Nike Hockey Equipment

[Whaleafs]

I always thought is was some of nicest looking gear ever made, particularly the gloves. Performance is another question, but it always brings back a lot of nostalgia since I wanted it so bad as a kid. This is peak 90's for me.

Click to read more...

 

[Killion]

^^^^^ ...... Yeah it was cool looking stuff... more here...
www.thestar.com/business/2007/10/09/nike_abandons_hockey.html

 

[Terry Yake]

i remember buying that yellow stick mario is using in the pic above. got a lot of use out of that thing in my backyard

nike was also responsible for this god awful looking helmet

 

[iamjs]

^^^
friend of mine used to call that helmet "the walnut", because it was shaped like half of a walnut

 

[Killion]

^^^ Ive also heard Smurf Helmet... I actually didnt mind it.... Looks like they borrowed it's design from cycling... or mebbe the comic book hero Silver Surfer.... aerodynamic.

 

[TheAngryHank]

The Nike commercials were the best ever.
They are on youtube and hilarious.

 

[Whaleafs]

i remember buying that yellow stick mario is using in the pic above. got a lot of use out of that thing in my backyard

nike was also responsible for this god awful looking helmet

I had the Mario stick too, a few of them. I left that helmet out on purpose. May have been so bad it killed the whole business venture.

 

[TheAngryHank]

I had the Mario stick too, a few of them. I left that helmet out on purpose. May have been so bad it killed the whole business venture.

I still have that stick

 

[blood gin]

Never liked the Nike helmets. The other gear was ok. To me Mario belongs in that Jofa bucket!

 

[MarkusKetterer]

I still have my Nike skates. They were well built

 

[leftwinger37]

Growing up in the '90s, I never caught the Nike bug.

First of all, my parents would have never have been able to afford it, but I liked the black on black look for skates that guys liked Jagr made popular, so Fedorov's flashy white Nike's just looked hideous to me. I also never heard anyone say a kind word about the quality of their equipment until much later, after they adopted all of the Bauer tech.

I do have an early Nike Ignite composite shaft that I loved and still have sitting around to this day. I picked it up for $20 in a discount barrel somewhere around 2004. I used that stick for many years and loved it. I found out much later that the high quality was attributed to the fact that Innovative manufactured the first couple runs of Nike sticks.

If I had to pay a compliment to Nike Hockey, I would have to say thank you for coming out with the first heel curve that I tried and liked. I came across the Brind'Amour pattern at the right age and it completely transformed my game for the better.

 

[Neutrinos]

I bought a used pair of those white skates Fedorov is sporting in the OP

They'd been used only a couple of games, so I thought it was a pretty good deal for $120

They lasted an incredibly long time, I probably played a few hundred games with them

 

[flooredaccord]

wasnt it mostlly bauer equipment with a nike logo? colors were obviously different on some of the skates.
my nike helmet looks identical to a bauer and my skates say nike bauer on them.

my nike blades i used to use in easton shaft....sucked and exploded

 

[quoipourquoi]

Seeing Fedorov's skates up close last month was a highlight of my weekend at the Hall of Fame.

 

[Killion]

Seeing Fedorov's skates up close last month was a highlight of my weekend at the Hall of Fame.

Oh? qpq in Toronto then.... and what was your overall impression of the HHOF?.... what else beyond seeing Feds Nike's did you enjoy, and did you see any other Nike gear, be it skates, sticks or helmets on display?...

 

[quoipourquoi]

Oh? qpq in Toronto then.... and what was your overall impression of the HHOF?.... what else beyond seeing Feds Nike's did you enjoy, and did you see any other Nike gear, be it skates, sticks or helmets on display?...

The centennial exhibit was pretty good. Saw some good late-90s Nike international jerseys - Granato's 1997 World Championship jersey, Kariya and Selanne's 1998 Nagano jerseys. Always liked the look of that Canada jersey in 1998.

 

[greyraven8]

Never liked the Nike helmets. The other gear was ok. To me Mario belongs in that Jofa bucket!

Site on the Jofa buckets:
JOFA Helmets | Halos of Hockey

Some old Jofa catalogues:
Hockey

 

[Killion]

Very interesting link there on Jofa.... which goes all the way back to 1941.... Thanks greyraven. Cool find.

 

[whatname]

Gretzky's was special because the dark chasis on the skates was blue instead of black which was standard on white skates.

I was all about Nike gear as I was playing. Although I was limited to the gloves and skates only. I had the Air Accel Elite skates, but in black, as the white skates would have puck parks all over them (especially since I was playing d).

The helmet was basically a Bauer 3000 helmet with a Nike logo, but they increased the damn price by $10 due to the swoosh.

I could still name off a bunch of players that wore Nike skates at one time. e.g. Zhitnik, Marc Savard, Sundin, Berard, Mike Johnson, Jan Mertzig (only played in a handful of games), Jamie Rivers, Aaron Ward, etc. there was one game in the 97 playoffs where Leetch, Robitaille, and Gretzky all wore Nike skates (surprising because Leetch never changed his skates - he went back to Graf after that game)

 

[whatname]

Growing up in the '90s, I never caught the Nike bug.

First of all, my parents would have never have been able to afford it, but I liked the black on black look for skates that guys liked Jagr made popular, so Fedorov's flashy white Nike's just looked hideous to me. I also never heard anyone say a kind word about the quality of their equipment until much later, after they adopted all of the Bauer tech.

I do have an early Nike Ignite composite shaft that I loved and still have sitting around to this day. I picked it up for $20 in a discount barrel somewhere around 2004. I used that stick for many years and loved it. I found out much later that the high quality was attributed to the fact that Innovative manufactured the first couple runs of Nike sticks.

If I had to pay a compliment to Nike Hockey, I would have to say thank you for coming out with the first heel curve that I tried and liked. I came across the Brind'Amour pattern at the right age and it completely transformed my game for the better.

I believe Nike was also the first (unless you count the all plastic upper by Micron) to use a plastic toe cap, which is pretty much standard now. Before hand, Bauer, CCM, Daoust, etc. would use the same fibre on the toe as the rest of the skate, so you had to apply toe pro or else it'll look like crap within two months.

 

[TheAngryHank]

I bought a used pair of those white skates Fedorov is sporting in the OP

They'd been used only a couple of games, so I thought it was a pretty good deal for $120

They lasted an incredibly long time, I probably played a few hundred games with them

No one rocked those skates like Feds.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

I remember Nike merging with Bauer in the late 2000's. I also remember the Nike logo was removed afterwords, but are they still affiliated with Bauer in any way?

 

[Filthy Dangles]

I remember Nike merging with Bauer in the late 2000's. I remember the Nike logo was removed afterwords, but are they still affiliated with Bauer in any way?

Nike actually bought Bauer in the 90's and continued to produce the two lines separately until the merge like you said. What's interesting is when you go to Bauer's website you see this disclaimer at the bottom.

"© 2020 BAUER Hockey, LLC. and its affiliates. All rights reserved. VAPOR is a registered trademark owned by Nike, Inc. and/or its affiliates and used under license. All Rights Reserved.
NHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. NHL and NHL team marks are the property of the NHL and its teams. © NHL 2018. All Rights Reserved."

AFAIK, Nike completely washed it's hands with Bauer and hockey when they sold it to investors back in 08 but apparently some obscure Vapor name trademark is the only relationship that remains.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Gretzky's was special because the dark chasis on the skates was blue instead of black which was standard on white skates.

I was all about Nike gear as I was playing. Although I was limited to the gloves and skates only. I had the Air Accel Elite skates, but in black, as the white skates would have puck parks all over them (especially since I was playing d).

The helmet was basically a Bauer 3000 helmet with a Nike logo, but they increased the damn price by $10 due to the swoosh.

I could still name off a bunch of players that wore Nike skates at one time. e.g. Zhitnik, Marc Savard, Sundin, Berard, Mike Johnson, Jan Mertzig (only played in a handful of games), Jamie Rivers, Aaron Ward, etc. there was one game in the 97 playoffs where Leetch, Robitaille, and Gretzky all wore Nike skates (surprising because Leetch never changed his skates - he went back to Graf after that game)

Mario Lemieux was a Nike guy for a very short period, I think only 2 years. Signed a mega endorsement deal to exclusively wear Nike protective, skates and twig after the comeback in 01.

 

[BOS358]

AFAIK, Nike completely washed it's hands with Bauer and hockey when they sold it to investors back in 08 but apparently some obscure Vapor name trademark is the only relationship that remains.

You are correct. Nike is completely out of hockey.

The only places you'll find the Nike logo in hockey are NCAA teams whose athletic departments are sponsored by Nike and IIHF events. Jerseys and socks are made by Nike and the pants are rebranded from another supplier. Other than pro stock gear, you can't find Nike equipment for sale anywhere.