Ice Hockey

Skate Re-edger

A very handy item to have in your equipment bag is the A&R skate re-edger. Using this tool can allow you to fix damage to your skate blades sufficiently enough so that you can continue tp play after using it. Typically you will get a burr on one edge of your skate blade. This leads to an annoying drag on one skate. It can be caused by sliding into the goal post, or having your skate blade come in contact with another player's skate blade.

With the re-edger, you drag the forked-shape end (white in th photo) along your blade in one direction only. Three of four passes are usually sufficient to remove the burr. Built in to the handles is a blade hone which you run along the side to the blade to complete the job of removing the burr. After the game you should get the skate resharpened.

When I first saw this item I thought it was a gimmick, until I saw the equipment manager for the Chicago Blackhawks pull one out to repair Patrick Kane's damaged skate blade. We were sitting directly behind the Chicago bench so I had a very clear view of the equipment manager working on the blade. Kane finished the period with no further trouble. I figured if the pros use it, it must be good so I bought one. I have used it several times to repair minor damage from incidental contact and can say that it works well.

Blade Master BR200 Pro Square

This device measure the tueness of your blade edges. If the edges are not true one edge sticks further into the ice than the other, making for some uncomfortable skating. Here is a photo of the BR200 base attached to one of my goalie skates using the set-screw, without the magnetic measuring plate attached so you can see the amount of white space. Here is a photo with the BR200 measuring plate centered on the skate blade showing an even amount of white on each side. This blade is true. If there is more white showing on one side than on the other the blades are not true.

Rocket Sports Dryer

This device looks odd (it shaped like a rocket ship from an old Flash Gordon serial, hence the name) but it works extremely well. It will accomodate a goalie chest protector, goalie pants, thigh pads, and glove and blocker. It dries them using air heated to 70° Fahrenheit and no higher, so there is no heat damage. It has a programable timer which goes up to three hours but the gear (described earlier) dries in about two hours. The air is also ionized so it kills bacteria while drying.

It comes with a small carrying bag and amazingly it disassembles quickly and everything fits in the bag so you can take this to the rink and dry your gear between games.

Shock Doctor Power Dryer

When you need to dry a pair of skates and gloves simultaneously nothing beats this device. The one shown in the photo is the professional version. It puts out more power that the standard version. Attached to the device in the photos is the optional octopus adapter. They sell a different adapter that is used to dry a one pair of skates or pair of gloves, but not simultaneously.

Either blower can be attached to the Shock Doctor Power Dry PowerDry bag to dry all of your gear at one time. The Power Dryer uses ionized air (and heated air if you desire) to kill odor-forming bacteria while it is drying your equipment.

Creation Date: Monday, April 19, 2010
Last Modified: Monday, December 24, 2012
Copyright Ray Smith, 2010

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