One could easily argue that hockey is the greatest sport on earth. It’s played on a giant sheet of ice and everything about the game is fast — the shots, the pace, the players. Hockey jargon alone is a thing of beauty. As a kid, there’s nothing like the joy of learning to lace hockey skates and hitting the ice for the first time. But hockey can also be a tough, menacing, physical game that can put a lot of wear and tear on a player’s body. Out of all the major sports — baseball, football, basketball — hockey requires the most amount of equipment that needs to be worn. Required hockey equipment that is worn include a helmet, mouth guard, shoulder pads, elbow pads, protective gloves, heavily padded pants, an athletic protector, shin pads and skates. Goaltenders need even more. Goalies wear masks and much bulkier equipment designed to protect them from any direct hits from the puck. But the most important part of a hockey player’s gear are their skates. Hockey skates are used to maneuver and to balance the player on the ice. The blades are specially designed to cut into the ice to provide for starting, […]