanks for the input

Nice Killer Bee's jersey btw.   You must have played when John took over my old team as those look like his re-design jerseys.  

[xstartxtodayx 343]

5 hours ago, noupf said:

Thanks.  Yea I figured its all the entry level stuff, as his current jetspeeds are too.  I just know he's on a 13' radius and didn't want to jump to a 10' if he isn't ready.  He'll be grown out of his current skates in 3-6 months, so sizing up on the gear they provide was my plan.  He skates ok and hopefully gets a little better after the program, but i didn't want to change the radius too early if he's used to the 13' hes on.  Thanks for the input

Nice Killer Bee's jersey btw.   You must have played when John took over my old team as those look like his re-design jerseys.  

Those Bees days were years ago lol, and yes John was running it at the time, I went with the Pigeons afterwards (after he left that team) and now a few over 40 teams, I'm too old to keep up with college kids now.