Equipment: What happened to the skates with heating blades?

[ZARTONK]

I remember reading articles a few years ago that some company was introducing skates with heating blades, then it was said that some NHL players would use them.

What happened with that? Do they still exist? Do NHL players use them?


I really don't know why I thought of this....

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[iamjs]

I remember reading articles a few years ago that some company was introducing skates with heating blades, then it was said that some NHL players would use them.

What happened with that? Do they still exist? Do NHL players use them?


I really don't know why I thought of this....

Ahhh yes, Thermablades.

I picked up a pair of them on closeout from an online site (hockeymonkey? hockeygiant?) and they're still in the box. I heard that they made your skates noticeably heavier. I was gonna mount mine on an old pair of skates but never got around to it.

But what happened to them? A bunch of players didn't like them, and the NHLPA ultimately gave the blades a thumbs down.

Of the five players who were sent the heated blades – Toronto's Mark Bell, Chicago's Martin Lapointe, Detroit's Kris Draper, Edmonton's Marty Reasoner and Calgary's Matthew Lombardi – Reasoner is the only player who professed liking the blades.


Reasoner recently told officials with the NHL Players' Association the heated blades "maybe helped me accelerate out of a turn," said a person familiar with the matter.


However, Lapointe said he used the heated blades three times – once during an NHL game – and was unimpressed."I wouldn't buy them," he said, adding the battery-powered blades didn't always heat up.


Draper tried the heated blades twice in practice. "I just didn't notice a difference."


Calgarian Tory Weber invented the blades and spent more than $5 million to bring Thermablade to market. He contacted Gretzky in 2004.


"I could immediately feel a difference in my skating," Gretzky said.


While Therma Blade received approvals for its blades from the NHL, Hockey Canada and USA Hockey months ago, the poor reviews from Draper and Lapointe have prompted the NHLPA to balk at signing off on the fledgling product.


And without the approval of the players' union, the heated blades, which are attached to boots of existing skates, would no longer be able to be used in NHL games, which would be a key marketing tool for the Quebec company.


NHLPA executive director Paul Kelly said the union has concerns that the blades don't deliver as promised – especially considering their price tag. "Before we give our approval or endorsement to a hockey product that will increase the cost to the average family, we should take steps to ensure that this product indeed performs as advertised," Kelly said.


Sam McCoubrey, Therma Blade's vice-president of sales and marketing, said he couldn't understand the criticism. "I'm not sure that wearing them twice qualifies Kris Draper to denounce the blades."


McCoubrey said Therma Blade has sold 2,500 pairs of blades to Canadian and U.S. stores. He also said the company would try to persuade other NHLers to test the blades.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2008/02/09/great_ones_blades_a_dud_players_report.html

 

[The Tikkanen]

Wouldn't you want cold on cold when it comes to ice skates, the luge or bobsledding? Seems like hot on cold would slow you down but I'm not a smart man. Maybe somebody with knowledge in this area could break it down?

 

[Malarowski]

Wouldn't you want cold on cold when it comes to ice skates, the luge or bobsledding? Seems like hot on cold would slow you down but I'm not a smart man. Maybe somebody with knowledge in this area could break it down?

The way skates work is that they melt the ice a tiny bit, you basically glide on a film of water. Heating the blade could indeed increase glide, but if they get too hot, I could see them creating too much of a film which then in turn slows things down. The idea sounds good, although I am not sure the benefit warrants such a product.

 

[Lonny Bohonos]

Sounds good but does it sound 5 million good?