Top 8 Best Ice Hockey Skates Review In 2024

If you are going to land on the ice hockey rink, it is necessary to wear a hockey skate as it is one of the most important gears in hockey equipment. If you are feeling uncomfortable with hockey skates and do not fit properly, they are not properly sized. Therefore, we have reviewed the best ice hockey skates of top brands so you can select the right skates.
If you are looking for hockey sticks, check out the detailed hockey sticks review

Top 8 Best Ice Hockey Skates 2024

1. Bauer Nexus N7000 Hockey Skates (Senior)

Bauer is a well-known name in the industry of manufacturing sports equipment especially hockey products come at their top of the line. So let’s head over the review of Bauer’s Nexus N7000 ice hockey skate. It is for the first time that Bauer has used two edge holders in this line of hockey skates. This is the most popular holder in the NHL because of the quick release trigger system. In case you break or damage your steel, this allows you to swap it out in seconds and keeps you on the ice and off the bench. Now this holder has the super stainless steel runners which are all going to be connected to the injected TPR outsole that does have that good level stiffness and rigidity.

There is a big upgrade with their traditional tech mesh nylon in terms of stiffness especially through the rear and definitely up through the eyelets as well. This is going to be thermal adjustable so you can go ahead and throw this in the oven to get that personalized fit right out of the box. They have traditionally stiff tendons but do not have a whole lot of flex just like traditional hockey skates.

The Nexus N-7000 ice hockey skates have 48-ounce two-piece black felt tongue that is stitched together down through the center which allows you to get that nice anatomical wrap. If you are going up under the shins and then down through the center, they do have some really thick medium density foam to provide you good impact protection for the top of the foot. It also helps prevent that lace bite too.

Now into the liner, there is a hydrophobic microfiber liner with lightweight memory foam ankle pads inside have a soft feel to the touch even before you bake them and the liner itself is really soft. If you are going without socks, it also does a great job of licking away that moisture to keep your feet nice and dry.

Lastly, we are going to have the form fit footbed. It is a nice thin layer of foam into the fit profile. This is Bauer’s widest and deepest volume fitting skates so that means in the toe box, it does have that wider fit than supreme which is medium or standard width and then also as far as the instep goes, it offers more volume vertically inside of the boot so in case you have a pretty thick or high instep that is going to be right up your alley.

2. CCM Jetspeed FT360 Hockey Skate (Junior)

The CCM is very famous for designing and manufacturing hockey equipment and Jetspeed FT360 hockey skate is one of the best examples of the quality and dedication they put into their products. So right out of the box, these hockey skates have a nice upgrade with the speed blade 4.0 holder same thing that you will find at the top-of-the-line FT skates. Their speed rib design at the bottom adds stiffness to the holder itself. So when you are taking their stride, they will resist twisting and torquing that is when you would lose power so improving your energy transfer process.

These roller hockey skates come with removable stainless steel runners which are all connected to the injected and embossed outsole has the air vent at the bottom allows moisture to escape out of the bottom of the boot so keeping you dry during the game and reducing drying time after the game.

Then the embossed portion adds stiffness that works with the speed ribs to give you more efficient energy transfer. The big thing in Jetspeed FT360 hockey skates is the foam core that increases the level of stiffness. So it provides you a lot more power through each stride but that overall foam core working with that composite shell is going to do a great job of molding to your foot to help reduce break-in time and just provide you a more personalized fit as well.

A semi-flexible tendon guard that is double stitched to improve durability some cool hits of Chrome on the back as well as on the side just giving you the sweet looks but more under the performance. These hockey skates have two pieces of 7 millimeters felt tongue same as comes in the pros level hockey skates. So it will give you a nice anatomical wrap. If you check under the shins, the upgrade there is going to be the injected foams down to the center the first time. It does have an embossed lace bite guard to give you better protection for the top of the foot from puck slashes and the lace bite saddle as well.

The liner helps prevent wear and tear that are caused by shin guards. So especially if you are going to wear your shin guards under your tongue, it tends to want to dig into the side of the quarter package and help break it down which will help resist that. And the material is going to be a very comfortable microfiber that does a great job of wicking away moisture so working with that air vent on the outsole help push out moisture and keep your feet dry. As far as the category goes, this is the performance level skate that offers a ton of value for the price.

3. Easton Mako M8 Ice Hockey Skates (Junior)

Starting off at the bottom, the ES4 stainless steel runners sit in the CXN holder. This is a little bit different than traditional Easton holders because it is higher in the front and rear post allowing you to get over even further on your edges.

Looking at the outsole, it is definitely different from a traditional ice hockey skate. There is not a true outsole but it is just kind of built into the skate so you get a really direct feel of the ice as you are taking your strides and then also do have some nice exhaust holes on the bottom that help push the moisture out.

The tongue is very similar to that top-of-the-line Mako skate with a nice injected plastic metatarsal guard. It is backed with some nice thick foam so it provides some really great protection from impacts as well as lace bite protection and then if you do want to flop it, this takes a little while to break in but you can get that going.

Now get into the liner, it is a really nice soft comfortable feel to it has some nice ankle thumbs up at the top just to add another level of comfort and then down inside, there are heat formable foams in the bottom which are very comfortable and very soft to the touch. This Mako family line offers a lot of great value for the price.

4. Bauer Vapor X300 Ice Hockey Skates (Senior)

The Bauer Vapor X 300 ice hockey skate features two Lightspeed stainless steel runners sitting in the toe. Its lightspeed pro holder has a pro preferred look that is connected to the injected TPR outsole so it offers some good stiffness and rigidity.

The quarter package is an awesome feature at this price point and a huge upgrade from the X 200 ice hockey skates. They use their technology material that has been thermoformed with the X rib design that Vapor has been known for so this X rib design gives incredible support instability for the rear portion.

Getting into the tongue, there is a one-piece white felt traditional tongue. You cannot go ahead and get some flaw pitch if that is what you are looking for but if you are just looking to go under the shin guards, it wraps really well in anatomical.

It has a brushed nylon liner nice and soft to the touch helps to wick away moisture and the closed-cell foam ankle reinforcements really help to give your heel a great lock so it is not sliding up and losing power.

The overall fit vapor has been known to have the most narrow fit from Bauer out of all of their lines but it does open up a little bit once you get into the toe box.

Another great feature that they are including on this 26K is their lace lock system. This allows you to independently lace up the top three eyelets from the bottom portions so depending on your likes you can do this really tight and kind of leave it up or softer up top or vice versa. The laces stay tight throughout the game and they do not loosen up.

They use their dual-zone quick-drying microfiber liner so it got a really soft feel like your feet in the boot but more importantly, it really helps to wick away moisture and keeps your feet dry. Going to the overall fit of this skate, generally speaking, it is going to have a low or narrow fit that means across the top of the forefoot and in the toe box as well as in the hill pocket, it has a low or narrow fit.

5. Easton Synergy EQ3 Ice Hockey Skate (Junior)

The Easton Synergy EQ3 ice hockey skates are mid-price point skates in the Easton line. So these are going to offer a great combination of value as well as performance. They are good skates for those recreational up to the intermediate level of play. This is a good and solid choice if you are sticking with the sport or kind of just getting a little more serious about the sport.

They have used elite stainless steel runners and have a scalloped design to shave a little bit of weight off which gives you some solid performance. Then there is standard Easton holder on it and this is a kind of razor so you actually can replace the runner without having to go in through the skate. It is just a simple flat-head screwdriver and you can exchange that easily.

As far as the outsole goes, this is a plastic outsole. It has that rib down the center and offers a little bit more rigidity and support. They are using a composite material for the exterior and it has almost somewhat of a fiberglass feel to it that is abrasion-resistant. It has what they are calling a glass outer coating so that is what is going to be giving that feel and it really makes it cut-resistant and offers some good durability.

Easton used once again a traditional tongue in these hockey skates that is a black felt stitch right down the center to offer a nice traditional fit and then you do have a little bit of foam to give you a little bit of lace bite so that is a lace bite guard and a nice feature there as well.

Going onto the inside of the skate, the best quality microfiber is used in the liner that wicks away the moisture and gives you a drier better fitting skate, and then going well with that they have actually gone ahead and used a footbed with perforated holes through it. So it is going to allow some of that excess moisture and heat to exit from your skate giving you drier, more comfortable, and better fitting skates.

6. CCM Tacks 4092 Ice Hockey Skate (Senior)

This is another great product from the house of CCM. For the first time in this line of hockey skates, CCM has used a speed blade 4.0 holder that offers one of the most aggressive turning radiuses in the game because it is four millimeter-tall earners in the front as well as the rear post. This allows you to get over even further on your edges without bottoming out that is where you get that real nice aggressiveness from it.

The CCM 4092 hockey skates hold speed blades stainless steel runners which are removable again for the first time in this line and the outsole which connects them all together is their pro-injected plastic outsole. It does have vents but the midsole does not have ho drilled into that allow the moisture to escape but it is stiffer than the 3092 and 2092 skates outsoles. So it will give you better energy transfer with each stride into the quarter package is where their power form composite.

Now a really big jump in stiffness from what CCM used in 3092 skates really gives you that great level of power and responsiveness. It is going to react very well to heat begging so you go ahead with those in the oven before you even take them out for your first skate. As far as the tongue goes, a really great feature to see at this price point. It is going to be a 7-mm white felt two-piece tongue but what is good about it is how much foam that they injected down to the center that runs all the way into the end of the tongue.

It will be great for blocking shots taking any sorts of impact to the top of the foot but as someone who has lace bite pain anytime that icy or extra reinforced tongue always something that makes us happy because if you have ever experienced lace bite, it is definitely not something that you want so they are using a really nice tongue.

Now into the liner, it is going to be a two-tone brushed microfiber liner as you just can see how anatomical this skate is especially on the inside. They have multi-dense ankle pockets so really soft in the touch working with the microfiber liner to help wick away moisture and keep you comfortable. As far as the foot goes. this is what they call their anatomical response so nice thin layer of foam to give you that level of comfort. Now as far as the fit profile is concerned, we would generally categorize this as a medium in terms of depth as well as width.

7. Bauer Vapor 1X Hockey Skates (Junior)

The Bauer Vapor 1X skates have 2 edge holder that has been the most popular holder in the NHL since their making because these skates have a quick-release trigger system that allows you to swap out damaged or broken steel in seconds. This keeps you on the ice and off the bench. It is also taller in the front and rear posts and this allows you to get over even further on your edges without bottoming out for that aggressive turning radius. This is all connected to the full carbon composite outsole with Vince.

The carbon composite used in these Bauer hockey skates is lighter and rigid than other models of skates in the rest of the line. So getting you a more efficient energy transfer process and then the Vince allows moisture to escape out of the bottom boot. This keeps you dry during the game but also reduces drying time after the game into the quarter package.

Their 3D curve composite is extremely stiff, very lightweight and it is also very thermal formable and one of the most thermoform skates on the market so you go ahead through this in the oven which gives you a truly customized fit right out of the box and you can reduce break-in time.

The big change in Bauer Vapor 1X hockey skate to its previous model is its asymmetrical quarter package heights as the inside of the boot actually extends out further than the outside of the boots which helps to situate your ankle bones a little bit better because if you ever look at them, they are offset a bit so this fits into the ankle pocket a little bit better.

A lot of your power is through the inside of the foot and the outside therefore, it gives you a little bit more of a platform to stand on with a little bit more energy transfer process, and then it works with the tongue 2 to really help to put you in a better attack angle over the front of your foot so you can get as much power out of each stride as possible.

Their softened eyelets allow you to get over further on the front of your feet putting in a better attack angle and their two t-shaped eyelets help to lock you in which is what this whole skate has been really gearing for. At the top of the quarter package, these have comfort edge wraps which give you a little bit more comfort. The Vapor 1X Skates come up with curve composite ankle support that gives you more stiffness and also helps to mold better to your foot. Their 52-ounce three-piece flex lock pro tongue actually is 30% more protective.

The Bauer Vapor 1X skates consist of lock fit probe grip liner with memory foam padding which is very comfortable as you imagine with memory foam pads but this liner is a little bit more abrasive than other Bauer skates and we do not mean that in a bad way because it really helps to lock your foot in there. Their whole goldish heroes really stabilize the foot on the inside of the boot and this liner which has been very popular at the pro level really helps to work with the tongue and just the asymmetrical quarter package to help get you in there.

These skates do have some durability patches at the top and especially for players who like to go under the tongue with their shin guards tend to want to dig in on there so just give you a skate that is going to last a long time and perform at an elite level.

Lastly, these will come with the speed plate now it is just like the rest of the boot you are going to throw these in the oven to get that custom fit and gets a little bit more malleable. It is pretty stiff but when you go ahead and mold these and it forms to the bottom of your foot, you are getting a custom heel cup to get custom arch support which will help to balance your weight down through the center of the skate so as you take that stride, everything is becoming much more efficient at transferring that energy so you get that powerful stride.

8. Reebok RibCor 26K Pump Ice Skate (Junior)

For the first time, Reebok has used a speed blade 4.0 holder in this line that sits four millimeters higher in the front allowing players to get over even further on their edges without bottoming out. This, in turn, gives you a really great aggressive turning radius that is going to be holding the speed blades, stainless steel runners.

It is all attached to the vented injected TPR plastic outsole so the vents allow moisture to escape out of the bottom of the boot keeping your feet drier during the game also once you get home, you take your skates out of your bag greatly reducing drying time too.

The RibCor 26K skate features some great copper rivets at the bottom. Its flex quarter package is a big upgrade from that 24K skates and it also has a 3.9mm high-density foam cord so it is really lightweight but it also has some great stiffness and rigidity right near the eyelets as well as in the upper rear quarter.

These Reebok ice skates also feature a 7mm two-piece wietfeldt tongue with EBA reinforcements which are sewn together down through the center getting some great stiffness. This, in turn, gives you some really great impact protection when you are taking a puck or a splash to the top of the foot and it also gives you some great lace bite protection as you go ahead.

How to Properly Size Hockey Skates?

Many players find it difficult to size and fit their hockey skates perfectly. We will learn two methods of sizing hockey skates. The first one is quick and easy. The second one is a little more accurate but it is more involved since it requires you to trace your foot and then measure it. Let’s start with that first method;

Ice Skate VS Casual Shoe

Generally, senior hockey skates fit one and a half sizes down from a men’s casual shoe size preferably a dress shoe since this is a little more standardized. So if you wear a size 8 shoe, you would be in a size six and a half hockey skate. For junior youth players, this is only one size down so for that player who wears a youth 13 shoe would only be in a youth 12 skate, and then for those players who are outgrowing shoes a little bit quickly and prone to outgrowing a skate a little bit too quickly maybe just go a half-size down allows them to grow into a little bit better.

Foot Tracing

On the second-foot tracing method, all you need to get started is a hard surface to stand on, a blank piece of paper, whatever skate socks you typically wear inside your skates since it does vary in those, pen or pencil, and then something to measure length. Start by placing the piece of paper on the hard surface go ahead, put your skate socks on, and then step onto the piece of paper so that your entire foot fits onto it with spare room around the entire foot while standing.

Take the pen or pencil and begin tracing. Keep whatever you are using to trace perpendicular to the paper while you outline your foot by keeping it perpendicular, it prevents you from measuring underneath your foot which will give you an inaccurate outline. Step off of the paper and measure in centimeters the distance from the furthest point of your toes to the end of the heel.

This will be your foot length measurement. Now measure the widest point of your forefoot. This is your foot width measurement so repeat these steps for the opposite foot and just make sure you put that on a clean sheet of paper. So now you have your foot measurements and you are ready to find your skate size. Take your length measurement and compare that to our Universal sizing chart online. It will tell you exactly what size you should be in any manufacturer of skates.

Width Ratio

Now the last step is to find a width ratio that tells you how wide your foot is compared to how long your foot is. So for your left foot, take the length of measurement divided by the width measurement. There is your ratio for the left foot repeat the process for the right foot and now you can compare it to the chart.

If that width ratio is larger than three that means you have a narrow foot and you should be the low volume skate. When it is smaller than two and a half that means you have a wide foot you should be in the high volume skate. If you are between two and a half and three that means you have a standard width foot and you should be in that medium volume category.

Final Verdict

We hope our list of above-reviewed hockey skates will make it easier for you to choose the best ice hockey skates according to your playing requirements. So if you still have questions or concerns regarding hockey skates, shoot us an email or write us down in the comment section below. We will be more than happy to help you out.